The status quo of journalistic ethics was broken by none other than the vitriolic, insensitive media once again! And this time too, it did more harm than good to India-Pakistan relations. Instead of a balanced, rational reportage, what we (the readers, viewers) got served was sheer irresponsible journalism, a crass misrepresentation about how significant its role should be as the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’.

Post the unfortunate Pulwama attack, media showed no restraint in declaring their respective brands of patriotism, nationalism, blurring the lines, while proudly flag-waving jingoism. The incidents that followed after the Pulwama attack, provided the vantage points for us to be keen observers.

More than the political parties, the media had got its fodder for the week and following months, to make ‘high-pitched debates’ with ‘warlike graphics’ being played in the background. Not only this, some (not all of them) even went to the extent of war-mongering scripts for higher TRPs. This doesn’t stop there. It has been like this for a long time. Even before our politicians and bureaucrats could come up with some response, it is the TV channels (I reiterate not all, but yes, most of them) that take the stride and define the narrative that is going to reach you and me.

My question is simple- why does media need to stoop down to such war-mongering, malignant tactics? Don’t they have any duty to show some restraint, especially in such sensitive issues/matters? And we are a country where people hardly think before acting, where the spontaneity to commit some wrongdoing is triggered easily with social media messages, without even confirming their authenticity. Considering all this and a lot more, shouldn’t our dear media execute its sacred duty, if at all, of maintaining poise and restraint in reporting such news?

To think about it, the task is not a huge burden to bear. We need to realize the very fact that honest reporting is not about skillfully-crafted scripts, headlines that pop out eye-balls, belligerent tones, loud and seemingly forceful debates; we only want to be informed about what’s going on in the nation? It is the duty to inform right, feed right to the citizens.

Media, to a great extent, decides the narrative based on which citizens form their opinion and perspectives, which in turn lead to our choices of politicians and government, who sit in the Parliament and decide our fates. It is not about baking the bread for people, it is about their future. In a democracy, we enjoy Fundamental Rights to speak our mind and heart out. But what becomes of these rights bestowed upon us? We have become so instinctive, regardless of whatever is being shown that we end up believing it. But again, it is not the people who are to blame, the people working in media should realize this bitter truth!

From what all I saw on television made me come to the conclusion that our media is in dire need of some good ethics classes, (if not preaching moral science). Probably, some revision on dos and don’ts of communication, for example, the ‘7 Cs of Communication’. How can the citizens believe you, dear media, when all they get is just catchy headlines? We don’t need yellow journalism, but a fair, equitable, impartial reporting of events/news is what we need!

At a time when technology is making groundbreaking innovations, our media should try to be more balanced, engage its audience/readers, inform us right, make the best use of social media in pioneering a new face of Indian journalism, that can be trusted and is highly valued, not only in the country by its citizens but the world over. And we can do it, all we need is some thoughtful consideration!

The post Vitriolic Media Further Catalysed Indo-Pak Tension Post Pulwama Attack appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Mirzapur season 1 ended on a high note. The cliffhanger has left every viewer on the edge of the seat. While people seem highly amused by the memes and dialogues, millions of true fans are contemplating what’s to happen next. Amazon Prime has confirmed the release of Season 2 in style, but there are reports that the second season will not release before 2020.

Here’s Everything We Know About Mirzapur 2, And You Should Too:

1. Shooting for Mirzapur 2 begins in the second half of 2019: Yes! Amazon India has just approved the web series, but the show is yet to go on the floor. People will have to wait a little longer to find out who dies, who survives and who wins!.
2. Anjum Sharma is playing Sharad Shukla: We saw him in season 1, but we will see him in an all new avatar, wreaking havoc in season 2. The second season is bound to revolve around the battle between Munna, Guddu, Sharad, Kaleen, and Lala. Sharad Shukla, whose father Rati Shankar Shukla was murdered by Guddu Pandit, will avenge the death, and let’s see how!
3. Golu Gupta, played by Shweta Tripathi, will be one of the key characters in Season 2: Shweta Tripathi who has been a prominent face in varied web series, will be seen playing one of the key roles in Mirzapur 2. Tripathi, who won college elections in season 1, will side by Guddu bhaiya to avenge the death of her sister and lover Bablu.
4.  Farhan Akhtar is happy with the how season 1 has performed: For everyone who doesn’t know, Farhan Akhtar, Excel Entertainment, is the producer of Mirzapur web series. This talented actor runs this Excel Entertainment, which is a production house. Excel Entertainment has also produced Made in Heaven and Gully Boy in 2019.

We are all waiting, and cannot wait for the season 2 to premiere, but while we are being made to wait, let’s relive the best scenes and enjoy the memes.

The post Here’s What We Know About Mirzapur Season 2 appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Fake News is a buzz word these days, especially now when Lok Sabha elections are approaching. There are two things I want to talk about here:

1. What Is Fake News? What Are Other Types of Distortions?

It is a term widely and loosely used these days for various purposes. There are various types of manipulation of facts that takes place, a part of which is also fake news, but the term is very loosely used these days. It is important to understand that fake news is different than an extremely biased news.

Fake news can be considered as fabricated information that disseminate deceptive content, or grossly distort actual news reports shared on social media platforms. Sometimes, fake news is also manufactured by the distributors of news. Source of the news could explicitly mention themselves as satirical news site or humour tweet handle and publish a distorted news, but due to wide spread social media, the same message will be forwarded to millions as real news.

It becomes very subjective to say which opinion is extremely biased and which is not, but with fake news, you can prove with facts that it is an intentionally fabricated information.

Let’s take a very simple example. A report published by UNICEF suggest that primary schools in India increased by 5% in last two years.

Fake news will be: UNICEF suggest that all schools in India increased by 5% in last two years.

An extremely biased news might look like: Primary schools in India has been increased by 5% in the tenure of Mr. Netaji and now UNICEF also mentions the progress.

But fact is the fact. Simple. There can be various ways to distort it because perception is paramount. Now, the issue with extremely biased news is that they might still be stating the fact but playing around with words or distorting the information to present in a way that is favourable to their advantage.

Also read: Explained: How Yellow Journalism And Fake News Distract Us From Real Issues

Sources of fake news are websites that have been flagged as consistently spreading fabricated news or conspiracy theories by several fact-checking groups. Whereas, extremely biased websites include more controversial websites that may not necessarily publish fabricated information, but distort facts and may rely on propaganda, decontextualized information, or opinions distorted as facts.

The issue has become critical and wide spoken due to the wide reach of the social media. What would be water cooler conversations in offices and a chai charcha on a tea stall can now potentially reach millions. If I have a view, an opinion or a fact, I can state it as I want. I can influence people the way I want. There are few who do it because they truly believe in it and then there are many for whom it’s a business. Is it tough to find out who is Who?

2. Who Am I And Why Am I Interested In It?

Just like you, I am an ordinary working urban citizen of this country, relatively aware of what is happening around. A professional, a game watcher, a movie goer, a food lover, following the recent trends on politics, a moderate twitter user, smart phone addict, an ordinary Indian citizen as I said. Probably, in the upper half of the privileged section of the entire Indian demographics if you put it. I am educated, I make decent money, I have a house to live in, I can afford good food, hygiene, healthy life style. Maybe we do not realize so much in our everyday lives, while cribbing about our bosses, running behind our clients and so on, how much of a luxury we are already living in. We probably belong to top five percent of the country’s population.

Given what has happened in the nation recently, I have been asking a question to myself and I am sure that many of you have also been going through similar thoughts — I would like to believe that I am a true patriotic person, a nationalist but what am I really doing for the nation, apart from of course paying taxes? Can I do something more? And then be actually proud of it instead of sitting on my chair, tweeting few statements and calling myself a nationalist. And that’s where this thought began. As part of the tech world, can I do something about fake news and misinformation that is spreading at an all time high rate? News that we consume impact our opinions and judgements. But are we sure that we are not victims of fake news as well?

As an active participant of the Indian democracy, I wanted to make my own contribution and also find out some answers to all these questions. If possible, help people differentiate between fake news and real news. Somehow, social media and fake news are connected – because the internet has the power to disseminate any news in seconds to millions of people irrespective of their geography, demographics, beliefs and values. Earlier, this wasn’t possible. So, we as a team [me and my friends] have come together – as we want to make use of the technology, its power and its ability to reach out, to do just the opposite, to fight the fake news.

We want to see if people can differentiate between fake news and real news and in the same process, be an eye opener of how much fake news is thrown at them. We can’t do much about biased reporting and news, but we can surely fight outright fake news.

