MxMIndia

Tag: politician

  • A new initiative by the English news channel promises people the chance to be heard

    Headlines Today introduces ‘Right to Be Heard’

    By A Correspondent

     

    English News Channel Headlines Today has introduced a nationwide new campaign, ‘Right to Be Heard’. Under this campaign, Headlines Today will give the activist in every Indian a platform to speak and the channel will ensure that it is heard.

     

    The website www.righttobeheard.in has an option where people can upload their videos, comments and issues they want to raise. There is also a hotline number they can call to record their message, following which a Headlines Today team will get in touch with them.

     

    The channel has started two new shows in sync with this campaign – ‘The Right to be Heard’ and ‘RTH Town Hall’. The Right to be Heard show will raise and highlight the problems raised by the people of the country and which will then be investigated by the Headlines Today editorial team. It covers stories such as “Save River Yamuna”, “Increasing Noise pollution in the urban India”, “Right to Education for every Indian” and “Garbage issues in Bangalore”. The RTH Town Hall show is a weekly talk show that provides a platform for the public to debate the issues that concern them the most with the people in authority are to answer all their concerns.

     

    The channel has undertaken a 360-degree marketing campaign including OOH, TV, Print and Digital.

     

    Commenting on the initiative, Ashish Bagga, CEO, India Today Group said, “With this initiative we are aiming to reach out to the growth-aspiring Indian, who after his tireless efforts over many years is still helpless and ignored by the authorities in the system. We will support the campaign with extensive editorial coverage with special stories and shows to encourage viewers to come out and voice their concerns.”

     

    Vivek Malhotra, Vice president Marketing, Strategic Planning & Research – TV Today Network said, “At Headlines Today, we firmly believe that news reporting has a larger role than merely providing people with facts and information. What we do has the power to transform a society; to change people’s lives. Look at what’s happening around us – people have become more self-aware and are voicing their displeasure. In a country where traditionally we have been a ‘voiceless’ population that has to ‘make do’ with whatever is decided by the agents in power, today things are changing and people are ensuring their voices are being heard. Our new campaign whole-heartedly endorses this healthy attitude and tells people that voicing their concerns and problems to the authorities is their right to be heard.”

     

    The TVC, conceived by Black Pencil, follows a politician, a symbolic representative of a person in power but far removed from the common man of today, who ignores a woman on the street who is trying to talk to him but then can’t seem to get away from the voice of the woman – the voice of a common man (in this case the woman) demands justice.

     

    Samarjit Choudhry, Executive Director, Black Pencil India said, “We pride ourselves on being the world’s largest democracy – where each citizen has certain fundamental rights as laid out in the Constitution (including the right to speech). Juxtapose this with one of the biggest grouses we all have against the establishment – that no one listens to us. What emerged was this – shouldn’t the ‘Right to be Heard’ also be as fundamental as every other right that we have as Indian citizens? That was the genesis of the campaign. If Headlines Today could stand for something through which people could exercise their right to be heard, our campaign would have done its job. The beauty of this TVC is in the story-telling. It is a stark and haunting reminder to the people in power that they can’t brush people’s voices under the carpet any more.”

     

    Client: TV Today Network

    Client team: Kush Rai

    Agency: Black Pencil India

    Creative team: Shweta Ahuja & Shadab Abidi

    Production house: Purple Vishnu Films

    Director: Sainath Choudhury

     

  • Thankfully, I didn’t have to invent any of the reasons why Mango will reign undisputed. They have always existed. I just had to put them in no particular order, says Prathap Suthan

    The Anchor: Prathap Suthan on 7 reasons why mango is the Emperor of Fruitland

    By Prathap Suthan

     

    Honestly, I am yet to stumble on to someone who doesn’t rage after this fruit. In fact, if I do meet him or her, it just might be a fickle pretense.

     

    Take lush mango away from the menu of pleasures, and you’d dread the emptiness that stares at you from the fruit bowl.

     

    I mean everything that’s left inside, including moldy grapes, obese melons, and squishy jackfruit, is one mediocre disappointment after another.

     

    You’d be truly blessed if you ever had an orgasmic experience with a guava. One errant seed raking up screaming havoc in an old dental cavity notwithstanding.

