Why Pakistan is Provoking India?

A small scale war has no meaning in current political world. Either you fight like USA to change the geography of a nation are you sit and negotiate.This is an advice to Pakistan which I wish to give to Pakistani administration. Pakistan knows that it does not have  capability by any means to fight a full scale war with India.What it can do at its best is to engage Indian Army and actually it does not want to engage Indian Army but the political establishment of India in order to distract its attention from concentrating on domestics issues ,which Modi government has taken up very seriously and is performing pretty well. Modi has applied so called 'Gujrat Model of Integral Growth' picking up the threads from villages which are primary unit of structure in Indian Administration. This the first time after Britishers thought about analyzing the internal structure and then to apply a model of growth in to viallges.Modi knows that its very easy for him to grow at international level and its also easy for him to make the world realize that he is ready to open the door for foreign investors like he did in Gujarat,but its difficult to address domestics problems.So,after returning from USA and UN where he very firmly showcased India's strength ,he has switched his gear to domestic issues which India really need to address at this stage. Swach Bharat Abhiyaan and Gramin Vikas are tow mega projects which signifies Modi's concern towards basic growth model which however is a key to integral growth of India. Remember Indian villages are still the most powerful unit to decide the political fate of country and even then they have many issues to be addressed. Modi's two tier model which he have applied is to flow the maximum possible money to villages and attract maximum possible investment from international agencies and I guess he will succeed in this.

Pakistan know that it has miserably failed at international front in his foreign policy to engage India by raising Kashmir issue at international platform . UN has clearly told that Pakistan must come to a bilateral dialogue table if it wish to address its what ever concern it has towards Kashmir. By failing in its primary objective,it has now concentrated to engage Indian political establishment(Not Army) in infiltration and small scale war . It badly wanted to Modi Administartion to comment on this 'Cross Border Firing'(remember Pakistan at no point can afford a full sacle war with India ,except engaging Indian Army at few post and infiltrating army of terrorists in Indian border) issue,which Modi reacted pretty well and in very short. The objective is divert  Modi Establishment from further focusing on integral growth and restrict Modi to increase his already growing clout at international stage. 

I strongly feel that Pakistan will fail in both of its objective. My advice to Pakistan is that it should now fear about its bad equations with USA and should focus on its domestic issues like India is doing.

Analysis written by Ratnesh Dwivedi

11/10/14,12:30 PM

The Cosmic Mask by Ratnesh Dwivedi

Book- The Cosmic Mask

Category-Science Fantasy

Publisher- Lulu Press,Inc

Year- 2014

ISBN- 9 781500 464806

When I was a small kid growing up in a small village in rural eastern U.P,every night my mother would tell me stories of a demon from ocean in deep south flying towards mighty kingdom of Ayodhya in search of  Ashrams of holy saints to destroy it and abolish the Kingdom of Ayodhya. She would also tell me many stories of flying demons and how various gods of Hindu mythology lives in outer space in their respective kingdom of Swarga and Narka. Many stories told by her made me think how life can exist on other than earth, when my teacher told me that no where else other than Earth life exists. Sleeping on a mat on roof top of my old house alongside my mother I always looked in to sky and thought about bright stars and moon which were integral part of her stories.

When I grew up and was jobless for almost ten years I peeped in to NASA website and came across that magnificent thesaurus known as Space Science. In a crowded market of Thipsandara in Bangalore I sat for many hours in a cyber café searching and studying NASA website  .The very same year Colombia Space Shuttle collapsed while on its returning path to Earth killing all six astronauts on board including India born Kalpana Chawla.I saw on television that entire India was worshiping for safe return of Colombia , a magic which did not occur. Two years later when I realized that I had enough information on various space missions and many other activities of NASA,I started a series of workshops in my ancestral town of Ayodhya on various activities and space missions of NASA. Soon I realized that there was a lot of potential among rural students to learn the adventure of space science, but there was a need to enlighten them with the knowledge through stories.

I knew that there has very less work been  done in this area of story writing on space adventure as for as Indian authors are concerned, so I started searching western authors and after couple of years research I joined some of remarkable NASA workshops and conferences conducted by Education outreach department of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I was also given responsibility to conduct a prestigious essay contest of NASA in Indian schools which I am doing till date. In this exercise of attending NASA conferences and workshops and organizing its essay contest in India I came across a number of science fiction authors who have done commendable job and out of almost 1000 stories selected ten stories which caught my eyesight and to which I felt could be best for Indian readers.

In this whole exercise I am thankful to Gina Brisssenden of American Astronomical Society who conducts may workshops and tutorials for K-12 students in U.S. Schools .She is head of observatory division at University of Arizona. I am thankful to her for kind of insight I got by the workshop material she supplied to me. I am also thankful  to David M. Sidel, Manager, Education Cell of JPL to whom I know since I first peeped in to NASA website. I am also thankful to Shari Asplaud of McREL ,who allowed me to attend some of NASA workshops in Discovery series.

I am equally thankful to all my NASA Scientist friends who are on my Linked in friend account.

I bow my head to my parents who have been my source of motivation through all my life and equally I am thankful to my elder brother who nourished in me how to think scientifically. This book would not have been possible without constant support and love from my wife and five year old son who like me also intends to know about Sun, Moon and Earth.

And last but not least a word of thank to my publisher who made this compiled work possible and helped me in my goal to create awareness about Space  and Astronomy Science among Indian readers.

Want to be a Data Journalist

Data journalism is huge. I don't mean 'huge' as in fashionable - although it has become that in recent months - but 'huge' as in 'incomprehensibly enormous'. It represents the convergence of a number of fields which are significant in their own right - from investigative research and statistics to design and prog...ramming. The idea of combining those skills to tell important stories is powerful - but also intimidating. Who can do all that?




The reality is that almost no one is doing all of that, but there are enough different parts of the puzzle for people to easily get involved in, and go from there. To me, those parts come down to four things:



1. Finding data

'Finding data' can involve anything from having expert knowledge and contacts to being able to use computer assisted reporting skills or, for some, specific technical skills such as MySQL or Python to gather the data for you.



2. Interrogating data

Interrogating data well means you need to have a good understanding of jargon and the wider context within which data sits, plus statistics - a familiarity with spreadsheets can help save a lot of time.



3. Visualising data

Visualising and mashing data has historically been the responsibility of designers and coders, but an increasing number of people with editorial backgrounds are trying their hand at both - partly because of a widening awareness of what is possible, and partly because of a lowering of the barriers to experimenting with them.



4. Mashing data

Tools such as ManyEyes for visualisation, and Yahoo! Pipes for mashups, have made it possible for me to get journalism students stuck in quickly with the possibilities - and many catch the data journalism bug soon after.



How to begin?

So where does a budding data journalist start? An obvious answer would be "with the data" - but there's a second answer too: "With a question".



Journalists have to balance their role in responding to events with their role as an active seeker of stories - and data is no different. The New York Times' Aron Pilhofer recommends that you "Start small, and start with something you already know and already do. And always, always, always remember that the goal here is journalism." The Guardian's Charles Arthur suggests "Find a story that will be best told through numbers", while The Times' Jonathan Richards and The Telegraph's Conrad Quilty-Harper both recommend finding your feet and coming up with ideas by following blogs in the field and attending meetups such as Hacks/Hackers.



There is no shortage of data being released that you can get your journalistic teeth into. The open data movement in the UK and internationally is seeing a continual release of newsworthy data, and it's relatively easy to find datasets being released by regulators, consumer groups, charities, scientific institutions and businesses. You can also monitor the responses to Freedom of Information requests on What Do They Know, and on organisations' own disclosure logs. And of course, there's the Guardian's own datablog.