Also read: Standing Up To Fake News Is The Need Of The Hour

We are excited to work on this. We will soon be releasing our works for all of you to be a part of it. We welcome any opinions, suggestions and help. This is for all of us and we have to ensure that we fight the fake news, as it will be in its full swing given the upcoming elections. It is our duty as a citizen of the country to ensure that right news reaches all of us, and we stay informed and aware of the facts to be able to make the right decisions.

Please write to me at anki.garg@gmail.com. Waiting to hear from you all! Stay tuned for more updates.

YOUTH KI AWAAZ POLL

Created by imankitagarg

Do you agree that a large set of social media consumers cannot identify between fake news and real news

Yes No

The post With The Upcoming Elections, We All Must Be On Alert Against Fake News appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Everyone wants to be successful in life. They want to feel secure about everything. But when it comes to working hard, many of us get lazy. Working hard is tough, but there’s no other way out, if you want to truly achieve what you want. If you’ve been feeling demotivated, I’d like to suggest a few movies that you must watch which are bound to inspire you immensely. You never know, they might just trigger you to take the first step at least.

Pursuit of Happyness

When times are tough, everybody asks you to hold on and be strong. Gabriele Muccino’s beautiful movie shows how you can stay put even at your worst and without losing hope and calm. Christopher Gardner, played by Will Smith, goes through hardships and loses whatever he had earned so far. He is left with no home, no money and has no job, and yet has to take care of his son. He never gives up and works hard to prove himself, until he is recognized by a brokerage firm that gives him a job. In no time he makes a record sale and becomes an inspiration.

Seven Pounds

IRS agent Ben Thomas was texting while driving, that causes an accident killing seven people including his fiance. He realizes how many lives he ruined, and with a mind full of guilt, he decides to atone for his doing by saving seven people in need of vital organs. He plans to donate his organs to save lives, and during the process falls in love with a girl he tried to save, who in turn changes his perception of the world.

Good Will Hunting

A psychological melodrama revolving around a 20-year-old young guy who has the mathematical knowledge of a genius. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is a guy who earns money by working as a janitor at Boston University, and spends his time with his best friend, Chuck (Ben Affleck). One fine day he notices an intricate mathematical question on a board, and is able to solve it, leaving the maths scholars at the famous university stunned. To get a hold of his hidden genius, he is forced to attend counseling sessions with the therapist, Robin Williams, who plays the character of Sean McGuire. Will gradually starts to appreciate his life and, more importantly, to believe in himself.

A Beautiful Mind

Based on the life of Nobel Prize laureate, John Nash, the film takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride of emotions and inspiration. A mathematics genius, who suffers paranoid schizophrenia episodes from a young age, he has to watch his wife and friends go through a hard time because of his condition. He fights his ordeal, and meanwhile, gets an invitation from the Pentagon to decipher an encrypted message. To everyone’s amazement, he decodes the code in his mind. Later, the United States Department of Defense offers John a job to help decode messages to find the secretly hidden bombs by the Soviet.

The Imitation Game

Alan Turing, a mathematician who struggles in his boarding school days and gets bullied by others, becomes friends with the only person he thought understood him well, who also happened to share the passion in cryptography. It was during 1939, when Germany and England fight a war against each other, when Alan travels to Bletchley and joins a cryptography team to create a machine to decode German codes. Although, since Alan considers his colleagues inferior to him, it gets tougher working around him. The machine being used by the Germans is superior and is next to impossible to crack, hence Alan becomes obsessed with creating a machine to break the codes.

12 Years A Slave

Soloman Northup was a happy African American, who enjoyed being a violinist and lived happily with his family. Soon enough a group of white natives take notice of him and kidnaps him. He is beaten up and tortured and sold to buyers of New Orleans. He is asked to adapt to being a slave, if he wishes to spend his life misery-free. Being a free man, he despises the life of slaves and decides to fight against slavery. He comes across a man who helps him get the word out, and Soloman’s friend comes to rescue him.

The struggle humans face through their lives makes them what they become. These movies have helped me to keep moving on in life and have motivated me to start photography as my passion. You learn to never give up hope in difficult times and fight for what you believe. Find inspiration in the darkest night and make the best of everything.

The post Six Movies That Will Inspire The Achiever In You To Work Harder appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

आखिरकार धर्मा प्रोडक्शन की बहुचर्चित एवं मल्टीस्टारर फिल्म ‘कलंक’ की पहली झलक लम्बे इंतज़ार के बाद सामने आ ही गई है। गत दिनों किरदारों के पोस्टर जारी कर निर्माताओं ने वैसे भी दर्शकों का उत्साह बढ़ा दिया था और आज इस टीज़र को देखने के बाद अब इंतज़ार कर पाना और भी मुश्किल हो जायेगा।

यह फिल्म कई मायनो में खास है। करण जौहर जैसे निर्माता का इस फिल्म से जुड़ा होना यह स्पष्ट कर देता है कि फिल्म का बजट काफी अच्छा है और टीज़र से ही इसकी भव्यता का अनुमान लगाया जा सकता है। 2 स्टेट्स जैसी सफल फिल्म का निर्देशन कर चुके अभिषेक वर्मन ने कलंक की कमान संभालने के साथ-साथ इसकी कहानी और स्क्रीन प्ले भी खुद लिखी है। हालांकि यह उनकी पहली पीरियड फिल्म नहीं है, इससे पूर्व वह जोधा-अकबर में आशुतोष गोवारिकर को असिस्ट कर चुके हैं।

सबसे ज़्यादा आकर्षक है इस फिल्म का कास्ट, जो इसकी भव्यता में चार चांद लगा रहा है। वाकई इतने सारे दिग्गज कलाकारों को एक साथ बड़े परदे पर देखना काफी रोमांचक होगा। श्रीदेवी के आकस्मिक निधन के बाद माधुरी दीक्षित को बहार बेगम का किरदार मिला और टीज़र की पहली ही झलक में वह आपका मनमोह लेंगी। सत्या चौधरी के किरदार में सोनाक्षी सिन्हा काफी प्रभावी लग रही हैं और आलिया भट्ट, रूप के रूप में काफी खूबसूरत एवं असरदार मालूम पड़ रही हैं।

ज़फर के दमदार किरदार में वरुण धवन जचते हैं तो देव चौधरी की भूमिका में आदित्य रॉय कपूर भी दर्शकों का ध्यान अपनी ओर खींचते हैं। वहीं बलराज चौधरी के किरदार को संजय दत्त बखूबी निभाते नज़र आ रहे हैं। फिल्म का बैकग्राउंड म्यूज़िक असरदार है और प्रीतम द्वारा दिया गया संगीत भी प्रभावी लग रहा है लेकिन इस बात से इंकार नहीं किया जा सकता कि कलंक की सिनेमेटोग्राफी ही इसको भव्य दर्शाने में मददगार साबित हो रही है।

टीज़र देखने के लिए निचे दिए गए लिंक पर क्लिक करें

करीब दो मिनट के इस टीज़र में मात्र दो डायलॉग है। जब ज़फर बोलता है “कुछ रिश्ते कर्ज़ों की तरह होते हैं, उन्हें निभाना नहीं चुकाना पड़ता है” या फिर जब रूप कहती है, “जब किसी ओर की बर्बादी, अपनी जीत जैसी लगे, तो हमसे ज़्यादा बर्बाद और कोई नहीं इस दुनिया में” ऐसे संवाद आपके रोंगटे खड़े करने के साथ ही दर्शकों में उत्सुकता को और बढ़ा देते हैं।

90 के दशक में संजय और माधुरी की जोड़ी को खूब पसंद किया जाता था और यह जोड़ी लम्बे अंतराल के बाद बड़े परदे पर वापसी करने जा रही है। इसके अलावा वरुण और आलिया आज बॉलीवुड की सबसे सफल जोड़ी में से एक हैं, जिन्होंने अभी तक तीन फिल्में की हैं और सभी बॉक्स ऑफिस पर हिट रही। सोनाक्षी और आदित्य की जोड़ी भी स्क्रीन पर काफी प्रभावशाली लग रही है।

अभिनय के मामले में संदेह नहीं किया जा सकता लेकिन यदि फिल्म की कहानी दमदार हुई और अभिषेक वर्मन उसे सही से परदे पर उतारने में कामयाब रहे तो यह फिल्म बाहुबली और बाजीराव-मस्तानी जैसी फिल्मों को टक्कर दे सकती है।

टीज़र तो काफी पसंद किया जा रहा है लेकिन फिल्म को दर्शकों का प्यार मिलता है या नहीं, यह तो 17 अप्रैल को ही पता चलेगा। गौरतलब है कि वरुण धवन अभी तक एक भी फ्लॉप फिल्म का हिस्सा नहीं बने और उनकी आलिया के साथ जोड़ी भी हिट रही है, ऐसे में यह फिल्म दर्शकों का दिल नहीं जीत पायी तो यह वरुण के करियर पर ‘कलंक’ ही साबित होगी।

The post टीज़र रिव्यू: बाहुबली और बाजीराव-मस्तानी को टक्कर दे सकती है ‘कलंक’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

“Do you know? PM did not sleep on the day of the strike!”