     

    In all my years as a devoted single fruit pilgrim, no one really asked me if any other fruit deserved the altar. But now that I have to defend my icon, allow me 2 non-noodle minutes.

     

    Thankfully, I didn’t have to invent any of the reasons why Mango will reign undisputed. They have always existed. I just had to put them in no particular order.

     

    1. Mango, the great Equalizer

    No matter who you are, where you live, or what you like, you are a subject of this awesome fruit of plenty. If you aren’t an eternal slave of its yumminess to the nth degree, dude you have no clue what you are missing. Regardless of our faiths, beliefs, geographies, physical differences, skin colours, hairstyles, fashion skews, cultural peccadilloes, bank balances, and even sexual orientation, the mango is not mere king.

     

    It’s a great leveler. We are all equal victims. Unless some of us are lashed by daily nightmares of man-eating mangoes, snorting rhinos can’t wrench most of us away from slobbering over its spell. It’s worthy of leading a new age religion. Or at least a dozen political parties aligned along gourmet tastebuds.

     

    2. Mango, the winning Politician

    I am often pushed into vague corners by sour men and women who poke holes at India Shining. But then, little do they consider the mango side of it. If it wasn’t for that campaign, aam aadmi as an expression wouldn’t have been brought to the fore. The ordinary men and women of our country wouldn’t have found such a powerful public idiom. Come to think of it, there nothing else unites us so tastefully across all socio-economic definitions. Considering that we grew up in a country where every neighbourhood has at least one mango tree, and every one us would have either plucked or thrown down a mango. Centuries from now, mango people will be linked to the history of the 2004 elections. As the little big people who torpedoed a government’s feel good carrier.

     

    3. Mango, the giver of Words

    I am yet to lick an apple, salivate over a plump orange, drool at a spiky pineapple, or go anywhere oral near a banana. Yuck. On the other sticky hand, I can’t wait to get cozy with a juicy mango, unpeel its skin, and allow my tongue to plunder its curves. Every word that’s been designed to bring out osculatory pleasure makes ample sense and effective relevance. Go on, close your eyes. You can bite a mango, you can slurp a mango, you can nibble a mango, you can kiss a mango, you can moan a mango, and oh yes, you can suck a mango. I doubt if there’s a wildest word you cannot do to a mango.

     

    4. Mango, the Cultural Fountain

    Undoubtedly, inspiration isn’t just limited to pushing and expanding the frontiers of vocal expression. The mango has undoubtedly aided the growth and profusion of our aesthetics. If it hasn’t stimulated us enough, I think we have been fools to overlook the cornucopia it unleashes. From paisley that makes huge contributions to the clothes of men and women – neckties to sarees, I am sure mango has pandered itself to aspiring writers of novels and poetry. There’s much hidden in the gush of its juices, the allure of its nectar, the softness of its body, and the blush of its colours. I certainly cannot see glorious muskmelon or splendid kiwi goading me to spill my ink. I might suffer from permanent drought. If I am not entirely mistaken, the fertile mango has already spawned fashion, books, taxis, beverages, radio stations etc. There’s so much more possible.

     

    5. Mango, the natural Aphrodisiac

    Here’s a quickie. Whenever you two decide to bathe each other’s teeth, grab a nice handful of Alphonso. Or any common mango from the fridge. With so much of passion held inside its ripe and near gossamer thin skin, it does give human chemistry a bit of a goosebumpy spur. Add a little dose of imagination, and the humble mango could be quite an experimental grenade while rolling in the hay. While there could be unexplored magic potion and endless ginseng within pears, peaches, and pomegranates, I’d still bet that they offer precious zilch to help you better Vatsya’s magnum opus. The mango is the undoubted king and queen in bed – as much as it’s on the dining table, in the living room, under a moonlight night, in the bathroom, under the staircase, and just about everywhere both of you want to come and go.

