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Showing posts with label Social Feature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Feature. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Media Trial: More a vice than a virtue

October 01, 2020 5

Photo Credit - Chicago Tribune

Trial by Media', this term has been thrown around a lot in recent days. Since its introduction, media has been responsible for bringing forth issues pertaining to the public eye for better or for the worse. While some issues are deemed necessary, others are just bloated up to increase viewership of their respective channels.

The media shenanigans involving the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput panned out into a long overstretched drama for the entertainment of the public in the name of justice. What started with the investigation into the death of an actor turned into a Bollywood drug bust.

While the media trial of drugs in the Bollywood industry is not inherently a bad thing, it is the frightening pace with which media changes topics and finds a new scapegoat to sacrifice just for the sake of viewership which is appalling.

The media's utter disregard for mental health showed just how flawed the fourth pillar of democracy could be. Of course, it's no help when people sit at home and cook up their theories, thereby giving fuel to the media fire.

News coverage is now more of a rat race rather than a quest for truth. That is how the television media channels function. It is a race for whoever gets the best bites and the best footage.

One victim of this media witch-hunt is Rhea Chakraborty. There is not a single line that the media has not crossed while trying to villainize her. While she alone wasn't responsible for the mess that was created, she alone is facing the consequences. The media has conveniently ignored others with an apparently higher standing just because they don't suit their narrative.

The events that unfurled after Sushant Singh Rajput's death bear a similar resemblance to the media trial that was conducted after Sridevi's death. There were so many theories that were created just because the people were unwilling to believe that she had died an accidental death. And the media flew in like vultures to devour on the disbelief of the people.

Another thing worth noting can be the ferocity with which some media houses chose to ignore other vital issues plaguing the country in the face of news that sells.

Trial by media can be a virtue only if it is undertaken as a quest for truth rather than a witch-hunt. If it is the latter, then it turns into a vice as it tends to destroy people's life. There have been quite some examples like the Jessica Lal case and the Priyadarshini Mattoo case wherein the media played an important role in not allowing the criminals to go unpunished.

On the other hand, cases like the Aarushi Talwar murder case come across as harrowing encounters of media trial wherein the verdict was out even before the trial had begun. The lack of apathy by media was severely criticised and rightfully so.

Just like a coin, trial by media has two sides. But the negative side has the potential to do more damage than its counterpart.

(DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed over here are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of the company.)

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Thursday, May 9, 2019

A fish can't climb a tree

May 09, 2019 2

"Here's to you, Aamer. And others like you - fishes asked to climb trees. Chart your own course in the big, wide ocean, my love." posts Vandana Katoch, mother of a CBSE student who scored 60%.
Vandana took it to the internet to support and appreciate her kid, Aamer in front of many while taking a stand and breaking the notion of comparison of peers after results. She compares her son with himself and appreciates him for working hard and not giving up. She encourages her child to be a good human being and sets an example for other parents to be more supportive of their child.

 Dr. Virinchi Sharma, a psychiatrist tells TOI that over the past three years more than 26,000 students have committed suicide across India. A majority of student suicides are caused by underlying psychiatric factors such as stress, depression, and anxiety. It could result in difficulty coping with academics due to unrealistic expectations and pressure from parents and lack of support from peers.

 According to a TOI report, the latest National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences study conducted among 1,500 students found that 11% of college students and 7-8% of high school students have attempted suicide.

 Our education system evaluates the student on how much they can remember and write in a written paper. Students have no choice but to study all subjects until SSC whether or not it is in their area of interest. 

 In remote areas, not all teachers are well qualified to provide quality education and neither are they trained to deal with the non-educational issues that a student goes through. Many schools do not have a full-time counselor either. Apart from all of this, at home, the bar set for students by their parents are very high and students are constantly compared with their peers. This causes a lot of mental distress in a child which leads them to feel like they are a constant disappointment and not good enough. The child is either scared or ashamed of when they score lower than expected. Disappointment and fear lead them to commit suicide.

 A child needs support and love to excel without feeling pressurised. They need guidance to figure out what they want to become. It is the duty of the parents and teachers to nurture the kids with the support and provide a stress-free environment. They shouldn't be scared that scoring low means that they will be nowhere in life. The kids need to be told that failing or scoring low grades isn't the end of their world.



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Friday, May 3, 2019

Fighting Rape Culture: A story of the Viral Aunty and the girls

May 03, 2019 0


We have all seen a video that has been making the rounds on the internet where a woman says that girls wearing short dresses deserve to be raped. A group of girls and a mother of two daughters stood up to the lady for propagating rape culture. All the millennials were raging with anger on such a comment and came together to make the video viral.

