Five key changes that professional life brought to me

It has been more than a year in professional life. And, these 14 months have been tough, challenging, exciting, and full of learning, with some ‘happy moments’, too, in between. Although I am still ‘childish’ at heart, an attribute I never want to part with, there have been some significant changes ever since I joined the workplace. The most noteworthy changes are below, though not in the same order:

Commutation by Metro: I faced one major change after landing in the national capital: travelling by metro train. It was an altogether different experience for a person coming from a Tier II city. For me, travelling by train was only meant for far-off places to visit our relatives, which always used to light my face and fill my heart with immense joy and pleasure.

Contrary to this, now standing at the platform, looking at the digital timer and number of coaches of the upcoming train fails to bring cheer to me. It’s always a race against time. Everyone is in a hurry to reach the office, school, college, etc. Initially, the scene used to give me jitters, as I had never seen this kind of rush, crowd, pushing and pulling one another to, anyhow, put one’s body in the coach to reach their respective destination on time. I have still not become comfortable with the trend, and with a big heart, I allow other people to get into the jam-packed coach and wait for another one.

Working time/shift work: I remember that even during school, our classes used to start at 8 o'clock. But, with the concept of shift work and an urge to be ‘best and fast’ from the rest, we are dropped off at our office at 7 in the morning. With the feeling that ‘I haven’t taken the required sleep’, I take my seat to work for the progress of the company.

Still, I feel lucky, as I have not been on the night shift to date. When I see my colleagues sitting at their desks, struggling to stay awake and work, I look above and say, God, you have been really nice to me!!

Office work: Although I was aware that the media job is a lot more demanding than others, the real picture was way beyond the image I had in my mind. The fixed nine-hour shift generally gets extended to 10, 10.5 hours, and sometimes 12 hours, and every time you are on your toes, you don’t know when a ‘breaking news’ can come. 

Wait for week-offs: The whole school and college time was full of masti, unlimited fun, jokes, and loud laughter. The classes were so entertaining that I never waited for weekends to meet friends and share our feelings, thoughts, and emotions. The hostel life was also enjoyable, and since mine was a residential university, I never had a ‘dearth’ of people to talk to.

However, nowadays, I eagerly wait for my two-day week-offs, the most precious days, for which I have a long plan, but most of the time, I end up sleeping, doing laundry, and doing other important chores.

Managing finances: Last but certainly not least, I am learning how to run home and manage finances. The day my salary gets transferred to my account; I prepare a budget and allocate a particular amount to every small and big item, required for day-to-day life.

By saying this, I also mean that I have started to understand the value of every rupee. Although I have never been a spendthrift, getting a job has made me learn how to spend money wisely and judiciously.

Vision counts more than formal education degree...

It is a common conviction that formal education and higher academic degrees are pre- requisites to be successful and super achievers in life. However, if we give even a fleeting view to the successful people around the world we would find there are plenty of mortals who have had dismal educational background but went on to earn the title of ‘living legends’ in their respective fields. Numerous examples could be cited to validate the point that a strongly desired vision coupled with firm determination and perseverance counts more than university degree to succeed in life.

For instance, Rabindranath Tagore, India’s greatest polymath of all time was a school dropout. But did that affect the bard in reaching milestones and carving out a niche for himself anyway? The answer is no. It was his great vision and wisdom that helped ‘Gurudev’ reach the acme.

Similarly, wizard of the willow, Bharat Ratna Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is not even tenth standard pass. But his ‘less education’ was in no way an impasse in reaching greatest heights and making mountain of records in his cricket career. The urge to do something out of the box and sheer tenacity were the attributes that made Sachin what he is today.

Outside India, Bill Gates, former world’s richest person and founder of the Microsoft Company didn’t complete his education at Harvard University. In spite of this, he wrote history and gifted the world with the greatest software company- Microsoft Corporation. Another American Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard University only to invent social networking site- Facebook which has 1.2 billion monthly active users worldwide. 

Thus, the bottom-line is that education, indeed, is important in one’s life but more than mere knowledge it’s wisdom, vision and attitude towards life that determine the fate of a person.

Blur Hype, Focus Substance

Cinema-making and viewing has undergone a sea change since its dawn in India. So has been promoting and publicizing it. During early days too, films were promoted but their ways and tools were far more primitive and extremely limited. 

Previously, films’ posters and other outdoor media were the major tool used for promoting any film. Another means popular during those days was mobile promotion through auto rickshaw in which there used to be an announcer visiting every localities promoting the film and invoking the public to watch it. 