A second approach, however, is to start with a question - "Do speed cameras cost or save money?" for example, was one topical question that was recently asked on Help Me Investigate, the crowdsourcing investigative journalism site that I run - and then to search for the data that might answer it (so far that has come from a government review and a DfT report). Submitting a Freedom of Information request is a useful avenue too (make sure you ask for the data in CSV or similar format).



Whichever approach you take, it's likely that the real work will lie in finding the further bits of information and data to fill out the picture you're trying to clarify. Government data, for example, will often come littered with jargon and codes you'll need to understand. A call to the relevant organisation can shed some light. If that's taking too long, an advanced search for one of the more obscure codes can help too - limiting your search, for example, by including site:gov.uk filetype:pdf (or equivalent limitations for your particular search) at the end.



You'll also need to contextualise the initial data with further data. Say you have some information about a government department's changing wage bill, for example: has the department workforce expanded? How does it compare to other government departments? What about wider wages within the industry? What about inflation and changes in the cost of living? This context can make a difference between missing and spotting a story.



Quite often your data will need cleaning up: look out for different names for the same thing, spelling and punctuation errors, poorly formatted fields (e.g. dates that are formatted as text), incorrectly entered data and information that is missing entirely. Tools like Freebase Gridworks can help here.



At other times the dataset you need will come in an inconvenient format, such as a PDF, Powerpoint, or a rather ugly webpage. If you're lucky, you may be able to copy and paste the data into a spreadsheet. But you won't always be lucky.



At these moments some programming knowledge comes in handy. There's a sliding scale here: at one end are those who can write scripts from scratch that scrape a webpage and store the information in a spreadsheet. Alternatively, you can use a website like Scraperwiki which already has example scripts that you can customise to your ends - and a community to help. Then there are online tools like Yahoo! Pipes and the Firefox plugin OutWit Hub. If the data is in a HTML table you can even write a one-line formula in Google Spreadsheets to pull it in. Failing all the above, you might just have to record it by hand - but whatever you do, make sure you publish your spreadsheet online and blog about it so others don't have to repeat your hard work.



Once you have the data you need to tell the story, you need to get it ready to visualise. Trim off everything peripheral to what you need in order to visualise your story. There are dozens of free online tools you can use to do this. ManyEyes and Tableau Public are good places to start for charts. This poster by A. Abela (PDF) is a good guide to what charts work best for different types of data.



Play around. If you're good with a graphics package, try making the visualisation clearer through colour and labelling. And always include a piece of text giving a link to the data and its source - because infographics tend to become separated from their original context as they make their way around the web.



For maps, the wonderful OpenHeatMap is very easy to use - as long as your data is categorised by country, local authority, constituency, region or county. Or you can use Yahoo! Pipes to map the points of interest. Both of these are actually examples of mashups, which is useful if you like the word "mashups" and want to use it at parties. There are other tools too, but if you want to get serious about mashing up, you will need to explore the world of programming and APIs. At that point you may sit back and think: "Data journalism is huge."



And you know what? I said that once.



Paul Bradshaw is founder, Help Me Investigate and Reader in Online Journalism, Birmingham City University and teaches at City University in London. He publishes the Online journalism blog

Why we need more Data Journalism

Why we need more data journalism


Chris Walker * January 20, 2014



I read a lot of news. You might call me a news junkie, and I suspect many of you are news junkies, too. Every morning I dedicate a couple hours to reading news articles from four or five news sites. I enjoy investing time in reading the news, because I like to be informed about important developments in the world and about the theor...ies that attempt to explain them. Being informed, I believe, makes me a more enlightened citizen and a more interesting person. Armed with my daily news studies, I like to think that I can go out into the world and make better decisions as a voter and consumer.



I’ve been at it for several years now. And the early verdict on whether I’ve attained enlightened citizen status is, well, disappointing. Given the quantity of news I consume every day, I should understand the world far more deeply than I do. I feel informed about current events—after all I can spout off the major headlines of the day and even tell you the name of the Chinese president (with correct pronunciation). But there’s this gnawing sense that most of the news articles and blog posts I’m consuming are empty calories, and that I’m not getting any closer to the crux of things.



A promising development for journalism, and for those of us who hope to become better informed, is the rise of open data. According to the Open Knowledge Foundation:



Open data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.

There are ever-expanding oceans of open data on the internet, free and accessible to the public. For example data.gov, the U.S. government’s open data portal, now contains about 85,000 searchable datasets. That’s a lot of data. The wealth of information available on data.gov and similar websites can inform the broader public on many issues that matter to us, such as crime rates, healthcare outcomes, affordable housing construction, government budgets, the health of the economy, disease prevalence, quality of education, attitudes toward gay marriage, equality of opportunity, you get the idea.



It might be tempting then to conclude that all this data is ushering us into a golden age of public discourse, in which citizens can easily become well-informed on any topic. But while the effort by governments and research institutions to publish open datasets is commendable, the availability of the data doesn’t necessarily make it accessible to most people. The main problem is that pretty much every open dataset looks like this:

This is an excerpt of interstate migration data from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS), published by the U.S. Census Bureau. There are needles of truth buried in that haystack that are relevant to interesting questions on migration trends. But how is the average person supposed to figure out what the data has to say? The 2012 ACS migration dataset isn’t huge—it’s only about 70 KB—but it still contains over 6,200 individual data points. The irony is that the data is publicly available and free to use—it’s by definition open—but it’s presented in a format that’s essentially useless to the vast majority of people. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the term big data. If I’ve learned anything from years spent doing data analysis and customizing data analytics software, it’s that even with small data it takes the right tools and a lot of work to separate the signal from the noise, to interpret what the data is really saying and how it relates to things people care about. It takes effort to distil 6,200 data points into a few useful insights.



More fundamentally, how would the average person even know to pull up that particular ACS dataset in the first place? One does not simply get up in the morning and casually peruse data.gov over a cup of coffee, looking for trends in interstate migration (okay, I do). You would already have to be interested in migration to find a dataset that sheds light on it. Put another way, discovery doesn’t happen without motivation, which means the bulk of those 85,000 datasets on data.gov are essentially invisible to the average person.



Data alone doesn’t lead to a better informed public; the other half of the equation, of course, is a journalism sector that’s able to use the data to enhance storytelling and communication of big complex issues. We already outsource much information-processing to bloggers and reporters, relying on them to curate the daily deluge of information involving everything from politics to pop culture. Asking the right questions and separating the signal from the noise, in the interest of the public, is exactly what good journalism is all about.



But there isn’t enough data-driven storytelling making its way into the news cycle. By data-driven storytelling, I don’t mean burying a handful of statistics into a long-form article. I mean using the wealth of data available today to put a story into its proper context, for example to convey the historical trends, the categorical patterns and outliers, and the geographic distributions relevant to the story. I may be biased because my background is in data analytics, and I’ll fully concede that not every issue can be presented with quantified information, but we can be getting much more value from open datasets.



Consider the variety of news stories that can be enriched by incorporating data on a topic as seemingly academic as U.S. migration trends. To list just a few issues, migration data helps us to better understand regional differences in economic hardship, the effectiveness of economic policy reforms, which cities face urban planning challenges, the ability of people to become entrepreneurs, the American psyche of reinventing oneself, and the evolution of party affiliation and political beliefs in battleground congressional districts.



The lack of depth in data reporting is related to a more general trend in journalism today, which is that news stories increasingly prioritize immediacy at the expense of context. We now learn about more developments from more parts of the world faster than we ever have before, but each story comes with shallower context. A recent example that sticks out in my mind is the U.S. government shutdown episode and the subsequent budget deal at the end of 2013. Covering the shutdown was an occasion for the news media to help the public better grasp the composition of the federal budget, how various proposals impacted components of the budget, and the relative impacts of budget proposals on the deficit and national debt. Instead, news coverage was more of a play-by-play of the mudslinging and partisan theatrics within Congress.