 As reported by TOI, the scenario unveiled like this, “Excuse me, aapko sharam nahin aati aapke thighs dikh rahe(aren’t you ashamed to be showing your thighs)?” This, alleges Shivani Gupta, a 30-year-old copywriter with a private firm, was what a middle-aged woman told her when she entered the eatery, Nukkadwala, at JMD Megapolis mall in Gurgaon on Tuesday noon to have lunch with her friends. When Shivani told her she was “feeling perfectly comfortable in shorts”, the woman allegedly shot back to say, “Women get raped because of women like you.” And then, according to Shivani, you.” And then, according to Shivani, came the shocker. Addressing a group of seven men also present at the eatery, the eatery, the middle-aged woman allegedly said, “Agar apko aise ladkiyan dikhti hain toh rape kar do (If you see such girls, rape them).”

Having had the opportunity to see the entire video online before Instagram took it down on the basis that it did not adhere to its community guidelines, I would like to bring to attention the juncture we are at now.

 The woman, Soma Chakrabarty passed on a comment that girls wearing short thigh showing outfits should be raped. The girls followed the woman around with a camera and asked her to apologise for her comment and when the woman does not budge they threaten to call the police. After some time the woman herself agrees to call the police. While all of this was happening a bystander who is a mother of two daughters heard the situation and stepped in. The woman got very defensive and was still unwilling to apologise. Things took a different turn at this point.
The girls who were filming and the lady who stepped in were visibly enraged about the comment. The mother of two daughters started yelling at the lady for her behaviour which is when a comment about the woman's daughter was made and the girls started throwing body shaming comments about the woman's appearance.

 After all this, the woman addressed the camera that " Hi all, these women want to wear short dresses and encourage all to wear short dresses" and she then exclaimed wow sarcastically and clapped. She then again said" all the ladies wear a short dress and naked to get raped (sic)"




The woman's identity and personal information were passed around on the internet and she became the victim of cyber bullying from being the propagator of rape culture.

 We as a collective who believe in empowerment aspire for equality, respect, and justice. Was justice served here? No. We created a new issue to condemn an existing issue. However, victim blaming isn't the solution. Education is the key here. Both parties have to educate themselves and make a conscious effort to not propagate hate in society. The woman has to learn that no matter what people wear they don't deserve to be raped and it doesn't give the rapist a license to assault them. What the girls and the progressive society have to learn is that bullying isn't the solution. Going to the root of the issue and communicating a perspective in an efficient manner is key.

 Though it is understandable the mental trauma and anger a statement like 'you deserve to be raped for wearing this' can cause, we need to make an educated and conscious effort to solve the issue. We need to educate her while promoting peace and not hatred. If we except a socially conditioned group of people to see reason in our ideology and make a conscious effort to break it, we need to make a conscious effort to be calm and communicate too. If we become like them while hating on them, what is the difference between them and us?

 However, this video that went viral has brought to light an infestation hidden in our society. We all need to learn from the mistakes we make and evolve. We need to make our society more aware of what rape culture is.

 Chakrabarty admitted in an Instagram post on Wednesday that she had been “harsh and incorrect” in her statement, which she said she had realised in hindsight. "I realise that I should have been protective and progressive in my outlook and not conservative and regressive... As a wife, sister and mother and more importantly as a woman, I value every woman's dignity."
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Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Pune uncensored: The city's red light area

May 01, 2019 3
The dark street leads to a darker life.

Images and text by Omkar Narvekar

Just behind the famous Dagadusheth Halwai Ganapati temple lies the red light area of Pune city in Budhwar Peth. The place is located in the heart of the old city of Pune. The paradox about the place is that it has brothel at one side and the first girls school of Maharashtra the other. The area is a tale of both the places which show the struggle of girls in the past. While some ended in uniforms, some were left with no option and were forced into prostitution. Now, 171 years after the school was established, it is sad to see women of both the places still fighting for equal rights.

There is an interesting graffiti work at the start of the area. The left art work says 'Drishtikon badla' which means 'change your outlook,' and it has a woman staring from the right side. Hats off to the artist to paint something this powerful. According to recent data, it is known that there are 1,500 women living in the brothels. 


It is no surprise that the sex workers are looked down in disdain in India. Their profession is considered as a taboo. Gone are the days, when they used to be respected and be regarded as 'Nagarvadhus' (brides of town). However, people believe that these brothels help in decreasing the rape count in some ways. It is high time we consider them as an equal and give them an identity. 


One thing I noticed about such areas, be it in Mumbai or Pune, that there are always goddesses protecting them. A woman understands a woman after all, it is time for the men to stand by them and not behind them. 
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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Rape Culture: A growing threat

April 30, 2019 0


What is rape culture?

Rape culture is when as a society and environment our social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault.

Rape culture exists in our comments and daily vocabulary. Rape culture exists when people tell you not to be raped instead of saying not to rape.

It is not just the high number of rape incidents, but the inappropriate remarks about rape and rape victims uttered routinely that contribute to what is called India's “rape culture.” Phrases like, “boys will be boys” give the idea that males shouldn’t have accountability for their “sexual urges” because that is what’s expected of them.

