Curiosity doesn’t kill this cat

Finally I spent my first week in New Delhi, after a lifetime’s desire to visit my own capital.

Once I knew that I would be in Delhi for 10 months, I started wondering how it would look like. Though tourist pictures would be the obvious shots that should have popped up in my brain, my mental images were from the movie ‘Delhi-6’ with narrow streets, white pigeons and a bit of the Metro. Well, so far, I have neither been through such streets nor come across white doves nor been on a Metro.

 What pleasantly surprised me is the greenery. Did I expect that from the capital city of a rapidly industrializing country? Not really. Red bricks and green trees like the top and bottom colours of the Indian flag run through various parts of this city. Of course, that doesn't necessarily reflect a patriotic sense.

As I walked into the Institute, I noticed these numbered steps - 1, 2, until 22 (I just turned 22 this weekend) after which the Kumon Learning Centre for kids would be. And then, the numbers stopped. This showed how I am not a young student to be spoon-fed any more  I had to count my own steps to the next floor. I was told of the same by the seniors or perhaps, I just interpreted it so. This is where I would learn Broadcast Journalism and adapt to the field alongside further discovery of myself. And when I entered, I found myself in an Airtel ad, with the gang there right here. Supplied with unlimited coffee, parrots on the terrace, and time flying, I couldn't get around this beautiful city yet. With a lot of thoughts bulked up in my brain and my lonely birthday around the corner, I felt like I am ending the week with anxiety.

Throughout Saturday, I had to keep reminding myself every time someone wished me, that it was actually my birthday. The day was spent in shopping for my new house overlooking the sanctuary of Masjid Moth. A decade back, I remember wearing a spaghetti top in Salem and fake nails just to shock people. What a rebellious entry into my teens! And here I am, wearing an old simple tee and a pair of jeans after studying fashion journalism. I do feel more refined somehow, as I should. But the evolution is astonishing. Such milestones are significant as would be our journal to do every week here in the Media Institute. If this week is overflowing with tasks and thoughts, what would the second week be like?

The Weight and Value of Labour

The second week at the NDTV Media Institute has turned my curiosity to apprehension. I try to put on my best face and give life as much as I get from it.

Yet another week passes by with a delay in work at my house-to-be. I wonder how it would affect my assignments. Moving out from my guest house seems impossible though most of my things have been shifted already. My mom left on Sunday morning as her stay-back overtime was causing a lot of cash loss. But questions of my stuff which should be brought back to the guest house and moved again, maybe even next weekend, despite the expenses, or how my clothes can be washed or how I would cook, all throw me into a tizzy.

Broadcast Journalism for the masses is about rushing to meet deadlines and my journals do help me, as I said last week, by reflecting a milestone of where I am. Suddenly the guest house seems all the more lonely this Sunday, with the sound of the fan swirling and the clock ticking. Relax but hurry, they seem to say.

Throughout the week, memories bloomed of Rome and home –of a time when after watching ‘supersize me’, my friend ended up eating at Burger King instead of McDonalds. Life circled around Fashion like in ‘the September Issue’. My renowned refusal to dance in the past years was challenged when theatre workshop’s Mr.Mansukhani got me to move my body to the music.

As the second week comes to an end, NDTV’s red-coloured theme becomes familiar to my brain and I feel a push to accelerate my speed – in my assignments, house and against time. After having packed and moved my clothes on Saturday and after a whole morning of cleaning the windows of the new house, tears roll down with anxiety of how I would make it to 50 or at least 35 news offices. As I walk back to the guest house with a sweater for the next day, I find the gate locked and wait outside for an hour. My internet runs slow and my phone goes dead. Surviving on curd this day, my hope is to settle down as soon as possible so that my best goes out to my work.

Here I am, still determined, to toil as strong as I can and discover my place. 

An espresso of the week

Italy seems to call me back or maybe it is Delhi that has become home next to Rome.

Dior – so the mail says. It is an opportunity to be grabbed without doubt. I had unsubscribed from all job sites in august. Yet fashion seems to be summoning me back. Well, the week had been continuously revoking memories of Rome after all. This e-mail was just the cherry on top.

I am the first customer for Costa Coffee, this Sunday morning. From Italian buildings to Pugliese dancers, the place is packed with photos that are already etched in me. Since ‘September Issue’ was screened at the Institute, Rome seems to call out to me now and then. I wonder at the back of my head as to why I didn’t get “Anima sana in corpore sano” when Mr.Singhal pointed out that my South Indian accent had to be curbed. I kept quiet and took a shot to clear my mind –of espresso. At theatre, all this nostalgia, I guess, was translated into the act, with poor Asha getting hit with my imaginary high heels.

With so many thoughts, my brain got jammed every once in a while in the past week. But since I’m almost set in my new flat, I found my organizer and put pen to paper to prioritise tasks. How could I think of getting through an internship at NDTV without this tiny notepad at hand? With my mom gone, I need to wash, cook, clean and pedal my way to the institute daily. It is strange to see that I’m the only female on a bicycle. Though I find it a good investment, people seem to find it strange.