It’s important to point out that journalists aren’t solely responsible for the shift towards immediacy. It’s our fault too. Reading habits have changed, as we now have access to more news sources and are almost always plugged in to them, either on our mobile devices or desktops. As a result our attention spans are much shorter. When we open a news story, we want to get to the main point quickly, then swipe to the next item in our never-ending feeds.



There’s got to be a better way to tell the whole story without losing the reader’s attention. I believe one viable option is through data visualization. Journalists can address the tension between immediacy and context by integrating more interactive graphics into storytelling. A great data visualization can capture and hold a reader’s attention while also conveying broader context about the subject, literally painting the bigger picture for the reader. As an example of what I mean, here is the 2012 ACS migration dataset, presented as a visualization that anyone can explore.

I’m launching datawovn.com to help address the issues in journalism discussed above. First, that a great wealth of knowledge is locked up in open datasets, and unlocking that knowledge requires more exploration and analysis of data by investigative journalists and independent bloggers. Second, too many stories prioritize immediacy over context, but an engaging interactive visualization can hold on to a reader’s attention while simultaneously conveying more substance than text could alone. We don’t have to resort to sensational sound bites. Data visualization is a powerful tool for communicating ideas and one that is especially suited to mobile and desktop browsing, which is how most of us consume news today.



Catching journalism up to the data-driven era can’t be accomplished by a single news outlet or blog. I firmly believe we need many more reporters and bloggers to integrate open data into their work. We need more data journalists. Part of the reason we don't have more data journalists is a lack of familiarity with the tools for data journalism. If you’re interested in getting involved in data journalism yourself, there are many great resources for getting started. Sign up for Alberto Cairo’s next MOOC on infographics and data visualization. Read Scott Murray’s book on developing interactive visualizations for the web. Check out ProPublica’s Nerd Blog and all the incredible data analysis and visualization software tools compiled by visualizing data.



I hope you enjoy interacting with the visualizations on this site, and more importantly that they help you to better understand a complex issue affecting our world, make you a slightly more enlightened citizen, and maybe even inspire you to investigate and report on some data yourself.



My goal is to keep this site free of ads or a paywall, and I’m working full-time on maintaining the site and producing data visualizations. Last summer I quit my job in New York City, moved to India, and have thrown myself completely into this project. It’s a lot of work, it’s been thrilling and terrifying, and I’ve only just started. Please consider supporting me with a recurring monthly subscription by visiting the About page.



If you’d like to comment on what I’ve written here, or have ideas for stories, drop me a note. I’d love to hear from you.



-Chris

Mumbai, India

Interview with Ariana Huffington-Owner of Huffington Media Group

On the morning of April 6, 2007, Arianna Huffington found herself lying on the floor of her home office in a pool of blood.On her way down, her head had hit the corner of her desk, cutting her eye and breaking her cheekbone. She had collapsed from exhaustion and lack of sleep. In the wake of her collapse, she found herself going from doctor to doctor, from brain MRI to CAT scan to echocardiogram, to find out if there was any underlying medical problem beyond exhaustion. There wasn’t, but doctors’ waiting rooms, it turns out, proved to be good places for ask a lot of questions about the kind of life she was living. Earlier this year, I caught up with Arianna Huffington at a conference in Switzerland.

Greg: What was the genesis for the book Thrive?

Arianna: We founded The Huffington Post in 2005, and two years in we were growing at an incredible pace. I was on the cover of magazines and had been chosen by Time as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People. But after my fall, I had to ask myself, "Was this what success looked like? Was this the life I wanted?" I was working eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, trying to build a business, expand our coverage, and bring in investors. But my life, I realized, was out of control. In terms of the traditional measures of success, which focus on money and power, I was very successful. But I was not living a successful life by any sane definition of success. I knew something had to radically change. I could not go on that way. And that is how Thrive came to be.

Greg: How did we get here? As a society I mean: what are the greater forces at play?

Arianna: Over time our society’s notion of success has been reduced to money and power. In fact, at this point, success, money, and power have practically become synonymous in the minds of many. This idea of success can work— or at least appear to work— in the short term. But over the long term, money and power by themselves are like a two-legged stool— you can balance on them for a while, but eventually you’re going to topple over. And more and more people— very successful people— are toppling over.

In the world of business, one of the primary obstacles keeping many companies from adopting more sane and sustainable metrics of success is the stubborn — and dangerously wrongheaded— myth that there is a trade- off between high performance at work and taking care of ourselves. This couldn’t be less true. And soon, the companies that still believe this will be in the minority. Right now, about 35 percent of large and midsize U.S. employers offer some sort of stress-reduction program, including Target, Apple, Nike, and Procter & Gamble. And those that do are starting to be recognized for their efforts, especially by employees. Glassdoor.com, the social jobs and careers community, releases an annual list of the top twenty- five companies for work- life balance: “Companies that make sincere efforts to recognize employees’ lives outside of the office,” said Glassdoor’s Rusty Rueff, “will often see the payoff when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent.”

Greg: What is the most interesting research you came across in writing this book? Something which made you say, "Wow!"

Arianna: One point that really struck me had to do with gazelles. They run and flee when there is a danger— a leopard or a lion approaching— but as soon as the danger passes, they stop and go back to grazing peacefully without a care in the world. But human beings cannot distinguish between real dangers and imagined ones. As Mark Williams, a psychology professor at Oxford, explains, “The brain’s alarm signals start to be triggered not only by the current scare, but by past threats and future worries…So when we humans bring to mind other threats and losses, as well as the current scenario, our bodies’ fight-or-flight systems do not switch off when the danger is past. Unlike the gazelles, we don’t stop running.” Now my screensaver is a picture of gazelles – they are my role models! But Thrive explores many of the ways modern science is validating ancient wisdom, so there were a lot of “wow” moments!

Greg: What are 3 things people can do (or deliberately not do) to make the shift to thriving?

Arianna: Thrive is designed as a bridge,to help us move from knowing what to do to actually doing it. Here are three simple steps each of us can take that can have dramatic effects on our well-being:

1. Unless you are one of the wise few who already gets all the rest you need, you have an opportunity to immediately improve your health, creativity, productivity, and sense of well- being. Start by getting just thirty minutes more sleep than you are getting now. The easiest way is to go to bed earlier, but you could also take a short nap during the day— or a combination of both.

2. Introduce five minutes of meditation into your day. Eventually, you can build up to fifteen or twenty minutes a day (or more), but even just a few minutes will open the door to creating a new habit— and all the many proven benefits it brings.

3. At the end of each day, let go of something that you no longer need— something that is draining your energy without benefiting you or anyone you love. It could be resentments, negative self-talk, or a project you know you are not really going to complete.

Greg: Big question here and a bit of a shift, what do you want your eulogy to say?

Arianna: What I know for sure is that our eulogies have nothing to do with our resumes. Even for those who die with amazing Wikipedia entries, whose lives were synonymous with accomplishment and achievement, their eulogies focus mostly on what they did when they weren’t achieving and succeeding. They aren’t bound by our current, broken definition of success. Have you ever heard anyone eulogized by saying, "George was amazing. He increased market share by one-third!"?



Arianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of fourteen books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. In 2013, she was named to the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. In 2006 and 2011 she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union. Thrive is her 14th book.