Women are expected to be mild, meek, feminine, or dainty. They shouldn’t dress provocatively, go out at night or go drinking. Any time there’s an example of a woman not adhering to these standards and she is sexually abused, she gets blamed. Victim blaming is a huge part of rape culture and is also seen far too often.

We all have contributed to rape culture one way or the other:

Rape culture is when you ask your girlfriend to keep quiet about her sexual abuse because ‘what will people think’?

Rape culture is to ask your daughter to keep quiet, about her sexual abuse because ‘who will want to get married to a rape victim?’

Rape culture is to ask your sister to not wear something to college, because boys will get distracted. 

Rape culture is to ask your friend are you sure you he groped you? Because it is possible that they were just being friendly and you misunderstood.

Rape culture is when you ask him why didn’t you just enjoy it when he confides in you that he was raped.

Rape culture is when you laugh at it when he tells you that he was groped.


Now let’s take a look at what goes on in the mind of a Rapist.

Mukesh Singh was one of the men convicted for the 16 December 2012 gang-rape and murder in Delhi, The Nirbhaya Case. He justifies the rape on the grounds that the victim had overstepped the lines of prescribed gender roles and feminine morality.




Now, where did he get the idea that she overstepped or over spoke as a female? The idea that women shouldn’t have strong speech or shouldn’t be strong headed was inculcated in his mind and this made him want to teach her a lesson and show the victim her place. So he raped her. Rape is a crime where the body of the victim is used as a weapon. He believed that raping her would strip her off her sense of dignity and make her feel small.

Why did he believe this? Because he knew that the society would outcast her and blame her for not walking away. The scariest of all is that he doesn’t think what he did was wrong and if put in a similar situation again, he would do the same.

What we speak? What we wear, what we don’t wear, where we are doesn’t give anyone the free pass to rape or sexually assault a human being.

It’s rape culture that makes it so hard for male victims to speak out too, because hand-in-hand with the dismissal of rape as a hilarious joke goes the stigmatisation of male rape victims as effeminate, impotent or non-existent.

How do we end it?

Awareness about consent and how rape jokes and victim blaming silences the victims and discourages them from reporting the culprit should be created. If not reported, it could let the rapist walk free and could be dangerous for another person who could be a possible victim. There has to be a conscious effort as a society to not encourage the perpetrator by shaming the victim.
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Thursday, April 18, 2019

Education and it's complicated relationship with Parents

April 18, 2019 1


Words - Asmita Yadav

Education is said to be the base of every country’s development. It helps in eradicating the discrimination that prevails on the basis of caste, sex and age. Education develops rational thinking, makes us understand what crime is and what are its consequences. Education is the pillar of one’s career. Better education can help in giving out good ideologies to the nation.

But who should be educated?
Obviously, children should be educated because they are the future of our country. But if their present blocks the future then what will be its use?
According to me, education should be given to the parents because before educating your child, you should educate yourself. The main reason behind this is that parents are an obstacle between education and children. Parents ultimately end up stopping their children from becoming a rational thinker.

How are the parents an obstacle between education and children?
Here I will try to explain to you my above statement with few real examples which you can relate to.

In our school, we teach that girls and boys have the same right and there should be no discrimination between them, but when we really try to implement the same in our real life, our parents are the ones to discriminate between male and female. There’s no doubt that the love for both the children is equal but when it comes to clothes, marriage, parties and career, then they go against our education system. Girls are more likely to work in the kitchen whereas boys are said to handle all the outside work.

In school, we thought that Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jain, Christians are all human beings and religion is just an identity. But when we try to marry a girl/boy from a different religion then our parents are the one to stand against us and force us to marry a person from the same religion.

In school, we are taught that career is most important. But when we are busy in making our career plans and searching for a better job opportunity, our parents start giving more importance to our marriage and become busy in searching for a groom/bride for us.
Science in school says menstruation is just a health problem and the girls should not be treated as untouchables. But we all are aware of how girls are still shy about their periods and in many religions, girls are forced to remain separate from their family and are not allowed to enter the kitchen and the temple. If somehow we take a stand against it then we are threatened by our own family. We are taught what superstition is but our own family follows that like a fact and forces us to believe the same. Our teacher says that we shouldn’t listen to anyone and to live your life by yourself. But our mom and dad say don’t do this, don’t do that, if you do so then what will the society say?

There are so many examples which prove that our family and our own parents are an obstacle to our education and development. Kids are more likely to follow their parents without questioning them because they believe that they will never teach us wrong and this stops us from following our book and real values. Whatever they are taught by their parents they follow same, like whatever they teach us we follow and so the hierarchy will go on and the real meaning of education which teaches us value, equality and rational thinking will be ignored. Today, education according to them is just for a better job and a good salary.

So it’s necessary that there should be a special section in schools and colleges for parents too, which will help in erasing the age gap and provide a better understanding between the child and the parents.
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