     

    6. Mango, the sensitive humanist

    Mango may have a large nut. But maybe there’s a thumping heart inside. Perhaps that’s the way one should read that.Look at it this way. Why do you think mangoes come in all sorts of shapes? And sizes. And colours. And even price ranges? They mirror us. They do their best to become like us. They understand us better than most other fruit. Unlike plebian chikoo, jamun, plums, and even rambutan which have negligible variety. Almost one size fits all. On the other hand, consider the benevolence of the Gods. The great mango has just as many rich variations as us – tall, short, squat, stocky, beautiful, small, lean, thin, overweight and so on. Long mangoes. Short mangoes. Big mangoes. Small mangoes. Pointy mangoes. Round mangoes. Fat mangoes. Thin mangoes. Green mangoes. Red mangoes. Blue mangoes. White mangoes. Sweet mangoes. Sour mangoes.

    For every distinct physical and even mental trait, there are mangoes that have evolved to characterize people. Just how more awesome can this true monarch be?

     

    7. Mango, the incredible Indian

    With so many different varieties that you might know, here are a few you wouldn’t have heard of. All harvested across the corners of our country. Kishenbhog, Jamadar, Fazli, Gulabkhas, Badami, Raspuri, Zardalu, Pairi, Malkurad, Beneshan, Bangalora, Jehangir, Suvarnarekha, Mulgoa, Himayuddin and Samar Behest Chausa. Ignore them if you like to lead a poor life. While all of them represent the mosaic India is, with the hottest summers giving you the sweetest mangoes, the mango is no longer a seasonal protege. With the koel as its raucous herald. Today, science and ingenuity has helped mango mutate into anything you think of. And most of them brim with the essence of its inherent mischief. You can have them as shakes, aam ras, aam panna, sherbet, squashes, nectar, juices, drinks, candy, jams, jellies, preserves, chutneys, curries and achaar. Until civilization declares similar lust for any other fruit from the planet’s orchards, the mango will remain raja. And me and you its besotted praja.

     

  • At a time when the Indian media is grappling with all sorts of issues and allegations, the Murdoch saga presents an interesting contrast

    [MJR] Pity the Poor Politician!

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    This week’s candidate for Noosemaker is our favourite whipping boy – the politician, both in India and abroad.

     

    This poor soul puts every bit of work he or she can into working for the people, but the people are ungrateful sods and show little appreciation. Take for instance, the politicians’ campaign to save the “father of the Indian Constitution” – Dr BR Ambedkar from a cartoonist. Instead of applauding politicians for this act of bravery – in the pursuit of which they even showed the courage to go against the freedom of expression which Ambedkar enshrined in the Constitution – our politicians had to face ridicule.

     

    Instead of congratulating them, people started pulling out facts about Ambedkar’s life, sense of humour, the importance of not disrupting Parliament, the Constitution and irrelevant stuff like that. What on earth, said these beleaguered politicians, have facts got to do with anything. We are saving Dr Ambedkar from a cartoon by Shankar which is part of a textbook. We don’t care if Ambedkar himself saw the cartoon when it first appeared in 1949 or not. We don’t care if Shankar was a famous cartoonist. We are only bothered that Ambedkar’s reputation has been damaged and for that, we’re willing to damage anything and anybody. Including, of course, the offices of one of the academics who decided to include the cartoon in the textbook.

     

    Meanwhile, other politicians got so bothered by the ruckus that the government just banned the textbook. This is probably a wise move as Class XI students will now have no political science textbooks, so if any of those students want to enter politics, they will be suitably ignorant about Ambedkar, the Constitution and so on. This is a necessary prerequisite for politicians.

     

    I would also advise young people to think carefully about becoming cartoonists. Dead or alive, cartoonists are public enemy number one for politicians, a dangerous breed giving to fostering humour, laughter and other subversive tendencies.

     

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    The other politicians in the spotlight are in the UK. They must now be careful when they send text messages to editors of newspaper. Because if those editors get involved in phone-hacking scandals and then get questioned by a media ethics inquiry, they can reveal damaging stuff. Now we know, for instance, that British prime minister David Cameron of the Conservative Party did not know the meaning of the short form “LOL”. He kept sending it to Rebekkah Brookes, former editor of The Sun and News of the World and boss of News Corp and now just a formidable person, thinking it meant “Lots of love”. She had to point out to him that it meant “Laugh Out Loud.”

     

    This has almost completely destroyed Cameron’s street cred and it is possible that because of his good friend and neighbour Brookes, he may lose his premiership.

    The Labour Party, by the way, cannot send anyone messages saying “ROFL” because they were well known for cosying up to News Corp as well.