Someday........

To all the people in my life with whom I have lost contact,  to everyone I meet everyday during the rush hour but long to spend quality time together, and to everyone who has made a difference to my life…… I dedicate this video that I shot using my mobile phone.

It’s a song that I love…. It’s by the band Michael Learns To Rock who were performing live at Bangalore in a mall. This was the closest I got to while shooting an international band  performing live in Bangalore. My camera was right at the edge of the keyboards!!!

News to share!!!

I along with my friend ( Badekkila Pradeep ) had recently made a short film one of the lost lakes in Bangalore city. The title of the film is Err-bane Truth. I am delighted to let you all know that the short film has won the ‘Lost Lakes of Bangalore’ short film contest organized by India Water Portal.

This is what the organizers of the contest had to say about our film:

In “Err-bane truth” ( a pun on our ‘urbane’ follies) Nishant Ratnakar and Badekkila Pradeep take on possibly the most striking of Bangalore’s lost lakes – Dharmambudhi tank…. Starting off on an imaginative note, the movie then traces the history of Dharmambudhi tank and the factors that lead to its demise in the mid-century. Dharmambudi Tank was built by Kempegowda, the chieftain who founded Bengaluru. A Hoysala dynasty inscription dating back to 1247AD mentions about Dodda kere. There are indications that Dodda kere was indeed Dharmambudhi Tank. Dharmambudhi Tank was so huge it spread its wings from Gandhinagar to Subedarchatram.

Drawing on the knowledge of experts the movie explores more broadly the role of urban lakes, paints an ominous picture of the future and offers a ray of hope through the restoration work done in Seoul.

For its overall coverage of the topic, research and high technical quality, India Water Portal is pleased to award the first prize in the General category of Rs 15,000/- to
“Err-bane Truth” by Nishant Ratnakar and Badekkila Pradeep.

Below, is the short film. Feel free to leave behind your comments on it.

For more on the contest, visit: http://www.indiawaterportal.org/lostlakes

Carlton Towers on fire on Tuesday evening. Photograph by Vinu Thomas (http://twitter.com/vinuthomas)

Industry: Media

Product: News & Entertainment

Customer : Citizen (and advertisers?)

The Ram Gopal Varma movie RANN, took a dig on electronic media’s unethical practices. Talking point among the tech savvy crowd was suddenly all about the wrong doings of Indian electronic media. My colleague Monica says that ‘Indian electronic media is still in its nascent stage. It still has many years before it can get streamlined’. I agree with her that it will take sometime for quality to improve but it cannot happen unless the viewers of the media take some corrective action. Indian electronic media still needs to bring about policies on how to cover breaking news. The viewers need to come up with a feedback mechanism to express strong views regarding the content. Is it possible? I believe so……

Stake holders in the media industry consider ‘news’  as product similar to that of any traditional manufacturing industry. Are they right in doing so? Well, they are doing a business and need to earn a living and ensure a profit in sales to sustain themselves. Hence they are rightfully performing their role in creation of a product.

When any journalist goes through discussion forums of media personnel on a platform like ‘ LinkedIn . com’ , he/she might have come across serious discussions by members of the media (Read as non-editorial employees in media house) with questions like “how to make the product better for our customers?” Which is good. But, in those discussions customers are not the consumers of their product (news). Customers  there meant only the advertisers! I think it is time to recognize that there is a difference between media industry and traditional manufacturing industry. Customer is complex word. Customers are both the consumers of the media (ones who account  for the viewership and readership) and the advertisers (who bring in more revenue than circulation by buying advertisement space). Content cannot be created and broadcast without taking into account both of these customers.

Producer, product, consumer, now what? Probably, Target customer!

Well, Consider a case where a cosmetic soap manufacturing giant produces a bad quality soap or selling detergent soaps in the name of cosmetic ones. The target Customers will slowly move away from them. But the sales may continue as the product does serve a purpose. The accidental product here is a detergent and hence the laundry industry might find its use. But was it really the target audience?

No.