The Sucker Punch --Straight From Epicenter of Political Volcano in India

                                                    The Truth of Modidom
I was watching a newly launched TV show on IBN 7,where anchor was stating that there were three clear cut waves during general elections in India. First was in 1971 with Indira Gandhi's `Garibi Hatao',the second was in 1984 during elections immediately after Indira Gandhi's assassination and third is now in 2014,which is referred as Modi Mania. I have just returned from the epicenter of India's political volcano —Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Though I was on a very personal visit to my home town in Ayodhya-Faizabad,where some 500 people turned to my home on a very sad occasion, but as its is in the blood of politically smart people of my native place they reacted instantly to me about the emerging equation in BJP as they feel that entire emergence of BJP is due to this religiously town. I am bound to say that not a single person was happy with the man who is really playing the shots in BJP,and we all know who he is. Their first anger was about the shifting of seats of winning candidates of BJP and their second biggest anger was about the poor candidate BJP has selected Ayodhya and Faizabad. Lallu Singh,who is known as drunk political leader in the area has been loosing election for past two elections and he manged to win previously only during so called Ram Aandolan. Sitting MP Nirmal Khatri won by defeating him in previous general elections and pople are quite uncomfortable about BJP's choice. A BJP supporter just behind the `Karsevak Puram' told me that the people who have sidelined BJP stalwart does not know BJP culture and the man who is playing the ball does not know caste politics in U.P. People are also angry that SP defunct and once a BJP candidate has been acknowledged again by that 'Man'. Braj Bhushan Saran Singh , a Bahubali from near by 'Gonda' district and his son KirtiVardhan Singh,both have been give ticket by that 'Man'. The Vaishya community in Lucknow is quite unhappy with the man who shifted UP BJP stalwart Lal Ji Tandon in order to accommodate himself/ People are also unhappy about sending BJP candidate to the places where they do not have any root,that also indicates about BJP's PM candidate,who has been given a seat by throwing out Murli Manohar Joshi.
The Sadhus in Ayodhya and Faizabad believe that BJP can not sidelines Ram Temple issue which has played a significant role in BJPs current status. However few of them feel that Modi's nomination from Vaarnasi is an indication to Hindu Hardliners.Hwever NaMo have never raised `Gyanvapi'issue in his blind dreams even.
A journalist with a three page weekly newspaper feels that if the 'Man's' shot will work and BJP emerged to power all will go well,but if otherwise there are fairly good chance of BJP becoming a fractioned party of many individuals.
Ratnesh Dwivedi after returning from Eastern Uttar Pradesh 

MASS MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION IN GLOABL SCENARIO(BOOK)

The idea behind putting these research papers and research articles

in this book  authored by me(Ratnesh Dwivedi) is to give various aspects of communication, a platformwhere from readers may go through them at one go. When I decided to

start writing academic paper or more over compiling them in 2005,I had

one thing in my mind and that was to cover all possible areas of

communication and media studies. Hence forth I started my voyage to

search out the possibilities where I can present my ideas and compiled

references of other notable people in various international conferences

and journals.

It was not an easy task to force your point of view in to journals

and conferences as majority of international conferences and publication

put forward a particular core area or subject on which an author may

present a paper or his findings.

So, it was a matter of time, patience and rigorous effort that I found

opportunities of the areas I did wish to cover. It is at glance that my

readers of this book will find almost all possible social ,political and

communication topics ,when they will go through one by one on these

thirteen papers, which I either presented in an international conference or

they got published in national or international journals or subject to be

published.Believe me, past eight years journey in academics has been adventurous,

worthy and interesting for me as I got chance to put forward my opinion

and to comment on other's opinion and then to compile them in form

of an academic paper. I have honestly tried to touch all possible areas

of my expertise in this book of compilation of my academic papers.

I am a little bit disappointed as I have not been able to include two

of my best and first academic papers which I presented in a national

conference at Purvanchal University. These two papers were related with

the Economics of South Asian countries and efforts of world's biggest

space science research organization -NASA.

However rest of my presentation and published papers are part of

this book.In my thirteen papers I have discussed about Community Radio, its

current status and challenges before it in Indian atmosphere. This paper

was published in proceeding of one of the biggest conferences organized

by Hans Bredow Research Foundation at University of Hamburg,Germany.

Sanskrit is considerd as Language of Gods and is mother of many

regional Indian languages as well as foreign language. Panini organized this

language of Gods through the grammer he invented. A paper on Sanskrit

and Panini is part of this book which is due to be presented in an

international conference in Russia.

Organizational Communication is a new study in the area of

communications science. A paper on organizational communication is

presented here which was presented by author in an international

conference organized by Russia's number to university by using vedio

conferencing facility.Media is accountable to public but it's a matter of debate if media

has fulfilled its duty. A paper on Public Accountability of media was

published by Press Council of India, the apex press body in India. Author's

that very paper is also part of this book.Keeping the need of research students in mind, a paper on researchprocess and tools has been specially designed by author.

Higher education in India is facing many challenges. Our ancient past

has been glorious but we have to work out on future. Hence a paper has

been designed by author which deals with higher education in ancient

India, challenges of today and a work plan for future.

Author has designed two papers on radio which deals with both

coomercial and community wise aspect of radio in India. One paper deals

with commericial radio while other deals with educational radio or

community radio.History of Communication is discussed right from origin of sign

language up till invention of computers and internet thorough pigeon post

and harkara systems in medieval India. The compilation of whole process

was accepted and presented in form of a research paper at Tver State

University, Russia.Changing pattern in Television viewership and in programme making

has been discussed with a case study of India's no 1 English news

channel CNN-IBN and its special initiative of Citizen Journalism hosted

and conceptualized by Anubha Bhonsle.This paper was published by an

academic journal named 'Pragyan' of Institute of Management Studies

,Dehradun.The challenges before traditional media in modern digital age and

chances of its integration with digital media have been discussed in a

separate paper. The paper was presented at International conference at

Amity University,Rajasthan.What role media can play in developing awareness during disasters

and early warning system has been included keeping in view of disastrous

events india has faced like tsunami 2004.

Coverage of issues like human rights by media has always been a

matter of debate. This topic is discussed in a paper which is accepted in

an international conference of India's apex press body, Press Council of

India.Michel Foucault is an acclaimed French Philosopher .His master

piece 'The Archeology of Knowledge' need no introduction .A critical

study of his work has been compiled in a paper which was accepted in

an international conference at Tver State University, Russia.

Two of researches papers are dedicated to the issues which has

shaken not only India but whole world-Wiki leaks and Radia tapes. It's a

debate between 'Right to Publish' and 'Ethical Code of Conduct'. These

two papers are due in International journals.Another paper which deals with role of social media in generating public perception and its role in uprising in Tunisia and Egypt is published

in and refreed Indian journal.

A comprehensive study of key terror organizations and working of

it has been put in another paper. While medi's role in covering sensitive

issues like terrorism is discussed in a paper which was published in a

national journal.I have also touced the global economic meltdown in brief.

The idea is to aware and inform my readers on all possible happening

and aspect between these years.It has been an eventful journey for me and the best thing I can quote  "….miles to go before I sleep" of Robert Frost.

In this journey and work of twenty research papers and articles I

must thank to my parents who have been a guiding force for me during

thick and thin. I also wish to thank my teachers and my friends for

pushing me up to do good job at my work place. My elder brother who 

is source of inspiration for me deserves thanks from my side and so is

my wife and little baby who always stood by my side..

Two of my friends in media has enormously helped me by giving me

their valuable inputs whenever I needed. I extend my word of thanks to

Mr Bhupendra Chaubey and Ms Anubha Bhonsle of CNN-IBN.

The story is uncomplete if I do not mention the name of Lyudmila

Isaeva of Tver State University and Dasha Mileyaeva of RosNou, Moscow

in Russia who provided me special facility to present some of my papers

by using vedio conferencing facility from India.

And last I must convey my heartiest thanks to my publisher who has

made this work possible to put these thirteen shades of communication

at one place by giving it shape of a book.

