Studies in Media

I suppose everyone knows about this story of the Pandit and the Boatman from Kashmiri folklore. No? Well, here it is... Once a Pandit hired a boat to cross a river. Bored, he asked the boatman whether he had read the Upanishads. When the boatman replied in negative, the Pandit said that he had wasted his life. With every such question, the Pandit kept saying how the boatman had wasted his life. Suddenly, the boatman asked the Pandit if he knew swimming. The Pandit replied that he had read all the books about swimming. The boatman replied, "Then you better put what you read into practice because the boat is sinking!" The river water had risen and it was raining heavily by now. Needless to say, the Pandit started drowning. The boatman said, "You have wasted all your life by just reading about swimming. You should have also practiced." (Image Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jc8XyK2bPgI/hqdefault.jpg) Though theoretical knowledge is immensely valuable, it i

There was a well-written article recently about how only 25% of India's adult population use the Internet, and how it is among the lowest in the world. The article, quoting Pew Research, was not only critical about Digital India, but also had a little negative tone in reporting. Well, let's look at it from a different angle. When 25% of India's population uses the Internet: The numbers are more than the entire population of US of A  It is almost 3 times that of South Korea! (The article compares our Internet usage with that of Korea) Even with 25% of India's population on the Internet, we have the largest number of Facebook users in the world. From 13% in 2013 to 25% in 2017, the number of Internet users in India has almost doubled So is the 'only' 25% a limitation? Let's look at it from a perspective of opportunity. Think of the numbers that are not yet on the Internet. India's population is getting younger. The census figures show that 45%

What does it take to be job-ready, to take on the media world? Most academic programmes in media in India, offer several courses in all forms of media. Most courses are good, following a standard syllabus, mostly as per the guidelines given by UNESCO. Many institutes, however, lack the basic infrastructure and equipment required to train students in the modern form of media content creation. I have many friends across the country who can vouch for that. It is always a struggle for institutes to keep adding the latest infrastructure and equipment, simply because whatever we buy is already redundant in this technology driven sector. However, the fact remains that equipment and curricula need to be revised as and when required, catering to industry needs, to make our students employable. It is sad that in many places, curricula are designed based on the capabilities of the faculty involved, rather than what is needed. Today, after taking a feedback from the industry, it is clear th