Among the mass media, occasional and rare stories in print medium and infrequent promotion in radio were the only ones to reach out to masses. Also, focus was more on pre- production and production stages of the film with less attention being attributed to the promotional activities.

Today, the face of promotion has transformed completely. Actually today, Cinema as an art has been lost somewhere and the concept of a commercial version instead and show business has stepped in. 

Today, largely, films are made and promoted in the name of actors and stars, rather than script and direction. It has become an indispensable fashion to promote every film through its lead pairs. The most sought after promotional medium, nowadays, is Television, and particularly, the most popular TV show- ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ and the alikes. It has become the obvious rostrum to promote the upcoming Bollywood films.

However, this new trend is itself questionable. The statistics show that even today films become hits and fair well in box office only when they have tight script, intelligent direction, over- the-top- presentation and powerhouse performance of the actors. 

There can be innumerable examples where films which have been heavily promoted everywhere, of course, through the actors, faired very badly and incurred huge losses. Some prominent examples from the recent times could be RA.one, Kites, Aaja Nachle, Jai Ho, Zanjeer (new), among others. 

All the mentioned films had superstars who have huge fan following, but still, they could not attract public to the theatres resulting in financial failure at the box office.

In contrast, films like Kahani, Vicky Donor, Madras Café, and Lunch Box turned out to be box office marvels, despite their normal promotion.Thus, the bottom-line is that substance is the heart of any movie. Of course, promotion is necessary as things have changed today. 

Still, what has not changed is the reason for success and failures of the films. There could be certain exceptions in this regard, but exceptions, however miraculous they may be, can’t be generalized.

Hence, film- makers need to introspect and think twice before investing enormous bucks in the promotional activities. Rather, they should invest more in creating quality works that includes in- depth study and research and creative visualization before presenting it on silver screen.

‘Because you are our LEADERS’…

The downward slope of the graph of morality and socially accepted behavior among our ‘respected’ politicians got a further dip with the recent statement by Salman Khurshid on Modi. His ‘impotent’ remark on the BJP prime ministerial candidate is certainly not acceptable. Being a representative of the people and holding such a significant office in the cabinet, Khurshid must have thought twice before giving such immoral statements publicly. It was more bewildering when he openly said to the media that he has done nothing wrong in calling Modi so.

Well, this is not the first time when our political leaders have flaunted such cheap gesture. Before this, Congress MP Digyavijay Singh has been hogged into limelight several times for articulating inappropriate terms for their opposition. And not only Congress, politicians from almost all the parties have invited controversy with their passionate statements in the recent past.

The trend is really not going down well with the people of this country. This time maximum number of youth will exercise their franchise in the coming general election and with the rise in awareness and education level, it is obvious that these self destructing acts will certainly take a toll on the parties’ performance. The politicians must not forget that there is an intense fire burning within most of the people to see a positive change. Hence, these cheap criticisms and diatribe thrown to one another will give a wrong message to the change seekers and might become counter- productive too.

Secondly, leaders are the ones who are looked upon. They are admired, adored and loved by the common masses. But when these leaders start behaving like a common people, complaining and reacting to every petty issue, it compels to question –‘are they our leaders in real sense’? They are meant to set an example, a benchmark for the rest of the country through their balanced approach in dealing issues, managing crisis and also countering their opposition. But, unfortunately they are not.

Politicians need to realize that their public image, public speech and public appearance are in constant vigilance by the citizens. Hence, they must abide by the decorum and learn to behave responsibly.

Do we work to live or live to work?

Homo sapiens are considered the most intelligent and productive ones amongst the existing species on the earth. Applying their inquisitive brain and analytical mind, humans have gradually evolved and come a long way. Their ever- changing needs are the sole driving force for every watershed development in the history of Human Civilization. Earlier the need was to earn livelihood to support the family and manage two ends’ meal. However, with the passage of time and advent of new information, technology, concepts, ideas and thoughts, the human psyche has widened and so their needs and requirements. In today’s Information/ Technological Age, very often the question arises, ‘whether mortals of present time, work to live or live to work’?

The world has changed drastically, since the era of Stone Age. The highly sophisticated period of today has brought about phenomenal shifts in the life and living of human beings. There is a greater sense of insecurity, instability, hatred and earnest urge to achieve one-upmanship among the people.  “Moolah” rules most of the mortals’ heart and in order to possess it more and more, living, relishing and appreciating life has taken a back seat. Everyone seems to be in a rush to earn more, acquire state of the art equipment and don a glamorous countenance. To achieve and accomplish all these things, people work during the stipulated official hour and then to earn more, do overtime and yet again, are in a constant quest for part time jobs.