10 January, 2012 Ratnesh Dwivedi

Thre Story of an Intern-A Reportage Book

"The Story of an Intern” authored by me(Ratnesh Dwivedi) tells you the story of an young boy who manages to get an internship in a global media giant. His struggles and amazements begins when he finds himself out of internship and struggles to get a foothold in media. In the way he analyzes the odds and evens of Indian media industry and media tycoons while most of the time finding himself rejected.

His experiences while in search of a job carries him to different places and allows him to meet some interesting people who makes an imprint on his life and he finds himself falling in to some odd situation which can be decisive moments in the destiny of religiously divided society.

Finally he gets satisfaction and his cynicism gets a platform when he comes across his life mate and finds a job in his dream city.

His story is story of any freshly pass out media scholar, who sees both the bright and dark side of revolution in Indian media. It can be anyone’s story, as in rapidly growing media industry there is still quite big challenge for freshers.

“Story of an Intern” tries to put a bias less picture of today’s media and media people without any intention to hurt any organization or individual.

Thirteen Years and Counting.........(Part-23)

The distance between workshop place and Digambar Akhara is roughly two and half kilometers. But as was predicted ,the streets,the bylanes, the intersection and the roof tops of temples and houses were occupied by some 5000 people in this two and half kilometers stretch. Most of them were residents and a little over thousand and half would be the people who penitrated from near by villages,who were refered as 'Karsewaks'. Ramakant Awasthi and me reached to workshop place by an isolated route and as we reached we found there was no place in and around workshop place where we could stand or view the 'Havan'( a pre ritual before the Ram Shila Pujan).We waited out side.

TV media(doestic and international) both have stationed themselves in the places they found suitable to cover,but mostly were ready to accompany the procession.Some of them were on roof top to get clearer view of whole event.

It was almost impossible for me to look out for Ami in the occean of men,women and Sadhus.I realized that I have lost her .A worried me looked towards Awasthi. Ramakant Awasthi moved towards entrance gate and as I headed I saw a fat man in his fourties coming towards me.
Richard a British, has landed from Biejing along with his small crew.Richard himself was editor,while Peter,another British,rather young man was correspondant while Germany born Inka Kretchmer was producer of the team representing Sky News. To tell all of you little about Sky News,I must say that Sky News is a sister company of media empire created by Richard Murdoch of News Corporation. Sky News primarily broadcasts in Europe and its another sister company Fox News is aimed on American Continent. While we have Star in India.

This small Sky News team was badly confused on what to cover and what to not.So Richard asked for helping hand I could not deny. Knowing that may be I would not be able to meet Ami and also it would be a great learning experience for me I agreed. Sky news team was having best of technology with them. Sattelite phone, a link with Biejing studio and such smart and beautiful producer. We all just walked around and searched for a place where we can station our camera. Finally Richard suggested that we should occupy a roof top. Since all the temple sturctures were in bad shape we managed to get on to a rather good building.

Now we were on roof top of an old structure just across the road and infront of workshop place. Now we could see all what was going on inside but I could not see Ami and Ima. Richard asked me to explain what was going on inside the workshop place and I explained that VHP leaders and Ram Chandra Param Hans and his 500 followers were performing 'Rudra Ashtadhyayai'--A worship to Lord Shiva. There after procession was supposed to move towards Digamabar Akhara.

Richard started his PTC on satellite link , Hail To Shri Ram..........that is what we are listening here in the holy town of Ayodhya'. He completed his PTC in three minutes and soon we saw that procession had satarted. We wrapped, thanked that all went well but all of suddent we saw that something banged an all of sudden there was a hole in the roof top.The building was collapsing an all we could see that a man reporting for an Indian channel collapsed inside hole along with debris. It was a one meter diameter hole . we helped out to Indian reporter to come out and landed safely on the floor of building and joined the procession.

The VHP ,the karsewaks and the people joined the procession while the residents of town occupied the streets and roof top.

As I joined the procession I could see that an elderly and rigid monk who had challenged the entire government on his commitment to perform Ram Shila Pujan had a great fan following. The Ram Shila was kept on a wooden chariot while VHP leaders like Ashok Singhal and Ram Chandra Pramhans was walking bare feet behind the chariot. The atmosphere was filled up with chant of 'Jai Shri Ram' and we were crawling amidst heavy load of crowd.

All of sudden I saw Ami,and I could easily judge that she was more than tensed while she kept herself busy clicking photograph. Inka Kretchmer,who by now was well versed with me whispered in my ears...."Oh that American photographer....she is awasome". I could not utter a world.

While keeping a vigilance on Ram Chandra Paramhans,who by then has trembled and fallen down for two times was sweating while shouting ' Jai Shri Ram'. Ashok Singhal was holding his hands but he insisted to be on his own.

And some how we reached to Digamabar Akhara. It all was a mess. Thousand of people,each inch of the ground was occupied by a single individual and we stood in crowd,me and Inka,while Richard and Peter went inside Akhara to cover Ram Shila Pujan. Inka offered me a bottle of water and that is all what we had that time.

Ram Shila Pujan lasted for two and half hours amidst a constant fear of a possible lathi charge,we some how remained static.The moment it finished we coould hear the karsewaks shouting, "Jai Shri Ram ,Ho Gaya Kaam". I saw Richard and Peter coming out from inside. Soon we rode his hired taxi and rushed to Krishna Palace,from where he was supposed to do live for Sky News.

I farewelled the sky news team at "Krishna Hotel" and rushed to "Shan-E-Awadh" to find if I would be able to see Ami. As soon as I reached to "Shan-E-Awadh" and to my astonishment Ami and Ima both had left to cath a flight from Lucknow to reach Delhi.

I was nervous,pained and emotional and thought that perhaps when I knocked at her hotel room door and Ima opened the gate was the last chance to see Ami. I was determined to see her atleast once in Delhi,so I did not bother to go my village as I had my luggage with me. An Associated Press Journalist gave me a ride uptil Lucknow and I reached Charbaagh Railway Station at 10:00 PM to catch Lucknow mail.

Next day I knocked at my brother's residence in Noida early in the morning.

(To be continued..........................Second phase of my joblessness)



.

Thirteen Years and Counting......(Part-22)

The day ended with not so many speculations but as Sun dropped in western sky rumours and news both came hand in hand. Some Indian TV chanells were broadcasting that  thousnads of 'Karsewaks' are enetring in the twin town of Ayodhya and Faizabad from near by villgaes.Some extended one more step and claimed that VHP may start the foundation stone ceremony tommorrow and top BJP leaders may join.

As a sharp photo jouranlsit Ami asked me to remain in touch with Indian lobby of journalists and insisted not go to my village that night. Both the good hotels 'Shan-E-Awadh' and 'Krishna' were occupied by National and International media teams and we were unable to find a room for me.

We both were puzzeled and kept sitting in the cafetaria of hotel till late night,while chalking out plan for next day. Ami was joined by one of her Spanish photographer friend  Ima Garmendia who came from Madrid to cover the event. She joined Ami's room in the hotel.

And the problem of  valid Press ID card was still there. Late in night I contacted a freelance photographer and asked him if he could give me an ID card. He agreed but asked me to pay 500 Rs.And in next two hours I was having a press ID of a two page tabloid.However Ami was not satisfied with this.

Me, Ami and Ima had our dinner together and I then asked Ami to go to sleep. There was no place in hotel for me and somehow I realized it was not needed as most of TV journalists of Indian TV were awake on this information that thousands of Karsewaks were trying to beam in to town.

While I was sitting on reception around 01:00 AM,I saw Ami's driver coming to me.Some one had told him about the problem.Perhaps Ami.....

He requested me to occupy his bed in dormetary of hotel and then went to sleep in the parked car outside hotel. I was so tired that could not deny his humble request and soon fell asleep.

