Tag: Das ka Dum

We asked this question with no specific person in mind, though there are several names which people talk about. Without any further comment, presenting the June 2 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Just one or two people have given the Indian news media such a bad name. Unfair, right?

A. Worldwide, the media has become a favourite whipping boy whenever any segment of society feels that the narrative on any issue doesn’t match expectations of relevant stakeholders. Please don’t forget that one has the choice to not subscribe to a narrative and search for a convergent point of view. Extrapolation of unique but undesirable experiences ought not to be used to painting the community in a homogeneous colour.

Every question needn’t be on a profound A&M/M&E business issue or a provocative content query. But then often the simplest of them can set you thinking. Like the one today. Presenting the June 1 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. There has been much excitement about the reunion of Friends. Which Indian soap/serial would evoke a similar response?

A. There is no show in India which can be compared with Friends. If you take popularity as a criteria, you may consider Buniyaad, Hum Log, Ramayan, Mahabharata. But the similarity ends there. In reality, even searching for a similar show would be a wild goose chase.

We did it and were wondering if we did the right thing. Hence the question. Without further ado, the May 31 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Last week, for the first time in nearly 10 years, we took an unannounced break due to a health emergency with a colleague. We prioritised health over work. Right thing to do?

A. Absolutely. Health for family (including biological) is non-negotiable always. You have done the right thing. In this pandemic, it has been proved that we are all connected and life matters.

Well, you know why we asked the question. Just how can media entities – news channels especially – survive without patronage. Without further ado, the May 28 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Would you blame the consumer for the dubious content on certain media entities? If they wouldn’t patronise them, the entities would cease to exist…

A. I am befuddled by your question ie blaming consumers for dubious content served by certain media entities, as the latter’s existence is dependent on them. Are you serious? You are suggesting that consumers can be force-fed content these days, even when they have a surfeit of options, including not subscribing to the offerings of the  entities. Consumers today are spoilt with choices. So, they can’t be manipulated to engage with any content under duress. A typical content, not endorsed by the cognoscenti like you, but embraced by its relevant audience may reflect the ever-changing consumption trend. In a country like India with a plethora of mindsets/ opinions/ cultural milieu, it’s difficult to produce an offering that caters to every narrative/ preferences homogeneously. Consumers have the option of  abjuring  brands that are not in sync with their preferences,  the way brands have the choice of catering to a defined target market (crafted as per the preferred psychographics of a media entity).

Ouch, we actually asked this question. And he actually answered it. Without further ado, the May 26 edition of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. We of course wish Dr Das well, as also his family – at home in the super-large world of industry and academia.  Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Your responses are often politically correct, but you do know that they are often against the popular perception. Whether it’s on retrenchment, negativity on television. Your comments? Aren’t you worried about a negative perception building against you because it may appear that you don’t want to upset the holy cows?

A. I mentioned once in this column that I can’t be simultaneously political and correct. Now I shall add that I am not in a perception-building exercise. Too late for me to get engaged in this exercise. Besides, one has to have a perception to plan a strategy. I doubt if I have any. I am just another guy who is earning his living by getting meaningfully engaged in activities that generate some economic value.  And by the time such negative perception is built a Covid can take my breath away. When life and livelihood are in jeopardy, worrying about one’s perception is the last thing one can have in mind. Finally, I answer as I feel is appropriate by remaining objective, from my viewpoint of course. One needn’t agree, but as they say intolerance is a new bragging skill.

Yes, we have asked a similar question in the past, but circumstances have  changed. So, we asked Dr Bhaskar Das for his wisdom, which he has shared in the May 25 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. This year, there is no clampdown on newspaper distribution in the metros. But ads have reduced considerably. So, do we see a dip in the fortunes of the print media in India?

A. I have answered questions of similar nature in the past. There are two separate aspects of the question:

1) you can’t make a generalised prediction of print media in India. What you observe in the metros is not the same reality in non-metros and specially in case of language newspapers. In fact, it is quite to the contrary, both in terms of distribution/ circulation and advertising. The non-metro situation is not so gloomy compared to metro-based newspapers.