Amid this dumbfounding race, people fail to realize and ruminate over what for they have been running so speedily over the years. The obsession to earn, possess and secure more has to stop at a point where from it starts squeezing out the very essence of human life. 

  

As it goes by the common wisdom, one has to strike a judicious balance.

Bandhs, Street Protests should be the last option

Being a native of Jharkhand, the one thing that I have been used to is the frequent bandhs, street protests and agitation since the time I’ve gained senses. Before, Jharkhand’s creation as a state, political parties and aggressive groups used to agitate for a separate state to meet the indigenous people’s needs, and when Jharkhand, finally got created in 2000, the political upheaval only augmented manifold.

Today, the same could be understood for the people of Delhi who laid loads of expectations on the shoulders of the passionate novice Mr. Arvind Kejriwal. Given the unlimited corruption and illegal practices becoming a routine affair, AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal, soon, rose like a messiah for the worried and distressed citizens. When Kejriwal launched his own party roaring to broom out all the corruption from the country, the whole nation went gaga-over him. However, very soon this spectacle vanished and Delhi turned into the heart of street protests, fight between politicians and police and huge chaos. In his 49- day stay in CM office, he was in news, largely, for those reasons, which he was not voted for. Of course, the people of Delhi didn’t vote to see Kejriwal, sit on dharna and exude extreme stubbornness and impatience. Rather, they wanted a stable government with an honest leader.

Witnessing these situations compel us to mull over the reasons and the justifications for such acts. For a common man and woman, Bandh, dharna or street protests with barricades means, nothing more than disturbance and disruption in their daily works, including the emergency services like medical, banking and transportation getting affected. Also, these bandhs emanating from impatience and stubbornness of leaders contributes to humongous loss to the nation’s economy.

By saying this, it does not mean that people should not embrace this measure to weed out their grievances, but more maturity and patience is needed. Apart from this, the agitated groups should look out for better and more effective ways like dialogue with the concerned person/ ministry and peacefully, but firmly, putting their demands.

In a nutshell, disturbing the system and bringing the routine life to a standstill, should be the last option for the change-seekers. It’s high time to realize that those fighting in the name of common men are openly marring their life only.

Are Daily Soaps serving any Public Interest?

The date 15^th September, 1959 has been the red- lettered day in India’s history as on this very day the country attained another milestone with the launch of Television. With its entrance hatched the vogue of daily soaps and serials in India too. Before the historic economic policy of LPG, there was only one channel, viz, Doordarshan, the public broadcaster shouldering the responsibility of informing, educating and entertaining people all alone. However, post 1991; the coming of myriad of private channels transformed the entire scenario of TV industry. This transformation was heavily witnessed in the content of the programs also.

These channels gave way to the idea of never- ending daily soaps with the sure shot success formula of family drama where women held the center stage but their portrayal was very orthodox, narrow minded, regressive and controversial. Almost all of them have only two extreme characters of women, one is the timid, very fearful, ever obliging and fully devoted to the husband and in- laws, no matter how badly they treat her.  Second character that got pride of place in these soaps were negative shades where women staying in the same home bribes ‘bhais’ to destroy her own family members. The reason for such acts are also so common and clichéd.

Today also things remain largely unchanged. It is so ironical and matter for serious rumination, given, the present scenario. On the one hand there is a widespread pandemonium throughout the nation over gender equality and women empowerment. The mass media seems so active and instrumental in voicing and broadcasting these issues as main lead. And, on the other hand, same mass media in the form of daily soaps are replete with old fashioned and rigidity encouraging the narrow- mindedness and ill- treatment towards women prevailing in the society.

The general conviction says that variety offers quality. But, in this context, it does not hold true.  It calls for observation that when there was only Doordarshan we had some very powerful women characters in the serials like Hum Log, Buniyad, Shanti and Aarohan.  Same and much more were expected when there embarked a deluge of private channels in the TV arena. However, leaving some of them, none of the today’s soaps showcases the courageous, intelligent and independent lead women characters throughout the serial. In other words, none of them portrays the characters for which the activists and protesters are fighting in reality. They all succumb to the changing times turning into sobbing wife and helpless women.

Thus, this article invokes greater responsibility from the producers and makers of the stereotypical daily soaps which, in a great way, supports the dual and ill- treatment meted out to women.  It’s a humble request to them that from now before zeroing down on any script on the similar lines do think of something more than just profits, TRPs and humungous buffs for fashionable attires, appearance and opulence.