Living alone has its pros and cons. It makes me come so early to the institute that I drink chai with Dilip bhaiyya once the room’s cleaning is done. And if only people knew of the stench that emanates from the red carpet every morning! I wish everyone could avoid littering around the place to make it easier for the men to clean it up. On the other hand, my house still has water leaking down the roof. Well, to wake up and see peacocks on the beautifully vast terrace lined with flower pots, looking out to the forest enclave and Archana complex beyond, makes it worthwhile.

I have taken five hours around Delhi this Sunday to get five photos for Mr. Singhal.  I passed by India Gate today as though it were the Colosseum. Well, Delhi has become family in the end. So with my latte, I bid ciao (bye) to this week and say ciao (hi) to the one ahead.

Dumbing Down (Journalism)

‘Dumbing Down’ is a term coined around 1933 by screenplay writers of motion pictures to indicate modification where language had to be simplified so as to reach a less educated audience. The slang, however, took various manifestations and eventually meant oversimplification so as to destroy the intellectual value of the final product/work.

For example, schooling, as represented by John Taylor Gatto,”were designed exactly as if someone had set out to prevent children from learning how to think”.

In the field of mass communications media, ‘dumbing down’ came into practice due to business monopoly.

Also, the movie ‘Idiocracy’ uses this concept.

Superficial writing or even complete avoidance of complex topics, that could even be vital to current affairs, can compromise the very core values of journalism, especially when the ‘dumbing down’ is done to such an extent as to alter the entire meaning, or the avoidance tends to bring ignorance rather than knowledge to the society, which is what journalism should provide. Complex topics (mostly scientific) and side-effects of ongoing politics/trade, in today’s world, tend to be assimilated into the long format of journalism – documentaries. Whilst even daily newspapers and news bulletins are losing out on audience, especially in India, documentaries are not even close to be widespread nor do they have enough competition to bring out, most of the time, good quality of narration.

Making the readers relate and understand the topic doesn’t call for speculation that oversimplification and also time constraints may cause. Journalism must be credible and this foundation stone is in itself broken down when the topic is melted beyond a true meaning. Very little analysis is offered by news when dumbed down, which denotes an auto-removal of the power of the press. Also, the other side of this phenomenon is the glitz, meaning, domination of glamour through celebrities over crime, club parties over political parties, etc. This tabloidization of standard news services is an ever-increasing epidemic of the media and the need to be curbed almost seems invisible though strongly necessary. This phenomenon also seems to grow with the orientation of capitalistic competition, to a finance-based extreme.

News has become all about who sells most; and by “who”, I mean, which channel/paper. Thereby the vision to provide the mass with insight has almost been replaced by TRPs (which on the other hand, don’t provide accurate data in India). In this internet era, web marketing is dominated by the long tail of niche markets. In the 3.0 age, media hasn’t escaped from the trend of the trade. What was little, limited and in the corner, has suddenly become abundant, both in websites and on 24 hour news channels. News has certainly died culturally with such an overrun. 

Help me, Facebook!

Facebook helped me waste my time, as Fashion Technology held the least of my interest.  One day, the sidebar advertisement caught my eye –creativediary.net, which still offers scholarships to study at Istituto Europeo di Design to the winners of a contest they hold. I applied with a project for Fashion Communication, which was the one subject that had interested me in my curriculum, other than English. And by the end of the month, I actually won my right to study Journalism. So Facebook does aid after all.

Who is Jakob Nielsen?

·         A Web Usability Expert who knows a lot about the Internet.
·         Previously he was working as a Sun Microsystems Engineer and currently is the co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group with Dr.Donald Norman. He originated “discount usability engineering”.
·         He writes a column on Web Usability which has a current readership of 12 million views per year.
·         His latest book published this year is “Mobile Usability”.
·         Previously he was affiliated with Bellcore, the Technical University of Denmark and IBM User Interface Institute. He was inducted into the Scandinavian Interactive Media Hall of Fame in June 2000.

How does he describe the manner in which people use the web?

·         They don’t read web pages. Studies show that they read e-mail newsletters even more abruptly than web pages. So websites have to attract their attention by following the inverted pyramid, bullet points, highlighting keywords, simple sub-headings, concise text and increase credibility by refined graphic elements.
·         Cognitive burden imposes negative thoughts on promotional language, thereby slowing it down. Combining concise, scannable and objective versions, usability goes up by 124%.
·         Most users spend most of the time only on well-laid pages that are minimalist and are not overly loaded or bloated with design or are arranged in no logic. 

Medium Term: My Impressions

When I open up Vir Sanghvi’s blog on the Hindustan Times, I tend to personally have a denial to read it from the alleged involvement of Vir in the 2G Spectrum. However, as I move past the premature block, I remember, he used to be my dad’s favourite though I again feel that his access to luxurious food and couture gifts was too flamboyant. His articles have a lot of I’s – “I have heard”, “I think” or “I don’t”. Some statements lose support as they tend to be based on rumors which he quotes. So certain sections tend to look like a report of rumours. For example, “ I have heard Congress leaders say that voter fatigue has set in and that the people of Gujarat are getting fed up of Modi. I have also heard it said that Keshubhai will take away Patel votes and will act as a spoiler in many constituencies.” The article is infused and spaced with personal perspectives and sentiments. It gives the idea of a conversation with a friend rather than an editorial to the public.Check out the blog here