“Who told you?”

“It is all over the news and they have also referred to a credible source.”

“Why are you taking the source as credible?”

“… Because this is a credible newspaper. They will not print crap!”

“Have you heard about the Cobrapost exposing mainstream media houses? How can you trust these ‘godi media’?”

These are the conversations people of India are hearing more frequently in the recent past. We are going through an era of MADness (Misinformation, Altered truth, and Disbelief) where false news shuts out the real news. One of the prime developers of this hazy environment are the news carriers who are inclined to a certain political belief. I recently had an interaction with a regional senior journalist and he openly referred the president of the Congress party as “Pappu”. It is not an offence for journalists to support some ideology but if that belief affects the way they are reporting, then the complication arises.

Looking at the present scenario, it would not be outrageous to say that media has changed from the pillar of democracy to the destroyer of democracy. Many will argue that only a certain section of the media has gone rogue while most of them are still very much bound to their journalistic ethics. Having said that, one has to remember a saying “one drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine”. If people are fed half-truths and wrong information to build a certain narrative, then the basic structure of democracy comes under threat.

In a democratic country like India, it is important for media to give accurate and unbiased information to their viewers, many claims to do so. But as a viewer or as a reader it is difficult to consume any news which comes from certain media houses having “conflict of interest”. For instance, there are reports of NDA MP and Republic TV owner Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s investment in the defence sector. He had also introduced a private member bill to declare Pakistan as a terrorist state. Thought to ponder, if there exists a war-like situation between India and Pakistan, who will squeeze the benefit? In a healthy democracy, chowkidar (watchman) should be the media, and the government should act like sewak (servant of people). However, in present India, the Prime Minister calls himself a chowkidar and media seem to be working as sewak.

A report on AltNews explained how hashtag promotion by TimesNow is always biased towards a specific party. Hindi news channel ABP News even faked a talk show held in IIT Bombay in order to show the positive response of students towards Modi. There are numerous occasions where propaganda-based news have changed the narrative of people. The JNU sedition issue was a complete set up by the mainstream media and a popular belief about a few students were established in the mind of people. Umar Khalid, a victim of this media outrage was shot at in Delhi and his family also received threats from miscreants. During the Indian airstrike in Pakistan, a wave of altered truth surfaced in both Pakistan and India and everybody presented the distorted facts according to their own narrative. Now, the Indian opposition parties are pressurizing the government to release the details of the attack as no one seem to believe the media reports. The presentation of various domestic media groups during this whole India-Pakistan turmoil was pathetic.

It is for certain that this foggy environment of misinformation and misrepresentation being created by the sections of media will have a long-lasting effect. In 2019, whoever be in the Government, this fire of forgery will still be burning with high flames demolishing voice of commoners. There are facts checking websites like AltNews and FactChecker but the question remains – do we have to fact check each and every information floating in the television sets, newspapers or in social media platforms? The present environment is so toxic that we even tend to question fact-checking websites. What if these websites come out as charlatans? There is just so much of misinformation and the largest democracy of the world immediately needs a credible news source that will present the news as news and not as propaganda.

The post The World’s Largest Democracy Is Searching For Credible News Sources appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Only people of certain pedigree should start their articles with such a title, and that pedigree should be provable. Your friend and author of this article has done the following, and, therefore, thinks that he is of that pedigree.

1. Played all the games that came ‘pre-installed’ with a Windows 95 machine back in the mid-90s.
2. Completed at least one game (10 levels) of said game with only the keyboard (cntrl for shooting, the directional keys for aiming, space for jumping and later on, shift for crouching).
3. Completed at least one full game on their own. (Max Payne, WCW, Quake, Commando 3).
4. Spent more than 5000 rupees on the gaming habit (a clump of Milestone games worth 499 apiece, an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card every couple of years, a PS3 when they were all grown up).
5. Has at least once tut-tuted when they first saw the MMO and then played it anyway (Unreal, Quake Arena, Counter Strike).
6. Has spent at least one 12 hour stint playing a game. (Grand Theft Auto 4, WWE 12, 13).
7. Bought a sequel to an award winning game and instantly disliked it (Postal 2, Soldier of Fortune 2).

When gaming first made a foray in India, it was more of a sideline than the gully rap in 2012. The elder generation wasn’t very sure about it, only children of a certain background could access it, and parents made rules to their whims and fancies about access to it. That was a solid decade of good gaming for Indians. Once a company called Milestone started selling legal copies of games, a small but active gaming community started out. What actually drove Indian gamers to games is the fresh content, something that wasn’t available on the TV or in our films. And of course, there was this concept of the player controlling the character. That age of gaming was full of single player games that had the gamer lose themselves in the story, the characters and look in awe at the sheer amount of technology that went into the game. All that changed when a little known, addition to Half Life, Counter Strike, made its way into the world. Counter Strike was an MMO, a Massively Multiplayer Online game, where players could – and had to shoot each other – to win the game.

All of a sudden, gaming was Counter Strike. The amusing part is that when CS became so popular, it had to be ‘procured’ and players played it on a LAN. I doubt if anyone ever bought a legal copy of Counter Strike when the game was popular. It was similar to the Game of Thrones spectacle. Before Game of Thrones was available legally, every Indian in a media house seemed to have seen it. It was amusing to see how CEO level guys in the media industry would harp on what happened on a particular episode of Game of Thrones, little knowing that there was next to no way they could have seen it legally in India – they were basically confessing to a crime.

Coming back to CS, it became massively famous in cybercafes, where teenagers would spend hours and hours shooting each other. The cyber cafe owners soon realised that the adrenaline rushed teenagers and the concept of shooting and killing in closed, dimly lit environs wasn’t a good idea. In a while, some cyber cafes became game only cafes and others stopped allowing customers to play CS.

PUBG is today what CS was back then. Everyone knows it, almost everyone has played it and yet, very few have paid for it. Some PUBG players won’t even know that the PC version of the game is available for a 1000 bucks, or that a PC version exists.

This might be an infamous thought, but MMO gaming is everything that traditional gaming isn’t, and has actually brought down the quality of game-story telling. Game creators are taking the easy way out, of bigger guns, more violent killings, more brutal action, instead of deeper gameplay, imaginative characters and astounding action sequences. These three aspects were what enamour an actual gamer. And these three aspects of a game were the reasons parents ‘allowed’ their children to play games – at least those who understood what a computer game was. An MMO (Counter Strike before it, and PUBG now), does nothing to the creative juices of the player. Both these games were mindless, trigger-happy pseudo warfare that hamper more than add. The biggest reason for this is that the MMO model takes away the ‘reason’ behind the killing. the FPS games, as we call them, have a reason behind the countless deaths. It’s sometimes one person against many, sometimes it’s the world at stake, and yet some times, it’s a corrupted world that needs cleansing. Taking lives is never the best logic, but at least with FPS gaming, there was a ‘rationale’ behind the killing. The MMO model doesn’t need that, because its cater to the baser, unethical mindset – kill, or be killed.

And it wasn’t like Counter Strike wasn’t the reason of ruckuses. One of the biggest media houses in the country banned their employees from staying back after work because of a raucous, spirited, cuss-full session of CS – all when the CEO was in his dainty little office. People have come to blows outside cybercafes because someone didn’t play or someone did play very well.

I would say, someone should just ban all MMOs, so I can get back to completing my Sims game. You don’t know what that is, do you, PUBG winner?

The post Not Just PUBG, Every Massively Multiplayer Game Is Pseudo Warfare And Should Be Banned appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Being a huge Marvel nerd I always looked forward to every movie by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like many of the fans out there, I am also eagerly waiting for the iconic ‘End Game’, which will be releasing on April 26, 2019. But before that came along the movie- ‘Captain Marvel’, which is sort of a prequel to that big release.

A superhero movie with a marvellous female protagonist, can it get any better? But the movie blew my mind and was way beyond expectations. So, this is a tribute to Captain Marvel who isn’t just the most powerful Avenger, but also an inspiration to every girl out there who thinks she is any less of a hero herself.

We grow up listening that we aren’t strong enough, we can’t fight a man; we are taught to be ladylike, softspoken, tolerant and submissive. But Captain Marvel showed everyone that girls can take on the universe if they wish so; they just need to believe that they are invincible. She fell multiple times but kept rising back up like a phoenix. She reminded us that sometimes the most important thing in life isn’t necessarily success, one just needs to keep trying and not give up.