Around 02:30 I awake again and was feeling the need to see Ami,as I was in constant fear of  her not been in good state of mind. I knocked at the door.Ima opened the door and allowed me to see Ami.I returned back asking her to close the door and then again fell asleep.

I woke around 10:30 ,only to find that all of them had left to cover the event.Ami and Ima and all print and TV Journalists.There was no one in hotel. I was astonished why Ami did not call me only to find later that she was more worried about my safety.Her driver told me.

I came down in cafeteria and found that local Bureau Chief of Dainik Jagran had also not left as he was filing a breaking news to his HQ. I told him about my problem and he then accompnied me to the the place where 'Ram Shila Pujan' was scheduled.

In midway he told me that state government has not allowed  Ram Chandra Paramhans and other hardliners to cross the intersection which proceeded towards disputed site. Rather it was orderd to perform  Ram Shila Pujan at the residence of Ram Chandra Paramhans at Digambar Akhara.

I have already narrated the tight security in and around town . It was doubled up on the day. Me and Ramakant Awasthi(Local Bureau Chief of Dainik Jagran) headed to workshop place from where the carvan was supposed to proceed to Digamabar Akhara to perform Ram Shila Pujan.

To be continued.............The Sky News team and farewell to Ami.

Thirteen Years and Counting.....(Part-21)

The moment Flag March ended,we found that all media persons were rushing to their work stations to file the report and grab their breakfasts which they had avoided due to flag march. Also there was a press conference by Ram Chandra Paramhans at 11:00 AM. Me and Ami found that we were left alone at the crossroad which intersected towards Hanuman Garhi.

Ami put her right hand on my shoulders,in return I looked into her eyes and felt that we both were hungry. While we were grabbing our breakfast together Ami somehow manged to tell me the problem.She put her hand on my knees and asked very politely whether I was having any press ID card. All of sudden I realized what she was talking about.Next day was the event of Ram Shila Pujan and it was quite difficult for anybody to watch or assist the event without a valid press ID.


We headed for our hotel as we had to return soon to the press conference venue. While I kept thinking if I can manage any local press ID,Ami swiftly started transmitting the photographs to Getty Images office in Delhi. Right at 10:30 we were in the same red Maruti 800 car but something has changed between both of us. There was absence of talk and silnce occupied the place between both of us.

As we reached to the workshop(where the stone were getting constructed and PC was to take place), we found that scene was set. TV and print media people have occupied their place and Ram Chandra Paramhans was sitting on a 'Takht'(Wooden bed), we all were waiting for PC to start. As Ami and me was adjusting with the unbroaken silence between us, a cluster of people started cheering up,they said" Phone aa gaya....phone aa gaya." And Ram Chandra Paramhans rushed to an inside room where phone was kept. Some body utterd," Advani ji hain". And two three cars came inside the premise carrying the one of the most prominent hindu hardliner leader and general secretary of VHP(Vishwa Hindu Parishad) --Ashok Singhal.

All of sudden I realized the need of a press ID,but it was the moment when Ami needed me. I was determined to help her and assist her.Soon Ram Chandra Paramhans emerged out of the room and shouted a slogan " Jai Shri Ram...Karyakram kal hoga".

And with this the PC started where both the leaders shown their determination to carryout Ram Shila Pujan and subsequently to built a magnificient temple.


As soon as PC ended, we rode the car and headed for our hotel. In midway Ami showed me some of remarkable photographs she clicked on the banks of Saryu,of the bylane and PC. I was finding myself hard to react as I was busy thinking about next day's problem.



(To be continued---- The night in the hotel and the day of event)

Thirteen Years and Counting.................(Part-20)

We spent that night at our places while I kept worrying about Ami as town was getting tensed at it grew dark.Security vigilance was tight across Faizabad district and aticle -144 was imposed in whole state of Uttar Pradesh. We were not sure how the day was set to start,so we kept our mobile devices open,charged and ready to be recieved through out the night.
All the lodges,hotels and guest houses were occupied by media persons as only couple of days were left to the event 'Ram Shila Pujan'. I had no autority to enter inside the town as only government officials,police,security personals and media was allowed to roam around. So,the whole night I was busy discovering the route through which I can reach to the hotel where Ami was staying,and successfuly I discoverd a route ,an isolated,rough ,crossing through many viallages and at the end connected to the Faizabad route,to the hotel where Ami was staying.

I took my old bicycle which I rode when I was in 12th standerd and reached to the Hotel Shan-E-Awadh to see Ami and assist her. Ami was all awake and waiting for me .She was tensed as she got to know that army and police were going to excercise Flag March across entire town in order to build the confidence level of residents of town who were already frightended,tensed and disturbed.
Ami was not sure if I would be able to cop up with the situation.She deliberatley asked me if I was ready. I nodded that I was firm to accompany her through tight security and tensed town.
We rode that small red car and headed towards Ayodhya.We could see police and paramilitary forcess all around .We sailed across chowk and noticed that each shop was closed and there was no presence of a single person on the streets.Only security vehicles were moving in Faizabad and towards Ayodhya. We reached Ayodhya and positioned ourselves at a cross road which connected National highway to the temple bylane--the road which stretched towards Hanuman Garhi. We were among our fellows,cameras--still and TV,media persons representing Indian and western media.Some of them have come from Delhi while some had landed directly from their respective countries. Like Sky news team had landed from Beijing to see how Ayodhya and the nation was going to react on one of the massive gathering after 1992.
It was 07:00 A.M. Not a single person on street,houses and shops closed.Security personals deployed on streets,in bylanes and above roof tops of houses.
We waited for the Flag March to start. And then we saw a police Gipsy announcing about the route of the March. Ami and me just had finished our conversation that which place could be suitable to cover the Flag Mrach and ended our meeting on to manage to get inside the moving petroling vehicles,paramilitary forcess and the horses which were part of carvan.
I must admit that Ami and me both were working like a soldier deployed in a warzone all ready with our arsenals.
And then the Flag March headed from the extreme north of the town to the place where we were positioned. A 'Paidal' batallion first, then motorcade,horsebattalion,motorcade and then again the Paidal battallion. Ami was already equiped her camera and sat down on road to snap a couple of hundred photographs in less than fifteen minutes. She was moving herself with camera faster than we type on our keyboards. And then I saw the expertise of her when she entered like a hurricane inside the carwan and began taking photographs. I waited for her as she waved towards me to get on roof top of houses so we may get some excellent photographs. Within a blink of eye we were on roof top of a house from where we took hundred of photographs of the Flag March. While we were negotiating the stairs we saw a lonely child crying without anyone to take care of him.I took him in my laps,knocked at a door handed him over to a neighbourhood who knew about the parrents and rushed to accopany Ami in a bylane. The Flag March headed towards the workshop where the stones for temple construction were shaped.


To be continued...................... Ram Shila Pujan and the problem without ID Card.

Thirteen Years and Counting ........(Part -19)

Right at 10:00 A.M we met at a restaurent and chalked out the plan for whole day. We decided to see the bylanes and temples first and then the nearby places in search of meeting some people and resident of Ayodhya.

Ayodhya city is a stretch on both sides of National Highway which connects the state capital Lucknow to another important city Gorakhpur. On regular intersections this Highway is divided by narrow roads which allows you to enter in the temple town on the west side of the road while majority of the residents and houses are located on east side of the road. This is an odd distribution of temples and common residents of Ayodhya. These narrow bylanes carry you to various temples right from the entrance of Ayodhya to the extreme north of the town where river Saryu flows eastward.

We decided to pick the west side of the road to enter in the temple bylane. The road which connects the national highway goes deep inside the temple bylanes touching most of the important temples including the disputed site.