There is an increasing trend in media, where the target customer (audience ) is usually among the middle class, upper middle class, tech savvy, fashion savvy, business class or from the software industry (often called techie in Indian media). Most advertisers with big bucks will advertise in the channel or publication only when the target audience count is high and makes up of people from the above mentioned categories. Why? They have the purchasing power. They are the educated class. They want to stay connected with the world. They want news. And they may view/read the advertisements and in turn possibly become the future clients of these advertisers. That is advertising and advertisers have every right to act so.

But are the target audience liking the product? Do they have any issues with the content? Is the target audience that really watching a sleazy show or is the viewership count made up of arbit audience who tuned in for some poor soft porn thrill? Is there really a feedback mechanism for the advertisers to know whether the target audience of their client (media house) is really a fan of the content? I guess not.

Why?

Internet and social media has provided a platform for most people to vent their frustrations or express their opinions. And these sites seem to be faster in information dissemination than electronic TV media. Honestly speaking i came to know of the Carlton Towers fire incident through Google buzz first and not through any news channel. The kind of coverage a local news channel gave to that breaking news was very much in a bad taste. The channel had received few grainy cellphone videos of people jumping off the building to death while avoiding the inferno. The channel kept playing the visuals repeatedly and nothing else. This was broadcast at a time when there was no clarity on whether the rescue operations were over or not. The relatives of the victims might have still been glued to TV sets for information and might not have received any news of their loved one through authorities. At that time, showing dramatically replayed sequences of people jumping off to death, wouldn’t be a shocker to the concerned relatives? And this did not stop here. The TV channel claimed to have identified one of the victims who jumped to her death. They instantly revealed her identity, and kept showing the visuals while referring to her. Also, at the same time one of her friends was called live over phone! Isn’t this in a bad taste? I felt so (and still strongly feel so). I expressed my angst over social networking media. At the same time I noticed that there were lot many people on the internet expressing similar views. I am from the media industry, while those people were all the tech savvy target audience. Did the channel or their advertisers notice it? Maybe not. As it was a tiny rebellion in individual spaces.

Need for a feedback mechanism. Can internet be the solution? Yes..

Let us not write off that tiny rebellion and protest. Internet has become a powerful medium. Businesses are innovating over social media to reach clients. That means if properly channelized there can be an effective feedback mechanism to media houses.

Media wants to produce content that their target audience wants. Target audience too wants a customized product called ‘news’.  Advertisers need to know if the target audience is getting what it wants. So feedbacks regarding content through open platform like social media networks is major need of the hour. There needs a creation of publicized space where all the feedbacks regarding content are collected and displayed openly to all. The data and statistics can serve as a guidance to sincere media houses in understanding the pulse of the Target Audience and creating content which the audience loves.

Imagine this…., next time a channel plays dirty, and overnight 1/6th of the country’s population tweets on a website  something like this:” we will not watch XYZ channel from tomorrow 00:00 hours until channel apologizes or removes the notorious content .” A bar graph shows 6 lakh people will not watch the channel and only 4 will continue to watch the channel. What could be the impact? Don’t you think the stakeholders and advertisers will bow down to the wishes of the masses. This mechanism applies to any media house be it TV/print/radio/new media.

I request the Target audience not to underestimate their power and please start building a feedback mechanism. Else you’ll have to settle for mediocre and unreliable content. All it needs, is a start. Good luck

My contractor badge and List of things I was carrying inside.

Recently, Chennai saw a furor when multiplexes in that city tried to ban entry of people wearing lungi (the traditional garment worn by men across southern India ). This surely was a symbol of ne0-elitism wave in our country. I faced a similar scenario during one of my assignments. But it had nothing to do with a lungi (my dad wears it, but I have never worn it). It had to do with something that most young men in this country consider it their prized possession: A bike, a two-wheeler… my dear old scooter.

ITC Royal Gardenia, the new 5 star luxury hotel in Bangalore city, was host to a Black Tie event on last Saturday night. My office had assigned me to cover this as a page3 event. I had called up one of the socialites who was to be present there and he had asked me to be there by 8:15 p.m. I reached the main gate of Royal Gardenia on time, thanks to my scooter (A Honda Activa). The security guard at the main gate informed me to enter through a different gate – Gate number 5 – as the main gate was only for cars and not for two-wheelers. I said ‘ok’, and went in search of this gate and found it to be the back gate of the hotel (Hmmm.. never mind. not an issue). This was where it all began.