I have been battling depression and anxiety for years now. There have been times when I feel that I have hit the rock bottom and there’s no way up. You gave me hope to believe in myself even if no one else does, reminding me I can pick myself up and start all over again, no matter how many times I have to.

I know this movie isn’t really a motivation regarding mental health, but just watching a girl being such a badass and fighting against the army of an entire universe, made my heart so happy. I kept telling my friend at every scene, “How awesome is she!”. I watched the movie at the lowest point of my life and it gave me much-needed strength and hopes. I am grateful for that!

Today a young girl doesn’t want to be a Princess or a damsel in distress, waiting for her knight in shining armour to come and rescue her.  Instead, she wants to be a ‘Wonder Woman’ or a ‘Captain Marvel’ who are the heroes of their own lives and don’t need a man or anyone for that matter to complete themselves.

Thank you, Captain Marvel! Thank you for telling the world how strong and self-sufficient we women are! It might not be the best Marvel movie but to me, she is the coolest superhero (sorry Iron man!).

The post Thank You, Captain Marvel! appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Censorship in India is defined within behaviours, political affiliations, twitter comments, media outlets, and archaic laws such as The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which has been used to prosecute a woman found with “Maoist leaflets”. Even though the High Court of Bombay, in a separate case, ruled that the possession of propaganda from a banned organisation was not sufficient proof for indictment.

Censorship is exercised through legislation such as Section 95 of the CCP which has the power to declare certain publications forfeited and to issue search warrants for the same. Where-

(a) any newspaper, or book, or

(b) any document, wherever printed, appears to the State Government to contain any matter the publication of which is punishable under section 124A or section 153A or section 153B or section 292 or section 293 or section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860 ), the State Government may, by notification, stating the grounds of its opinion, declare every copy of the issue of the newspaper containing such matter, and every copy of such book or other documents to be forfeited to Government.

These are extreme rights given to the State Government with respect to censorship, which cannot be practiced against any media outlet without fulfilling sufficient grounds of reason. However, in these circumstances, the reason is very rarely employed. Similarly, section 124A of the IPC criminalizes sedition under the clause, whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government.

Criminalizing sedition is a powerful tool for accelerating self-censorship since there is very little objectivity in determining what is seditious and what is scrutiny. Any scrutiny or opposition to the government could easily qualify as being seditious. Sedition should specifically apply only to hatred against the nation, and the government of a nation is a representative of the nation, not the equivalent of it. Hence, I believe that criminalizing sedition is one of the greatest barriers to free speech in a democracy where ‘free’ is a relative concept.

Section 153A of the IPC is another vaguely worded clause which criminalizes any speech that raises questions or objections against a person in the opposition. Section 292 of the IPC prohibits the sale of books that are classified as ‘obscene’.

What we need to understand here is that it is very easy to be prosecuted or censored in India, since most of the laws can be easily manipulated and fit into convenient narratives. It is important to be aware of the legislation concerning censorship and to know that if news channels or persons or books are censored, they could’ve been anything from ‘very unacceptable’ to ‘mildly in opposition of the status quo’.

Censorship is practiced by institutions such as the CBFC (Central Bureau of Film Certification), established under The Cinematograph Act, 1952. The CBFC is a film regulatory body which not only adheres to primitive standards of censorship but is also rigid about these standards. The CBFC dismissed the Shyam Benegal Committee Report on amendments to the laws applying to CBFC.

The Press Council of India is another institution which does not directly practice censorship but has often addressed issues concerning the same.

Censorship is practiced on television, as well. In 1995, the Parliament enacted the Cable Television Act which awarded vast powers to the government, they have the right to ban cable operators as well as news channels. For example, NDTV was banned for a day by the Government of India, back in November 2016.

The Cable Television Act includes something called the Programme Code, which is nothing more than a list of restrictive guidelines to be followed by news channels. The Programme Code, under many circumstances, has acted as a tool to curtail and prosecute opposition voices. It has also been used to regulate news portals during terror attacks, such as Pathankot in 2016. However, this regulation has seldom been reasonable. It often manifests as objections against any voice of dissent.

A visible pattern in all these instances is a myopic, extremist understanding of how censorship applies to different platforms, different circumstances, and different audiences.

With respect to journalism, there is widespread censorship and rightly so, principally because of the control that bureaucracy exercises over journalism, which is the most viable devices for both, education and propaganda. In the media, we have seen cases of self-censorship and we have seen instances of sedition and defamation cases being filed against liberal news platforms.

The difference? The two instances are two phases in the process of censorship through the incorporation of fear.

As Noted lawyer Fali Nariman told a gathering at the Press Club of India in New Delhi last June: “Freedom after the speech – that is really what freedom of speech is all about”. He emphasized that “you are allowed to speak, speak as much as you like, but there is a fellow waiting there to nab you and put you in so you can’t speak again”! Either you’re made to censor your content beforehand or you’re made to suffer consequences to an extent that you are deterred from producing similar content in the future. In my opinion, these are just two slightly different methods of harassment.

We, as a democracy, need to develop an actionable system for regulating journalism without reducing its quality to the propagation of political agenda. And, how do we achieve this? We detach journalism from active politics. We detach factual reportage from opinion. We detach journalism from corporations because as NewsLaundry says, “When corporations pay, corporations are served. When the public pays, the public is served.”

Journalism should be non-partisan and non-political. It should be independent, investigative, and impartial. It should speak for the people and to the people. Journalists should ensure that political parties take note of their demands and arguments, instead of doing it the other way around. Here’s what Abhinandan Sekhri said with respect to student politics, “You don’t have to tow their line. You have to make them tow yours.” This is very applicable to journalists as well. Journalism is the voice of the people, not a slave of the establishment.

With respect to films; in India, we have four categories of films. “U” (unrestricted exhibition), “UA” (unrestricted exhibition except for children below 12 years of age), “A” (restricted to adults only), and “S” (restricted to a specific class of persons).

Added to these categories is another layer of censorship which is the deletion of scenes. Now, here’s the case against deletion of scenes, as put forward in the Shyam Benegal Committee Report. If a film is being categorized as ‘Adult’, it is already accessible only to a specific stratum of society who is aware of what to expect from a film categorized as such. This awareness proves that further modification of content, particularly sexual content, is unnecessary.

With regard to explicit visual content which could trigger trauma, content such as scenes that are often a part of action films or films surrounding mental health, there should be a content warning disclaimer. Again, a content warning disclaimer is not censorship of content, but a piece of information for the potential viewer about what they should expect from the film. It is a statutory warning at the side of the screen.

Film censorship is a tricky field since it has no objective boundaries, it is wholly reliant on the viewer’s sense of morality and morality, to a large extent, is subjective. Hence, while there is “too much” censorship for some people, there is “not enough” censorship for others. However, multiple questions have been raised regarding the autonomy of the CBFC. The motto of the CBFC is to ensure certification of films without restricting artistic liberty and expression. The CBFC’s principal function is the certification of films and not the censorship of content.

The CBFC is not supposed to assume a higher moral ground and exercise moral policing with regard to film content. The Shyam Benegal Committee Report put forth three important recommendations regarding the functioning of the CBFC:

A change in the categorization of films, including: (i) a further sub-categorization of films under the “UA” category into “UA 12+” and “UA 15+” in light of the sociological changes and exposure of teenagers to certain type of content in a moderate manner; and (ii) the introduction of the additional “A-C” (A with caution) certification for films that may contain explicit material such as nudity, or violence, helping audiences make distinct choices.

Re-certification of films for the purpose of the exhibition on television, since currently only “U” certified films can be exhibited on television, thus resulting in loss of revenue for films certified otherwise. Hence, for exhibition on television, the rights owner of a film may modify the film in order to qualify for the “U” category.

Categorization of films should be limited to public exhibition and should not have a bearing on entertainment tax levied by state governments.

Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had also constituted a Committee of experts to examine issues of certification under the Cinematograph Act, 1952  which was chaired by the Honorable Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (the “Mudgal Committee”). The Mudgal Committee recommended that an order of suspension should only be passed after or during a public exhibition and not before as the ‘suspension of the exhibition’ implies that exhibition has taken place or is ongoing.

Some of the recommendations put forth by the Mudgal Committee for the advisory panel were:

Appointment of members who possess a cinematic understanding and are not affiliated to some political, religious or social group that will influence the judgment of the panel,
The cess and entertainment tax charged to the Film Industry is to be applied for the benefit of cine workers and workmen associated with the Film Industry.

Hence, the only way to reform the CBFC is to implement the recommendations put forth by the Shyam Benegal Committee and the Mudgal committee. Further, a few of my own recommendations are:

Increased usage of content warnings in films involving visually explicit material. A board of film critics, established under the purview of the CBFC in order to review films effectively so that the potential viewer is made aware of the content of the film by someone who has considerable expertise and experience about films.