These bylanes are occupied by small shpkeepers having shops of sweets,idols,sandal,Khandau(Wooden Chappals), Books of rituals ,Kanthi-Mala(Holy necklace) and other useful goods which you require in a traditional Hindu ritual.
Most attrctive thing is that in the bylane which connects the National Highway to disputed site,you will see CDs,DVDs and Cassets of 1992 demoliotion event of mosque and sppeches of Hindu hardliner leaders.
The first temple which comes in your way is Hanuman Garhi. A prominent temple where idols of Hanuman along with his mother Anjana attrcts you from a distance.You have to cross 75 odd stairs to reach inside the temple. This temple is managed by Naga Sadhus by diving the whole area of temple in seven pattis(division).Each patti own an Akhara where wrestlers are groomed.

We crossed Hanuman Garhi and Kanak Bhavan (House of Gold) and proceeded towards a narrow lane which connects a small muslim area further crosses to a Jain temple on west side and another temple bylane on north side.On south of this small narrow areas is again cluster of temples. At a glance no one can notice this tiny area situtaed amidst the cluster of temples.May be a dozen of houses or even less.
Ami was determined to enter inisde that area. I too agreed but I adviced her to meet one very calm and intelectual person who had setteled in a lonely house situated alongside this area.
Ami agreed and we headed to meet Dr R.C .Prasad.
Dr R.C. Prasad was an intelligent person having an extrme knowledge about the town and the problems of it. A very humble man,he had shifted from Agra along with his family.However he was spending his days all alone when we went to meet him and seek his version.

He was known to me and I was sure that he would be glad to see a journalist at his house. He offered a chair to us and a glass of water.Did not speak anything but carried us inside his beautifuly designed house and shown us some trunks,boxes,luggage and kitcheware. I was not sure what he was trying to prove and then only he told to both of us that the boxes,trunks and luggage belonged to some Muslim families who left the town before the event of Ram Shila Pujan in fear of breaking a riot.
Ami took some photographs but we were not sure how to react on this situation when Dr Prasad told us that even he is planning to leave the town.

We thanked to Dr Prasad and headced towards that area. I could not believe that most of the house were locked and families had left the town in order to protect the woman and kids.

There was no one in that area with whom we could have a talk. As soon as we were moving out of the place, we saw a small structure in ruins. At first we could not identify but then I read on the walls of ruin building and it read 'Kanya Primary Pathshala'(Girls Primary School).

We could not identify whether the school was ruined as a result of riot which broke in 1993 after demolition of mosque or it was really an old structure which collapsed due to bad weather.
Sun was rapidly moving towards western sky,we were hungry and had spent whole day roaming around the town,so we headed towards our destinations.

To be continued......... Closing towards event--The Flag March on the streets of Ayodhya)

Thirteen Years and Counting.............(Part-18)

As soon as we headed towrds the western side of the river we saw a smal mob carrying saffron flags in their hands just over the bridge. They were shouting slogans in support of Ram Janm Bhumi. We avoided that and reached twords temple line along side the small stream of river 'Ram ki Paudi'.

Ami was determined to enter inside the temples and take some photographs. There is a very famous Shiva Temple which is famous as Nageshwar Nath.We decided to enter inside the temple and soon I discovered that Ami had reached on the roof top,some how after having a chat with Pujari of the temple. I followed her and moving on narrow,dark stairs I too soon found myself on roof top.

Sun has emerged out above the surface of river and its rays were touching and entering inside the curls of the water waves. Ami took almost hundreds of photographs of river,the rising sun and temple bylanes and houses in and around the bylanes alongside the ghats.

It was the time when most of the temples had started 'Subah ki Aarti' ,(worshiping the lords and making him awake). We participated in 'Subah ki Aarti' and sat down on the bank for a while to plan next course of action.

Ami was insisting to get inside some houses and to talk with the members of families so we may get a clearer idea on what exacltly they thought about Ram Temple issue. I was not sure about this to enter in the houses at such an early stage of the day.

But then,we ended up in deciding to get inside atleast couple of houses or rather inbuilt houses inside the temples.
We selected one rather small temple in which a family of six people were living. The male and female members and their two sons,one daughter and a new born son. We talked to them as we noticed that they were least interested in any kind of debate on Ram Temple issue as they believed that there can be no argument to the fact that Ram was born in Ayodhya and the place belongs to Hindus. As we kept talking to the male member Ami went inside the house and perhaps tried to mix up with the mother of new born. As I got to know later that mother was breastfeeding her new born son and Ami insisted to take photoes of mother feeding new born.

It was 07:30 A.M, and we required to go back our places to refresh ourselves and then to get back to work again at 10:00 A.M.,we headed for our destinations.


To be continued................... In the bylanes of Ayodhya and the The School which was abandoned due to fear of riots.

Thirteen Years and Counting...........(Part-17)

Next morning she called me up at 06:00 A.M sharp to pick me up from my uncle's residence. I was not sure what she was going to do at such an early time.It was an unwise decision to go back to my village and reach at 06:00 A.M. next morning,hence I decided to stay at place which was close to the disputed site. Aurobindo Ashram, a branch of Auroville in pondichey is a small meditation center in Ayodhya,with which I was associated since I was in class ten. There is a small guest house in serene atmosphere of Aurobindo Ashram,where I rested myself to meet Ami next morning.

I could not sleep that night as I was resteless with this new assignment. So,without having a sleep, I reached to the meeting point almost half an hour in advance,sipped a cup of tea in a tea stall as my uncle's house was locked at such an early time and waited for Ami to arrive there.
Sharp at 06:00 A.M, the same red Maruti car stopped in front of my uncle's house and I rushed to see if everything was o.k.

She was little tensed but waved me and allowed to enter in her small car. We rushed straight to river bank. Upon reaching on bank just above the bridge,we noticed that sun was about to rise. We left the car and headed towards the eastern bank of river. We would have travelled half a mile and saw small pyres burning on the bank. It was the last rite place of Hindus. I stopped Ami that it may be an unwise decision to head towards that side,as it was not going to give us a pleasant feeling. So,we returned from that place and kept walking alongside river. Ami, as a sharp photo journalist took out her ultra modern long range photographic camera and took a photography postion by entering two meters in the Saryu. She took couple of shots of bridge and then of people who were taking bath inside river( Its a holy feeling to take bath early in the morning in a river in Hidu mythology). I was standing on the riverside stairs as I saw she was waving hand and calling me towards her. She was willing to understand about river and the ghats and about the Sadhus who were busy doing meditation on the bank. I narrated to her that how it is important to meditate and take bath early in the morning in a holy river in Hindu mythology. Then she turned herself to take few shots of rising sun. Sun was just coming out from the backyards of long distant planes of river bank just above the surface of river.
She tried to move little more deeper inside river, as I noticed her expertise over camera. She remained static in deep chilling water of river for more than half an hour and took contineous shots of rising Sun.
We had finished our task on the eastern side of river bank and headed towards the bridge to cross it and then move towards the western bank. Most of the temples are lined up along side river on western bank and a small stream out of Saryu has been metamorphosid as 'Ram Ki Paudi'. The real event was waiting on that side as we moved towards bridge..............................

To be continued..............................The Woman ,who was breastfeeding her son.

Thirteen Years and Counting.........(Part-16)

When I entered in Ayodhya,I felt the heat of tension,security vigilance and a gathering of dozen of print and TV journalists scatterd in lodges and hotels of the twin town. Ayodhya happens to be my birth place and home town ,hence I decided to rest myself for first few days. This time I utilized to study the mood of people and the city. And at a glance I realized that its going to be eventful weeks.
Few TV teams has stationed themselves on the bank of Saryu,while some had set up their OB vans in the middle of the town. I took few rounds of city, talked to people and visited all possible places in next couple of days. The saffron colour was the in thing in the town and Hindu hardliners were busy giving firy statments in support of the event they scheduled in March first week.
The disputed place is located in the heart of city around which is a thrre layered security barricade. It covers an area of roughly 70 acres on western side of which the disputed structure stood before December 6,1992. You have to go inside the security zone up to two kilometers before you finally visit the site of Ram Lala.