As a normal procedure in any hotel I had to get off for security check. I was more than happy to have my camera bags searched, be frisked and be questioned. I informed them that I was from a newspaper and had been invited to cover a Black Tie event at the hotel, and then showed them my ID and my camera bag. They called up some place inside the hotel to find out if there was a party happening and/or to let me through. To my surprise, the guards got no confirmation of any event inside (Strike 1 !). I then called up the socialite who I had spoken to earlier about the event. He gave me the same information about the event happening close to lobby. When he understood the situation, he said he’ll ask someone from the hotel to escort me in. I waited, so did the guards. Meanwhile, the employees and contractors of Hotel kept entering and leaving the premises through the gate I was waiting at. After sometime I received a call from a hotel staff who identified himself as the coördinator for the event. He asked me to walk in through the lobby to get into the place where the party was happening. I had to repeat and tell that I was far away from the lobby and the main-gate: I was at the back gate. He asked me if it was possible for me to get back to the main entry. I said I can’t! because I was on a scooter! and if he didn’t know, ‘his hotel’ did not allow any man or woman to enter main gate on a scooter! (Strike 2 !!)

Finally, an employee from the hotel came panting to the gate to tell the guards I wasn’t lying! and I wasn’t a terrorist on a scooter! The guards said ‘ok’, but few formalities…

This was it… After entering details in a register like a visitor to any office, I was given a badge to wear (Yes, you read it correctly, a badge). The badge said CONTRACTOR! Was I a contract employee of ITC Royal Gardenia? Why would anyone invited to the hotel or even any genuine visitor to a hotel be made to wear a badge, and that too a badge called contractor? (Any answers?) (Strike 3 !!!). It didn’t end here.  I was given a sheet of paper to list out all the items in my possession, probably if I were to steal a spoon or two, or maybe a faucet from the restroom of the hotel, then I could be easily caught at the exit, as it wouldn’t have been mentioned in the list of things I was carrying inside. Else, I don’t see a reason, as no terrorist entering a hotel will declare two grenades, three AK 47s and  a rocket launcher! The hotel staff gave me a smile and he didn’t know what to say about this (Strike 4!!!!). I wrote about my camera, flash and lenses, then I asked him “Should I list out my phone too (just to make sure that i couldn’t steal a second phone!)?”.

The hotel employee escorted me to basement parking lot. Then he took me through series of doors and stairways to quickly reach the party just before it got over (I thank him at least for this). I stood there shooting photographs of familiar faces who didn’t say a word to me about that huge ‘Contractor’ badge pinned to me Shirt. For fifteen minutes, I was standing there wondering if I were a plumber hired by the hotel or somebody invited to cover an event. I was neither of the two. It didn’t matter what my job, profession, age or business in the hotel was. Ultimately it boils down to the fact that ‘I was a man on a scooter‘.  And I was to be intimidated, humiliated and made to feel that being on a scooter was being the new untouchable.

Isn’t it an irony that the very place that gives you a hostile atmosphere is actually known for hospitality business?

My dad always asks me to drive our hyundai i10. I have flatly refused because I hate driving in Bangalore traffic and would end up late on all the assignments. But I guess, for the first time I am wondering whether I should start driving our car again, just to ensure extra wheels will give me the respect which every man deserves. these days respect doesn’t seem to be given for people’s talents.

Where are we heading to? In Bangalore, the elitism divide seems to be heading to public spaces too. There is a move by government to regulate entry to places like cubbon park and lal bagh through electronic ID cards which comes at a price and is supposedly regulated at a highly restrictive application process.

Notes From the Field
- Nishant Ratnakar
Date: Monday, 11th May, 2009.
Place: D J Halli near Bangalore.