Re-composition of the CBFC to not only include a larger number of individuals from the film industry but to also ensure that at least half the members on the board are women. The CBFC should regularly hold meetings with filmmakers from outside the board, to communicate with them, discuss ideas, and ensure that the board evolves with time.

Lastly, with respect to social media, censorship is very relevant and will continue to be relevant. The only change that needs to be brought about concerns questions like, who is being censored? Why are they being censored? And is censorship selective for content that is equally inappropriate? For instance, despite right-wing users claiming that conservative views face more censorship, liberals and leftists are censored far more.

Further, what action is taken when a Twitter user reports a tweet or asks for censorship of similar content? Do social media platforms exercise progressive guidelines with respect to censorship? There is a lot of soul-searching that needs to be carried out by social media platforms since they are not under the direct supervision of the government.

Social media platforms need to be non-partisan, non-political, and independent. They need to be assertive and unbiased. Policing online speech and implementing rigid moderation policies will only make social media inaccessible to marginalized voices. For example, Twitter’s policies on sexual material have resulted in posts on sexual health and condoms being taken down. YouTube’s bans on violent content have resulted in journalism on the Syrian war being pulled from the site.

Moral policing on social media will affect small, individual voices far more than larger, dominant voices which prove that policing does not help build safer online communities. Previously, online platforms were not subject to as much censorship but the government’s proposal to amend Section 79 of the IT Act which would require internet companies to take down content deemed inappropriate by authorities would break the end-to-end encryption services of platforms like Facebook-owned WhatsApp.

Hence, with the passage of this proposal, internet companies will have to practice self-censorship thereby becoming censors themselves which will, in turn, reduce the security and privacy of the users who disclose a considerable amount of private information on these platforms. The rules also require services to make information about the senders of content and messages available to government agencies for surveillance purposes- this further reduces privacy. Hence, government control on social media platforms cannot be practiced to such an extent since it will take away an open platform from the people.

These amendments will curb speech which is already heavily regulated. Instead of drafting such stringent policies, the government should communicate with internet companies and formulate unanimously acceptable methods of regulating online content. The Government is yet to censor video-streaming services such as Netflix and Hotstar, but these companies have decided to self-censor content in order to dodge any censorship by the government. This is, quite possibly, a better solution since it allows greater flexibility to these platforms to regulate their content while still permitting liberal content to be accessible.

Censorship in India today is a complicated affair due to our ever-changing ideals of acceptability. We are at a time when all of us need to be more tolerant and more understanding of voices and ideas that stand in opposition to ours. We need to stand together when we’re called to defend the right to speech, a right that is shared by all of us despite our differences.

As Evelyn Beatrice Hall said, in an illustration of Voltaire’s ideas, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

The post A Brief Analysis of Censorship in India appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

I spent nearly an entire Saturday binge watching Made in Heaven, earlier this month. The series, which is being excessively discussed online, is one of the best web series to be produced in India, according to me. It touches multiple human emotions, archaic beliefs which are regularly normalized in our society, levels of human insecurities and our forever widening economic disparity. While a friend of mine decided to pour his heart out about a topic he could relate to, I decided to write on a subject that had been bothering me for a while.

Even though we are living in times where concepts like women empowerment, #MeToo and workplace disparity have made their way to global boardrooms, we still have women who, despite coming from a background of good nurturing of their aspirations, compromise on their goals due to marriage.

We often hear NGOs and empowerment advocates talk about education, but Made in Heaven shows a female Wharton graduate and a professional pilot take a step back and succumb to patriarchal beliefs and the latter buys out another woman’s dignity. The lead protagonist Tara, who has made her cut into the compounds of the elites, does not judge an ordinary mehendiwali for accepting money to stay mum about a horrifying experience of getting molested, because Tara is aware of the fact that she too has been compromising with an unfaithful husband.

Whether it’s Tara, pilot Devyani, a journalist who places a 5,000 crore worth marriage above the ugliness of being shamed by her would be in-laws or even a Wharton graduate, every woman here doesn’t think twice to sacrifice their self-worth for comfort, royalty, financial security and societal acceptance. These are women who have the privilege of being educated and employed, unlike several other girls in our country who are never given a chance to educate themselves. Despite coming from a strong background, these women don’t seem to have the courage to come out and speak up against the wrongs they see.

The Wharton graduate, who is also a banker by profession,  hears her fiance say “what kind of kids are we going to raise?” – and this has always been the dilemma I have personally dealt with. The series raises an important question as to why women, who are empowered, choose to place wealth over career, ambition, dignity and self-worth. As a country, if women in a position of power have a regressive and patriarchal mindset, then this cult of women will miss the chance to transform society. Call it greed, lack of self-worth or lazy attitude towards life in general, Made in Heaven clearly showed that women compromise even in situations where they can simply opt out.

My personal favorite was Shweta Tripathi’s character, who walks out of the wedding when she gets to know that her parents were paying the groom to marry their daughter, a so-called government servant who pretends to be ‘simple’. The educated and privileged generation does not deserve to call ourselves ‘modern and progressive’ if we remain trapped inside materialistic security and narrow beliefs. While this series was successful in exposing this aspect of the present generation, I am sure there are other relevant topics that could have left an everlasting impression on others.

The post Made In Heaven Shows New-Gen Women Embracing Patriarchy appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

थोड़ा सा अजीब होगा एक प्रतिरोध के गीत को शोक गीत कह दिया जाना। यह भी उतना ही सही है कि शोक गीत हमेशा प्रतिरोध के स्वर में गाया जाता रहा है।

जब सत्ता की तमाम चालाकियां आवाम के खिलाफ साज़िश में लगी हों, तब आम आदमी के पास शोक गीत रह जाता है। एक ऐसा हथियार जिसके सहारे वो गोला बारूद उगलते तोप के सामने भी निर्भिक खड़ा हो सकता है। शायद यही वजह है कि सत्ता प्रतिष्ठान को सबसे ज़्यादा खौफ शोक गीत गाने वालों से होता रहा है। एक ऐसा गीत, जो हमारे दरम्यान पनपते सड़ांध को सामने ला रखता है, जो ललकारता है आला हुज़ूर को। बेखौफ हो कहता है, तुम्हारा निज़ाम फरेब है और तुम्हारे लोग दोगले हैं।

हमारे आस-पास ऐसे तमाम लोग हैं, जो दरबारी हुकूमत की आवाज़ पर चीखते हैं, ना कहना मंज़ूर करते हैं। भरी महफिल के उत्सव में कर्कश हो उठते हैं। ये लोग खिलाफ होकर हसते हैं, खिलखिलाते हैं और अपनी धुन में जनता की आह का गीत गाते हैं। इसके बावजूद कि तानाशाह सरकार के पास दमन के तमाम उपाय मौजूद हैं।

इन दिनों देश की फासीवादी हुकूमत के खिलाफ एक और ऐसी ही आवाज़ उठ खड़ी हुई है। एक शोक गीत गाने वाला, जिसका वीडियो अभी कुछ दिन पहले ही सोशल मीडिया पर चस्पा हुआ है, वह काफी तेज़ी से लोगों की नज़रों में आ रहा है। वीडियो है, “अच्छे दिन ब्लूज़ बाइ आमिर अजीज़”।

मैं इस प्रतिरोध के गीत, जो इस दौर का शोक गीत है को लेकर बहुत ज़्यादा कहना नहीं चाहता। बस इतना कहा जाना चाहिए कि इसके शब्दों की तल्खियां ज़ुल्म में शामिल जमात और उनके सरदार के कानों से खून बहा देने की ताकत रखती हैं।

पांच साल गुज़रने को हैं, अच्छे दिन का वादा लेकर बीजेपी सत्ता में आई थी, ना जाने क्या-क्या ख्वाब हिन्दुस्तान की आवाम को दिखलाये गए थे। आखिर में हम सबको मिला क्या? एक बंटा हुआ समाज, जिसके चिथड़े पर खून के छींटे हर दम सुर्ख हैं।

शोक गीत गाने वाला अपने इस गीत में कतरा-कतरा मरता देश की तस्वीर उकेरता है। भारत के नाम पर एक ऐसा नक्शा नुमाया होता है, जिसमें भगवत रावत के सपने के देश का राग नहीं राष्ट्रवाद का शोर बरपा होता है। सम्प्रदायिकता की लपटें दिखती हैं, जो सबकुछ भस्म कर देना चाहती हैं। शब्दों का रेल गुज़रता जाता है और सुनने वाले के दिलों-दिमाग में लाशों का पहाड़, डर का अंतहीन गुफा और इन सब पर गफलत, झूठ, फरेब, का राज उभरता जाता है।

शोक गीत गाने वाले को इसमें कोई हैरानी मालूम नहीं पड़ती है। आखिर यह कारोबार इन दिनों जो हर दम फलता-फूलता जा रहा है। वह एकदम संजीदगी से अपने हाथों में एक गीटार थामे, शायद रेल की पटरियों को लांघता हुआ फूटओवर ब्रिज पर आ खड़ा होता है। खामोशी को भेदती एक आवाज़ गूंजती है। शोकगीत गाने वाला कुछ यूं बड़बड़ाता है।

कल सुबह मैं निकला मॉर्निंग वाक पे, लिए एक चाय बैठा चौक पे, गीत का टुकड़ा आगे बढ़ता जाता है, शोक गीत आगे बढ़ता है और हम खुद को तितलियों के किसी जिबह्खाने में पाते हैं।

पूरा गीत सुनने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें-

The post “अच्छे दिन की असली तस्वीर दिखा रहा है यह प्रतिरोध गीत” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Kesari is an upcoming movie based on a true story. The movie is about the about a historic event – Battle of Saragarhi. Filmmaker Anurag Singh has decided to bring this story to the film screens.  Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar will be playing Havildar Ishar Singh.