2) There is no denying the fact that there is bearishness in the business and consumption sentiments in the country, which, in turn, is affecting the business and communication activities. So, every format of media is under pressure, especially those which are overdependent on advertising. Print media is not the only one that is experiencing south in topline numbers. Hence, your concern has to be both deaveraged and contextualised to the operating environment.

That we keep asking the question over and over again in different ways perhaps indicates our angst. As also the mood of the nation. So, we asked Dr Bhaskar Das for his wisdom, which he has shared in all honesty. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. So many people suffering, so many friends and family members passing on. How does one not get angry with the government for not giving us adequate health infra?

A. Your perceived angst is legitimate and sub-optimality of our healthcare system cannot be refuted. Having said that, it has to be also kept in mind that the severity of the second wave could have been combatted better had the civil society been extra vigilant. Besides, deferment of some activities that attract public gathering could have mitigated the current sufferings. In other words, we need to act collectively (we need to understand that we and our actions are all connected) to confront the pandemic. Mumbai has shown this recently, thanks to the BMC leadership, for controlling the impact of the second wave.

Promise, we didn’t ask this question with any motive. It’s a predicament that we’ve faced so very often. So, let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 20 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. A question that’s worrying us for a bit: How much should one get dictated by one’s conscience?

A. This subject ideally  can’t be a  matter of discussion. If the conscience is missing, how one can function. But I presume that your doubts have arisen after watching what is happening all around. In fact I think that such a situation does arise in everyone’s life at some point or other. But due to situational compulsion, we rationalise and generate multiple shades of grey in the definition of what is conscience and feel absolved. Sometimes it is  difficult to answer an apparently simple question sir, when one stands in front of the mirror. It never lies. But we create our own bubble to solve (read avoid) an existential dilemma through an acceptable conscience (a kind of dialectical challenge).

Our question is long and self-explanatory. Let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 19 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. We normally don’t take names of entities in Das ka Dum, but we must credit Kolkata’s Telegraph for amazing courage and creativity. A friend summed it up appropriately: “Only newspaper who has guts in this countryWhy do you think newspapers not call a spade a spade? DAVP ads? Or that illegally built mezzanine floor?

A. What is the definition of having guts? Anti-establishment? Publishing facts? Every newspaper has its own editorial approach. We can’t arrogate to ourselves the right to judge the editorial policies of newspapers. In fact every newspaper has its stories that show the so-called ‘guts’. A Mumbai newspaper published the list of people who left their heavenly bodies due to lack of oxygen. A Hindi heartland newspaper reported about the actual number of departed souls. Creativity is a function of imagination/ sense of aesthetics, and perhaps not guts. The reasons, mentioned by you, for alleged drought of guts is difficult to confirm unless one loves gossip.

Our question is long and self-explanatory. Let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the May 18 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Even the rich and powerful have not escaped the wrath of the new variant. The pandemic has been a great equaliser. As the line on truckbacks says: Sab ka Maalik Ek. Your comments?

A. Yes, empirical evidence corroborates your observation. ‘Sab Ka Maalik Ek’ is a quintessential truth but I find the Maalik in hospitals, in doctors, in all those people who help us live but habitually glossed over their existence (read we took it for granted).

We can see friends of our Wizard with Words screaming at us for asking a wicked one. Well, it’s a genuine question about what should be one’s public posturing given that a forthright answer could earn the wrath of the powers that be. Let’s read Dr Bhaskar Das’s views on the question in the May 17 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. If someone were to ask you if the current government has managed the pandemic well, what will you say?

A. I am surprised that you are looking for an answer even after absorbing all the information that are making rounds in public domain. But try to remember a line from the Bard of Avon: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings. We are cause everything that we experience and all concerned parties have contributed in some form in causing this current state of affairs. Did we act responsibly, consciously and keeping in mind the consequences of our action? A question worth introspecting. I know hindsight is a good science but if we look back, we forgot to ask questions as responsible citizens. Now looking for who is at fault is of no use. Civil society has already started acting but will it be able to eradicate all problems? The answer wil  be in the womb of future.