At a locality known as Moulana Compound:

Across DJ Halli:

And if the story revolves around global terrorism, then you can expect a horde of journalists there. This was during July 2007 and I was then working at Bangalore Mirror. A terrorist attack had taken place at Glasgow airport, with the alleged bomber being dead, his brother and cousin who were continents apart were suspects now. Doctor Haneef, the cousin of the ‘Glasgow Bomber’ was detained in Australia. Firdous, the wife of Dr. Haneef and their newly born child were in Bangalore city. Also in the city were Haneef’s mother and brother. And that led to world media’s attention to Bangalore city for nearly a month. Haneef’s mother and brother were not interacting with the media. It was his wife who became a regular spokesperson during the entire ordeal.

Most of us spent those months camping on the street where Firdous lived. Every time a development took place in Haneef’s case in Australia, Firdous was immediately asked to give a response to the media. This led to a series of impromptu press conferences arranged at the gate of her parental bungalow in Bangalore.

All the newspapers, TV channels and news agencies needed the visuals of this family. They were after all ‘the people in news’ then. One had to literally fight with one another to get a suitable vantage point to capture the visuals. I sometimes took up a sniper like position to experiment and get a different image, rather than a monotonous close-up portrait. But, you can’t have this luxury all the time:-)

Fast forward to 29th July 2007

All charges against Dr Haneef were dropped and he was returning home a free man. There were media persons everywhere. At airports, in the same aircraft as his, on the roads, outside his in-laws’ home and, also inside their home. I was one among the countless photographers stationed inside their home trying to document in images the frenzied moments. The truth was that media persons outnumbered the relatives inside the house:-). Here are a series of news photographs made by me (we were there till 2 a.m in the morning) as and when he arrived home that late evening.

Seen in this photograph is Firdous Arshiya, wife of Dr Haneef dressed up to welcome her husband. Dr Mohammed Haneef after being freed from all charges related to Glasgow Terror blasts was returning from Australia with his cousin Imran and was to arrive at his Father-in-Law’s home at BTM Layout in Bangalore late night on Sunday, 29th July 2007.

Relatives of Doctor Haneef waiting on the terrace with rose petals to welcome him home.

Doctor Haneef stepping out of the car amidst media frenzy at his Father-in-law’s home.

Doctor Haneef being welcomed with flowers amidst media frenzy, as he arrives at his Father-in-law’s home.

Doctor Haneef managing to step inside his Father-in-law’s home amidst scenes of media frenzy.

Doctor Haneef being escorted inside by his cousin Imran.

Relatives of Doctor Haneef are excited to get a first glimpse of him after his return to India.

Doctor Haneef smiles and waves for the media cameras for the first time after his arrival at his in-laws’ residence.

Doctor Haneef and his relatives having a discussion while media persons wait for him speak.

Doctor Haneef reads out a written speech that was handed to him by his cousin, after which he was rushed to a room away from the media.

Irony with this assignment was that, my newspaper was a compact/tabloid. And the deadline for the pages to be sent for the printing press was 10:00 p.m. Doctor Haneef arrived well past 10.. So these images remain unpublished…..

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

"We Don’t want to fade away like the Red Indians", says 26 years old Tenzin Tsethar, an analyst at an Insurance firm in the city. Tsethar is a Tibetan who had joined his fellow countrymen (living as refugees across India), thousands in numbers, at a peace march which was arranged today from Chikkalalbagh to M G Statue to protest against the recent Chinese crackdown on Tibetans in Lhasa. 10th of March this year marked the 49th anniversary of Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation. Pro Tibet demonstrations at Lhasa resulted in large scale violence with Chinese armed forces coming down heavily on the protesters. The continuing tension there has suddenly spurted a growth in Pro-Tibetan demonstrations across the world including Bangalore.