According to sources, Havildar Ishar Singh led the soldiers of the Sikh Regiment during the Battle of Saragarhi. The screenplay is written by Anurag Singh and Girish Kohli. The film has a budget of Rs. 80 crores and the movie is set to release on March 21, 2019. The film will be released on 4,000 screens across the entire country.

Experts have predicted that the movie will be one of the biggest hits of 2019. It will be a holiday in the country and the popularity of Akshay Kumar will definitely be a contributing factor in the total earnings of the movie. It is expected that the movie will bag 25 crores to 35 crores on its opening day.

The movie is really great for those who share a love for history. “It is an emotional film. It is the story about those brave Sikhs who fought for their country. Unfortunately, not many people know about their battle. A year ago, when I was researching about it, there were hardly 3-4 articles on the internet, but now there are about 40,000 articles on them,’‘ said Akshay Kumar.

Kesari Movie Cast

Other than Akshay Kumar, the movie features Parineeti Chopra, Vansh Bhardwaj, Jaspreet Singh, and Mir Sarwar as supporting roles. The movie is directed by Anurag Singh.

Movie Songs

The movie has four tracks. The song “Sanu Kehndi” got 19 million views on YouTube in the first two weeks. It is a powerful Punjabi song sung by singers Romy and Brijesh Shandilya. The song “Teri Mitti” has a sweet touch of nationalism to it. It is a wonderful song composed by Arko. The song garnered 12 million views on YouTube in just 2 days. The other beautiful songs in the movie are “Aaj Singh Garjega” by Jazzy B and “Peeche Peeche” by soulful singer Arijit Singh are going to become popular in the coming days.

The Story Of Battle of Saragarhi

The movie Kesari, featuring Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra, have a heart-touching story. The battle was fought in the year 1897 between the Sikh Soldiers and Pashtun Orakzai tribesman and the battle took place in the Northwest Frontier Province.

There were only 21 Jat Sikh Soldiers of the British India Army who were attacked by 12,000 Afghan soldiers at an Army Post. The 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment, led by Havildar Ishar Singh decided to face the enemy. They were so brave that they said that they will fight till death.

The battle is regarded as one of the biggest battles of history. Saragarhi was a small village in district Kohat, present-day Pakistan. The attack occurred in the morning and Sepoy Gurmukh Singh signalled that they are under attack to Colonel Haughton. But Colonel refused immediate help.

But the Sikh soldiers decided to fight till the last breath to prevent them from entering the forts. Sepoy Bhagwan Singh was the first to be killed. The Afghans were constantly enticing the Sikh soldiers to surrender. The wall was breached later and there was some serious fighting.

Havildar Ishar Singh asks his man to fall back. All the soldiers except Sepoy Gurmukh Singh were killed. Gurmukh Singh killed nearly 20 Afghans. And the battle was marked as one of the greatest battles in history.

Movie Trailer

Superstar Akshay Kumar launched the first look of the movie on his Twitter handle on September 12, 2018. On Republic day, the star launched the second look of the movie. The official trailer was out on February 20, 2019.

It was officially released by Dharma Productions. The trailer has received more than 38 million views on YouTube. It will be really exciting to see how the movie performs on big screens. I am really excited about the movie and feel that it will perform well.

The post The True Colour Of Bravery: Kesari appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Nowruz (new day), the Iranian and Persian new year is a day of global observance and is celebrated across the world With great enthusiasm on 21st of March each Year. This is considered as the day that marks the first day of the spring and renewal of nature. Apart from marking the first day of spring, Nowruz promotes peace and solidarity in families. It’s a day that promotes friendship and love among people and different communities.

Nowruz is often called the Persian New Year and is closely associated with the Islamic Republic Of Iran. But it is marked and celebrated across many countries, including India, Afghanistan, and Central and Southern Asia, among Kurds across the Middle East and even in parts of the Balkans and on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. Nowruz has a great significance in Islam as well, and as per Shia school of thought, this day occupies an important place both spiritually and culturally.

As Quoted in Bihar_Al_Anwar Book Our 6th Light of guidance, Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) told about the importance of this day as 1.“The sun attained its brightness2. The wind started to blow. The Ark of Prophet Nuh a.s. stopped near Mount Judi (near Najaf in Iraq) and was saved from drowning. Prophet Ibrahim a.s. broke the idols of his community. Angel Jibrael brought the first revelation to our Holy Prophet s.a.w.w.6.The Holy Prophet s.a.w. lifted Imam Ali a.s. on his shoulders for removing the idols from the Kaa’ba7. Our 12th Imam will reappear and hang Dajjal in a place known as Kinasa in Kufa on this day of Nawroz holds traditional and cultural significance for the people in Kashmir especially for our Shia community”.

In Kashmir, Nawruz is celebrated with great enthusiasm and in a traditional way to symbolize the rebirth of nature in different parts of the world. On this day the youth from Shia community join hands together in planting a maximum possible number of trees, massive plantation drives are been organized across the valley for preserving the rapidly deteriorating environment. Besides planting new tree saplings, people of Kashmir throng to practitioners of leech therapy, as it is believed that leech therapy is much more effective on this day. Many people consider leech therapy as a better alternative to pharmacological treatments. This traditional method of curing diseases is still thriving in Kashmir.

People wear new clothes & new dresses and go to the mosque to pray. Worshipers greet and embrace each other in a spirit of peace and love after the congregational prayers are over. The celebrations also include customary cooking of delicacies before holding of family feasts. People love to cook different dishes including Kashmiri famous Nadru and other Wazwaan Dishes. This day is celebrated with fun and frolic in the valley and Muslims wish their families and friends.

People are also seen playing Kabbadi and other games especially in rural areas of the valley. Besides sharing greetings and love with each other, one of the main customs of Nowruz is to exchange house visits during which guests are served tea, pastries, meals, and fruits. People on this day share sweets, dry fruits including walnuts and candies with their neighbor’s and relatives. They also, exchange gifts and money to congratulate each other on the advent of this blessed day. All families celebrating this great day in Kashmir spend weeks leading up to Nowruz cleaning their homes and doing repair works.

The not so good part of all this that I experienced is that despite knowing they have limited resources, people end up spending thousands of rupees on this festival just for the sake of pomp and show. Wasting food is neither part of Islam nor does it bode well with the spirit of any festival, rather these kinds of acts are highly discouraged. The celebrations have a symbolic attachment to them and cannot be complete until you give away two third of it to poor and needy people.

So the essence of this blessed day of Nawruz is to support and help needy and poor people, remember family and seek forgiveness and blessing through it. Also, the best way to make our almighty Allah happy is to save a little amount on this day and use this amount in the education of our children.

The UN’s General Assembly also recognized the International Day of Nowruz in 2010, describing it as a spring festival of Iranian origin, which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. Also in 2009, it was officially added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. On this special day, we pray to almighty Allah, “Oh our Lord, Please shower Your blessings of joy and happiness to whole of the mankind especially to the people of Kashmir, Palestine,Yemen who have been witnessing- turmoil, tyranny, oppression, innocent killings of children and their families, pain, depression, afflictions, atrocities from many decades”.

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These are the days of hashtag fire. When there is outrage against a brand, people protest on social media. On Twitter, being a social media channel that has enormous popularity and ease of use of, hashtags are the most common way of showing protest. One of the latest incidents that sparked a fire in the aforementioned category was a customers’ annoyance against Nike and Gillette. The outrage against Nike was caused by Colin Kaepernick, an athlete and the new face of the brand who had protested against police brutality in the US. The outrage against Gillette was due to its stand taken in a social issue—contributing to #MeToo by asking men to be more respectful.