The monk who organised the event was also a religious leader of Digamabar Akhara, one of seven Akharas in Ayodhya which manages various temples. His math is at a distance of three kilometers from disputed site close to the workshop where stones are being shaped for temple construction.

One fine morning I just went to my uncles house in the heart of town to seek some medcine and was just sipping a cup of tea. The pre curser of event had started taking shape and newsmen were busy picturising the places and people in town. All of sudden a red Maruti car stopped in front of my uncle's house and a lady came out along with driver to get herself adjusted in religiously warm town. I noticed that there was some dispute between the driver and lady on exchange of money.Perhaps the hired driver was charging a double ammount from that American photojournalist who had come all the way from Delhi to cover the event. It was only after our intervention that matter was sorted out,and then lady introduced to my homeopathic doctor uncle---Ami Vitale,journalist from Delhi.
Ami Vitale,later I discovered was a hired photojournalist by Getty Images,a world known photo agency,who had already covered events like Kashmir and Gujrat.
So, I also dared to introduce myself and my plans. She immediatly desired that she wanted a person to assist her to cover the the events supposed to unfold in next couple of weeks. I, all impressed with her intelligence and egarness replied to be in her company untill her departure from the town. Offcourse we negotiated terms and conditions before we started two weeks journey together.......................................................

To be continued............................ Shooting, Talking and learning the lenses with Ami Vitale)

Thirteen Years and Counting..............(Part-15)

I was spending my time in news tracking on TV channels and hopefully watching if something worthwhile can come out for me. It was towards end of February that a news started picking up momentum from Ayodhya. The age old dispute was getting a pick on news channels. But this time due to an extended chapter in the issue.

One of the main party from the sides of Hindus was going to organise an event to which they called as Ram Shila Pujan.The event was to be organised to show the commitment of Hindus to build a glorious Ram Temple on the site of birth of their holy God,Ram.

Now to remind my readers little about the issue and about Ayodhya, I do not wish to repeat the same old story of 1990 and 1992,but would like to addition that Ayodhya is one of the oldest city in Hindu mythology. Situated on the banks of mighty river Saryu,it is believed that the city was built himself by Hindu's law giver and first human being on earth--Manu or rather Swayambhu Manu.As the Sanskrit verse states------

Koslo Naam Muditah
Sfeeto Janpado Mahan
Nivishtah Saryu Teere
Prabhu Dhan Dhanyavaan
Ayodhya Naam Nagri
Tatrshollok Vishrtah
Manuna Manvendrena
Ya Puri Nirmita Swyam.

The lineage of Suryavanshi kshatriya which statred with Ikshvaku the remote ancesstors of Lord Rama statrts from Ayodhya which was known as Kosla. During Mahajanpada period Kosla was one of the sixteen mighty kingdom in India.

Lorda Rama was son of Dashratha and the eldest son out of four. He, according to Hindu mythology is also considerd as seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Now the story is that Shakari Vikrmaditya of Gupta dynasty built a magnificient Ram temple in Ayodhya,preserved,refurnished and redecorated by other Hindu kings along the time. It is believed that Babar,the first moughal emperor orderd his aid Mir Baaki to destroy that Ram temple and subsequently to built a mosque overthere.

People of Ayodhya and a section of historian also believe that the mosque which was destroyed by an unstructured mob gatherd on the call of Hindu hardliner leaders in 1992, was the same mosque,to which Hindus believe was built after demolition of Ram Temple.

Now, its a matter of dispute between Hidus and Muslims and the battle has been fought in and out side Indian courts in last sixty years.

Now there was a monk who first filed a petition claiming that the land and structure belongs to Hindus in 1940s is now no more. Ram chandra Paramhans a Hindu hardliner leader and a monk in Ayodhya decided to call Hindus to strenthen the unity and claim of Ram temple in 2003. And the event as it was to be organised was called Ram Shila Pujan.

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Present day Ayodhya is a Hindu pilgrimage place and is situated at a distance of 125 kms east to state capital Lucknow. It is a assembly constituency seat and is part of Faizabad district,a one time glory of Nawab of Awadh. It is believed that there are almost 3000 temples in Ayodhya out of which a chain of gtemples is located on the bank of holy river Saryu.

It is a small town ,surrounding which is a populos agricultural land on the southern side of Saryu makes the area productive and people to be dependant on this agricultural business. Some noted samajwadi and congress leaders also stretched thier lineage to this area..

The twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad,which are parted by a distance of hardly five kilometers are evidence of Hindu-Muslim unity or as its is refered as Ganga Jamni tehjeeb.

But the dispute of Ram Mandir/Babri mosque has widened the gap between two societies and after 1992 when the so called Babri mosque was demolished the bitterness had increased.


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On the backdrop of this, Hindu hardliners decided to organise event of Ram Shila Pujan and this story statred taking the shape of headlines in TV channles towards end of February 2003.

I who was lookig to jump on such opportunity decided to go to Ayodhya and to file the reports to those best of the people and organizations who refused to recognise it....................................

To be continued................ In Ayodhya and meeting with Ami Vitale.

Thirteen Years and Counting........(Part -14)

Anita Pratap bears the credit of first lady head of CNN in south asia. The lady from Kerla is first international journalist to interview LTTE chief deep in Jafna during his peak days. She has been internationally recognized and awarded for her journalistic assignment during her days in CNN and Time magzine.

Its little unconfortable to write about Anita Pratap as the whole world knows about her challenging assignments she took during her journalistics days throughout Indian and international media. Upon her resignation from CNN she married Nowagian ammbessdor to India and shuttled in Norway pursuing diplomatic assignments and helping his husband.

Quite often she visits India to make some documentaries and meet her extended family overhere.

One day I was just trying to see to whom I can approach to rely on and tried her number. She immediatly picked the phone and replied. Then we started exchanging e-mails and everytime I mail her ellaborating some problem she comes out with a solution to it. However I never met her but her e-mails are almost like a face to face meeting,when ever I am in need or I require her suggestions.

We have shared comments on her books,on her on going assignments and little about future plans.She never forgets to wish me when ever I do any remarkable deed in my personal and professional life.

We continue to share the ideas and this was during 2003 U.S.A. lead strike on Iraq on the issue of WMDs that she started a signature campaign on U.S.A's decision to enter in Iraq. I was also one of them to write the comment .The report was supposed to dispatched to the senior administartion in U.S.A government. And that is how I got to know about the senior administartion of President Bush and contact of the white house.

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Ami Vitale is internationally acclaimed photojournalist currently based in Florida,U.S.A. She is on the boards of selectors in National Geographic magzine--the world famous environment,science and wildlife entity. But she has already so much so to her credit,has been warded so many times by international organisations and have so extensivly travlled to the remotest part of the world that her assignments tells her story to full length.

She has been in India for several years coverning story for world famous Getty Images and she has told the story of Kashmir,Gujrat riots,Ayodhya issue ,festivals,fairs,poverty and child issue through the lense.

She is a master storyteller and her pictures makes you think twice on the subject she raises.

The year 2003 just had started and I was still looking for some assignment to come in my way. I was eager to fill this large gap of joblessness and my optimism was soon going to be realized by these two highly acclaimed individuals......................................

To be continued------------ Assisting Ami Vitale and Designing the internet based program 'The Nose of The News'.