The protesters at Bangalore comprised of a mix of Tibetan refugees from all walks of life ranging from old monks from monasteries to youth growing up in city. Tsethar along with few other Tibetan colleagues joined in the entire day’s demonstration in spite of not getting an official paid leave sanctioned. He says, "I am not bothered about my job being in jeopardy. I am more concerned about the lives of Tibetans in Lhasa which is in real jeopardy". His views are shared by Tenzin Pasang, a 21 year old woman living the BPO dream of Bangalore. Pasang says, "Since the moment we heard about the violence that broke out in Lhasa, we haven’t had peace of mind. We live as refugees in India but we feel a sense of freedom here. But, our brothers and sisters back in Tibet enjoy no freedom. In every Tibetan house in India, you’ll find two things in common. One, the Tibetan national flag and the other, a portrait of his Holiness Dalai Lama. You can’t find the same thing back in Lhasa as Chinese army will arrest you if they come to know of it". Pasang has five other Tibetan colleagues at her BPO. They all work in the morning shift between 4:00 am and 1:00 p.m. Since March 10th, they have all actively been taking part during the evenings after work, in political activities leading to the peace march in the city. Being deprived of adequate rest is of no significance to them.

It’s been 49 years since Tibetans having been living as refugees in settlements across India. Today, the Tibetan youth seem to be increasingly becoming restless with the status quo and lack of support received from governments across the world. 21 years old students Tenzin Chodar and Tenzin Dablo agree that views of the third generation Tibetans are radically turning to be different from their predecessors. Dablo says, "Goals of all Tibetans maybe the same but the methods are turning to be different. In this age of You Tube, your blood will naturally boil when you watch videos of Buddhist nuns being tortured by the army of communist China".

What about their Indian colleagues and classmates? Do they discuss politics and share views with them? When asked this question, Chodar says, "Yes, some of our Indian friends show interest while others are not interested. They support us, encourage us and do give us ideas to carry on with protest. But they are unable to join us in protests as they have their own preoccupations in life".

The difference in views of the Tibetan leadership and youth is clearly indicated when you see the banners and placards carried by protesters which read out ‘Freedom and independence for Tibet’, while the leadership has been talking of political autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule. Tsethar says that, "We respect the views of his Holiness. But today patience is running out amongst us. Political autonomy will be great, if not freedom for Tibet as a country, at least the Tibetans should be given cultural freedom which is missing as of now". The decision of IOC (International Olympic Committee) to let China host the 2008 summer Olympics has not gone down well too. Pasang says, "How can China host Olympics when it is committing human rights abuse in Tibet. Something has to be done to oppose it. If we youth do not voice opinion against it. Then who else will do so?"

The Tibetan youth in today’s world are at cross roads. They say they are witnessing what they term as ‘double standards’ when it comes to self determination for a nation. They look at issues related to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq and feel they have not enjoyed support from the world as China is a super power. There is a sense of disillusionment in their minds. Some of them seem to be giving up hope. 25 year old Tsering Dolkar is a Public Relations Officer with the Tibetan Women’s Association. She says, "There is a difference in the way the Tibetan struggle for independence is looked at between the youth from settlement and those from cities. Generally, there is not much active involvement seen in today’s youth from cities. There seems to be a denial. This probably is because the way the protests have been carried out over last 49 years (hunger strikes, peace march, candle light vigils) seem to less effective. Maybe, youth are losing hope due to this. There is a urgent need for change in the way we fight. But, the only way to change the system is by being part of it. That’s why I am actively involved in politics. I want to try to bring about change. The youth must come forward with their ideas to keep the movement going on. The culture must not be lost. The original refugees in India were not educated. The next generation of Tibetans in exile had little education but did not have much opportunities. But now, the world seems to have opened up. Everyone wants to make use of the opportunities. You can’t blame the youth for it. Everyone wants to lead a decent life. We can’t apply for government jobs or buy property in India because we are having refugee status. That’s why I see an increase in Tibetans who want to apply for Indian citizenship. The current situation at Lhasa has led to awakening amongst many Tibetans. The movement has gained momentum and people are coming forward and taking part now. The focus gained now, must not be lost. The United Nations must come forward to solve the issue".

There were few Indians taking part in the march. One of them on condition of anonymity said, "It is hurting to see that India and rest of the democratic world has not done much for the movement which is based on non-violence. I am afraid that at this rate there could be a day when the Tibetans may lose patience and the world may see armed groups of Tibetans. The world which has to take blame for it, if and when it happens". The anonymous prophecy’s accuracy can only be confirmed by what lies ahead in future. But, the young generation of Tibetans are definitely seeking a change.