There can be multiple causes leading to hashtag campaigns. A segment of a brand’s customers may not like the content of an ad, or they may interpret the content to be against or demean a section of the society. This leads to customers’ reaction towards the brand.

So nice to see @Gillette jumping on the “men are horrible” campaign permeating mainstream media and Hollywood entertainment. I for one will never use your product again. https://t.co/uZf7v4sFKm

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 14, 2019

Do such hashtag fires contribute to the destruction of the brand? Latest reports from the sales of these respective brands suggest that the destruction is likely to be minimal. In fact, there may even be advantages due to the popularity earned from the campaign.

To understand this, we must understand the attribution theory. Attribution theory explains how people find causes for the events. When the brand’s ads cause ire among customers, the causes can be internal to the brand or external. As long as the causes are not internal to the brand, the destruction caused due to hashtag fires will be minimal. When the causes are internal to the brand, for example bad quality of the product, we can expect the sales to show a decreasing trend.

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Pradip Krishen is (or was) an unusual filmmaker. His first film “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” won a National Award and has gained a cult status in Indian parallel cinema. Film buffs might know it for two special reasons–one, it was one of Shahrukh Khan’s earliest film appearances (as an ‘other others’ cast) and two, it starred among others, an unlikely name in Bollywood–Arundhati Roy. In fact, it was Roy’s literary genius that gave the film an intellectual flavor, touched by her signature subtlety of storytelling.

The film is about a group of college peers studying at the National Institute of Architecture in Delhi who have an uncanny resemblance to the hippies of North America. The character of Annie is a guy in constant existential crisis who keeps a hen in his room and dreams of solving the problem of urban migration by turning trains into vehicles for planting fruit trees. He seems to have an old altercation with “Yamdoot”, the head of the architecture department who, at one point, helps him get out of police lockup.

Arundhati Roy plays a carefree, urbane girl who has Marxist ideas about the whole business of architecture, wherein it is only the upper class that exploits the cityscape while the poor and the downtrodden make their ends meet in the ‘gaps’ that exist in the urban environment. Other interesting characters in the film include a guy from Uganda whose dream is to build a world-class multiplex in the heart of Kampala and who wails in his sleep because his ‘pop’ was killed by Idi Amin. Shahrukh Khan’s small but noticeable role is that of a quirky senior who speaks polished English and parts his (oily) hair in the middle.

The most important aspect of the film is a continuous sense of irreverence; irreverence of a creative nature. Dissent is the constant undertone that runs throughout the film, be it Annie’s unwillingness to submit to the norms set up for him by his college, or the firm resolve of Roy’s character to present a thesis on her Marxist perspective of architecture for her final examination. Unlike today’s intolerance and ‘anti-nationalisation’ of opposing views, even in the universities, the film depicts an acceptance and an eventual celebration of such views. As the end credits appear on the screen, the viewers are told that all those characters, who seemed disobedient and careless in their approach to conventional rules of education, actually did make something of their lives. It is a kind reassurance that you don’t have to agree with everything you are taught to be able to succeed in life.

“In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” is a film which finds relevance in our world today. In a society where colleges have been converted into factories of degree holders and slaves of the system, this film seeks to inspire creativity and a narrative of counter-culture in the youth. It is an experimental film which can boast of great fun and humor with a deeply insightful undercurrent.

The fact that the makers of this film, both Pradip Krishen and Arundhati Roy, returned their awards in protest of the current regime’s takeover of space for free speech speaks for the urgency of the message it sought to convey way back in 1989.

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As an artist, I sought to express, in many broken pieces (the shards), that were, permanence in my life for 21 years, being constantly wounded by others and myself, breaking and creating my own imagined walls against and for the idea of true love. That’s how I began to put together my show, “The Erratic Beats of my Heart”.

My journey of exploring love from the other was excruciatingly painful, while I stood against the permanence of patriarchy and power abuse. I put those unpleasant and overwhelming experiences in boxes. Many tight compact stand-alone boxes.

My artworks are abstract and so were my feelings about the unsaid and said unfair and unequal rules set by the system. These unacceptable and useless power systems weaken society at large, thus taking away the humane-ness of a person from the basic sense of self. I could not adjust to the wrongs of the patriarchy as often as they occurred.

I trusted my heart would always to do the necessary checks and balances to stay in tune with my universal values of freedom, justice, and compassion. When my heart skipped a beat, I respected that, as my life depends on it; I note it, stay with it, I find out in detail, the “why, what and how’ of its erraticness. It was my diagnosis, of sorts, to un-filter, come back to, and stay on my path to be alive and happy.

To be a martyr for the patriarchs is not a game I will play. I neither understand it, nor do I see any value in it for me.

I documented my human self through my paintings, photos, and videos, as that was all available to me as a way to record my truth. It was the most important mode for me, while I seeped into the system as an outsider.

Fighting the patriarchy damaged me emotionally and killed my spirit, cutting through the deepest layers of my precious self. The self never really wanted to give up tot the power and mercy of an unfair system, however much I may have tried. The answer was ‘defy or die’. The system is so complex that it leaves no space for expressing real existence as a human, let alone as a woman.

The exhibition of my art works is in a smallish and not swanky space. But it is cozy and a part of the experience.

“The Erratic Beats of my Heart” is on until March 27, 2019. Interested in checking out Deepa’s show? For details, drop her a mail at deepa.1480@gmail.com.

The post My Paintings Have Helped Me Explore Several Ways To Defy The Patriarchy appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Himanshi Parihar:

Fake news spread like wildfires these days. Not that false news were not spread earlier; but with the integration of cellphones with the internet, social media and messenger apps like Facebook and WhatsApp have emerged as a breeding ground of these fake news pandemics.

It was on these platforms that fake news like that of ‘child kidnappers’ and ‘beef eaters/smugglers’ were spread and not less than 2 dozen people lost their lives because emotionally charged mobs took their lives.

But fake news does not always culminate into mob lynching, it also manipulates our decision-making and everyday perception of things.

For instance, the shares of Infibeam, India’s 1^st listed e-commerce company, fell by 73% because of a WhatsApp message that alleged a governance issue in the company.

Not only this, a number of us Indians have a distorted view of our history, especially political history, because of politically motivated fake news cells.

A recent survey conducted by Microsoft reveals that 64% of the Indians surveyed had encountered fake news compared to the global average of 57%.

But not only are Indians more susceptible to receiving fake news, they are also more likely to believe in it. The instances stated above confirm the stats.

Ever wondered why?

1. Toxic Emotions

We grow up having our own set of beliefs and thoughts. Our perception of other people in society is formed by hearing certain things about people of certain religions, castes or classes.

This makes us believe that these facts are actually true, and we may end up being biased because of such socialization.

Our brain also creates shortcuts called ‘heuristics’ to cut processing time while making decisions in complex situations, usually based on past knowledge or experiences.

Sometimes, these mental short-cuts lead to cognitive bias which is basically mental processing and interpreting error.

We Indians are emotional people and there is no denying it. We get attached to people, ideas, institutions and even our beliefs.

When emotions combine with beliefs, they both complement each other and make themselves stronger. We then handpick and intake only those facts which strengthen our existing beliefs and evade the ones that contradict them.

This leads to misjudgments that make us believe, spread and even act on fake news.

2. Lack of spirit of inquiry

A set of ideas or facts are offered to us on a platter, and we believe in them blindly, without even trying to verify their authenticity.

If people spent 2 minutes before sharing random messages/pictures/memes, fake news wouldn’t have been so big a problem.

How To Curb Fake News?

Institutions around the world are trying to curb the menace of fake news. But fake news cells are equally active for spreading it.

WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption because of which fake news cannot be filtered before being delivered to a user.

Facebook is in preliminary stages of this activity. Various websites are now running to crosscheck the validity of facts.

But in a country as huge as India, it is not practical to check the validity of every news that floats on the internet.

The onus equally falls on us users (who act as propagators) to think before ‘sharing’ any and every message, without being emotional about it.

The post Indians Are More Prone To Believing Fake News Because We Are Emotional People appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Bollywood actor John Abraham has completed 15 years in the industry.

Over the course of these years, John has sported many hats; he has been a successful actor and producer, having produced a couple of National Award winning films, apart from being one of the highest paid male supermodels. In 2012, he was declared “the sexiest man alive” by a Mumbai magazine, and of course, he has been part of the ensemble cast in an Academy Award nominated film (read Water).

The charismatic star has proved to be much more than his obvious good looks. His passion for fitness has made him into something of a health icon. A multi-faceted personality, he is a great son, the champion of several social causes as well as a wonderful human-being.

John has defied stereotypes and made a name for himself in an industry that is believed to thrive on people’s insecurities. Whether it is his team in the Indian Super League (ISL) or in the Hockey India League, John has always been a risk-taker, and a thorough professional.

John, in my opinion, has been one of the finest actor-producers in Bollywood. Most of his movies come with an important social message, and he has produced films such as Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe, have garnered both commercial and critical success.

Earlier last year, the Parmanu row which saw repeated clashes between its makers, proved that John steadfastly stands behind every project of his. Moreover, at a recent press conference at the trailer launch of Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW), he made a strong statement when he pointed out that actors should not engage in political conversation simply to “trend” on social media. John has also actively participated in and spoken up on women’s rights.

From Jism to Parmanu, Shootout at Wadala to Madras Café, New York and Kabul Express, John has made people cry, laugh, and fall in love. Even his latest film, RAW, teases us with what seems likely to be an edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting thriller. His projects have not only seen him transform physically, he has also evolved as an actor and a person.

An actor who keeps mostly to himself, very few people know about the man behind the star; yet this is someone who has inspired many into fitness, a man who, I feel, has led by example, and survived in an industry, that many would say, indulges in blatant nepotism. I celebrate a man who refused to give in to conventions, shattered stereotypes, and carved a niche for himself, all along managing to hold on to his individuality.

A hundred years on, let us hope that John Abraham is remembered as one of the few actors in Hindi cinema who pushed boundaries in his own way.

Featured image source: John Abraham/Facebook.

The post A Man Of Many Parts: Why Bollywood Needs John Abraham appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

भारत में पत्रकारों के दो गुट हैं या फिर यह कह सकते हैं एक ही गुट है। वजह, एक गुट तो पत्रकारिता करता है लेकिन बाकी के बचे हुए लोग जिनके पास पत्रकारिता की डिग्रियां हैं, वे सिर्फ चाटुकारिता करते हैं।

पुण्य प्रसून बाजपेयी का नाम उन पत्रकारों में से एक है जो पत्रकारिता करते हैं। पहले उन्हें ‘आज तक’ से रामदेव के इंटरव्यू के बाद निकाला गया। फिर उन्हें पीएम मोदी के एक झूठ का खुलासा करने पर ‘एबीपी न्यूज़’ से निकाला गया। अब आखिर में उन्हें सूर्या चैनल से निकाल दिया गया है। यह वही सूर्या चैनल है, जो बाजपेयी के नाम पर अपना प्रमोशन कर रहा था।

अब सवाल यह उठता है कि कौन है, जो प्रसून के पीछे हाथ धोकर पड़ा है। या फिर सिर्फ प्रसून के पीछे नहीं बल्कि हर उस पत्रकार के पीछे पड़ा है, जो चाटुकारिता की जगह पत्रकारिता करता है। पिछले शुक्रवार को अहमदाबाद के चिराग पटेल को जला दिया गया, मणिपुर के पत्रकार किशोर चंद्र वांगखेम पर एनएसए लगा दी गयी, गौरी लंकेश जैसे पत्रकारों को मार दिया गया, रवीश कुमार को आए दिन धमकियां मिलती हैं। ये पत्रकार भी एसी रूम में बैठकर एंकरिंग कर सकते थे, इनके घर भी भरी अटैचियां आ सकती थीं लेकिन इन्होंने ऐसा नहीं किया।

आज प्रेस की वर्तमान स्थिति को देखते हुए हमें इतिहास में झांकने की ज़रूरत है

भारत प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता में 138वें नंबर पर पहुंच गया है। भारत में इमरजेंसी के अतिरिक्त प्रेस की ऐसी हालत नहीं थी। आज हमें इतिहास में झांकने की आवश्यकता है। फ्रांस की 1830 की क्रांति का मुख्य कारण प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता को खत्म करना था। जब 1830 में प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया था, तब पत्रकारों ने क्रांति शुरू की और जनता से फ्रांस के क्रांतिकारी सिद्धांतों की रक्षा की अपील की। इसके बाद विद्यार्थी, मज़दूर और किसान इस क्रांति से जुड़ते गए।

यह टेलीविज़न के अंत और सिटीजन जर्नलिज़्म का दौरा है

आज प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता खत्म होने और प्रेस पर पूंजीपतियों और राजनीति के प्रभाव के कारण ही लोग अब मेनस्ट्रीम मीडिया का साथ छोड़ रहे हैं। 2014 के बाद मानो ऑनलाइन वेब पोर्टल की बाढ़ सी आ गई है। लोगों ने अपनी फेसबुक और ट्विटर की वॉल को न्यूज़ देने का स्त्रोत बना दिया है। आज जैसे-जैसे सिटीजन जर्नलिज़्म को बढ़ावा मिल रहा है, वैसे-वैसे इन चाटुकार पत्रकारों के मुंह पर तमाचा पड़ रहा है। मीडिया की खस्ता हाल के कारण ही आज Youth Ki Awaaz जैसे प्लैटफॉर्म जनता को पसंद आ रहे हैं।

भारत में वर्तमान युग न्यूज़ वेब पोर्टल का युग है, सिटीजन जर्नलिस्म का युग है। लोग मिलकर नए-नए वेब पोर्टल्स बना रहे हैं, जिससे वह जनता को जानकारी दे सकें, क्योंकि न्यूज़ चैनल जानकारी नहीं प्रोपेगेंडा परोस रहे हैं। अब कुछ गिने चुने लोगों के काफी मेहनत के बाद सिर्फ मोबाइल फोन पर जानकारी मिल रही है। यह टेलीविज़न के अंत का दौर है और वाकई में जब तक चुनाव नहीं हो जाते, हमें टीवी बंद कर देना चाहिए। वरना हम भी उस प्रोपेगेंडा का शिकार हो जाएंगे, जो सत्ता हमें परोसना चाहती है, पत्रकारिता का अंत करके।

The post “यह टेलीविज़न के अंत और सिटीजन जर्नलिज़्म के उदय का दौर है” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

We, as an audience, last saw Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmaavati in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s creation Padmaavat,  and she undoubtedly allured everyone with her charm, beauty, and her splendid performance. After the humungous success of that movie, Deepika Padukone is all set to be back with another movie Chhapaak, which will be directed by Meghna Gulzar.

Deepika Padukone took to the Twitter on Monday to share her first look where she wrote, “A character that will stay with me forever…#Malti,”. She also shared the release date of the movie i.e. January 10, 2020. Netizens are also extolling her for her look, and for selecting such a potent role.

Similarly, Meghna Gulzar, who is directing the movie, also took to Twitter on Monday to share her thoughts. She referred to Deepika Padukone’s character ‘Malti’, as courage and hope.

The movie Chhapaak is based on the life of an acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal. Laxmi, who was born to a middle-class family in New Delhi, dreamt of becoming a singer someday. When she was on her way to a bookshop in Khan Market, she was attacked by a 32-year old Naeem, because she had rejected his advances! After the attack, she lay on the street, crying in pain, until a taxi driver came forward and rushed her to the nearby Safdarjung hospital.

Laxmi said in an interview, ‘I went through multiple surgeries and was in the hospital for three months. There were no mirrors in the ward I was in. Every morning, the nurse would bring me a bowl of water to help me freshen up, and I would try to catch my reflection in that water. I would only see glimpses of a bandaged face. When I first saw my face afterward, I felt shattered physically and mentally. I had no face to speak of’.

At first, she felt devastated, but then she gathered courage and stability, and became stronger mentally with every passing day. She also became the voice of acid attack survivors; she was honoured by former US First Lady, Michelle Obama, with the International Women of Courage Award.

Laxmi fell in love with a guy named Alok Dixit, who is a social activist. The couple decided to be in a live-in relationship instead of getting married. She later said in the interview, ‘We are challenging the society by not getting married. We don’t want people to come to our wedding and comment on my looks’. Sometime later, Laxmi and Alok had a baby girl, Pihu, although, the couple got separated eventually due to some differences. Pihu’s custody has been given to her mother.

She said in an interview, “Many people offered me jobs after reading the news of my current situation, and I am very thankful to them. News has a short shelf life and after some time, it holds no value. However, I want the government to offer me a job as I have to support my mother, as well as my daughter. I have to bring her up single handedly.”

Talking about the film, Deepika Padukone will also be producing the movie Chhapaak. Deepika shared that earlier she didn’t intend to take on the role as she was looking for something lighter after doing three consecutive intense films, but when Meghna Gulzar narrated the script to her, she wept and was too overwhelmed to refuse to play the role of Malti in Chhapaak. The movie also stars Vikrant Massey as Malti’s partner.

After Chhapaak’s first look shared by Deepika Padukone and Meghna Gulzar on Monday, it can clearly be seen in Deepika’s eyes that her transformation has been supremely effortless. It’s safe to say that no one else could have done more justice to this character.

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