QUICK UPDATE

I finally shot 'Youth Unplugged' at PSBB in Nungambakkam and the kids there were a riot of energy. Towards the end it descended into a shouting match, and, I was forced to grab the microphones out of their hands. But all in all, a high-energy affair full of passion.

Anyway, just wanted to tell all the anonymous nobodys out there that you can't comment on my space anymore. Reveal thyself and you can pass.

YOUTH UNPLUGGED

'Youth Unplugged' is a show where school students debate issues that concern them, or atleast, should concern them. Im planning to do one on 'censorship' and 'ethical spending'. Do mail me if you'd like to participate or know someone who does. Remember, this is for school students only. I'll be shooting on Tuesday, 25th July.

CURTAINS UP ON THE CODE

The Madras High Court has allowed the screening of The Da Vinci Code, calling its suspension, a violation of freedom of speech. A heartening judgment indeed. More importantly, Justice Prabha Sridevan observed, ‘It would be dangerous to suspend the screening of the film, if petulant groups of self-appointed persons demanded so even after it had the approval of the Censor Board of Film Certification.’ You can read the operative portion here.

TAMING THE BULL

I was not well enough to work but neither was I ill enough to stay in bed. In such a sorry physical state, I went over to meet Amrutha Radhakrishnan, at her home in Tambaram on a damp, rainy day in Chennai. But the preoccupation of sickness lifted rapidly as she started narrating her story to me. It was shocking and moving. She said, “At the beginning of this year my cup of joy was overflowing… today its empty. We might be out on the streets soon.” Over the next two hours, she narrated the financial tragedy of how she, her husband and two little children were cheated out of nearly one crore rupees by the stock trading firm, Indiabulls Securities.

The story of her battle to get her money back is convoluted and difficult to narrate. (You can read about it here.)

But the reason I’m writing about this is because Amrutha’s story is remarkable. She has been fighting a long, arduous battle against this corporate giant and she has finally won. But the fight has been exhausting, frustrating and heart-breaking. She went to everyone for help – police, lawyers, media, NSE, SEBI and of course Indiabulls. Some helped, some promised to help, some were indifferent and Indiabulls tried to shut her up.

But she didn’t keep quiet. In fact, she lent her voice to other ordinary investors like her. Today more than 50 of them have managed to get back their money because she fought so hard for them and she herself is finally smiling all the way to the bank again.

However, it has all happed because, through this extremely difficult time, with two young children and a looming financial crisis, Amrutha never gave up. It was not an option. She has been resourceful, energetic, dignified and gracious. She thought of me when she got her money back and I was delighted. I salute her spirit.

DA VINCI ... LATEST

Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party, economics whiz and accused in many defamation cases, has impleaded himself in the Da Vinci Code case in Tamil Nadu. His argument is that the DMK government’s move violates Article 19 (a) of the Constitution which guarantees the freedom of speech and expression.

P.S: Rajesh - please be brief.

BOO THE BAN

Are Indian Christians more Christian than the Pope and the Vatican? They have tolerated the 'Da Vinci Code' but these guys can't. On the other hand when Jayalalithaa had said a few years ago that the Pope had no business to criticise the functioning of a democratically elected government, the same group of faithful were the first to take offense. Whats worse this time is even Muslims have shown some fake solidarity in the hope that the the favour will be returned when its their turn.

(Please dont say banal things like there are moderate voices too.... thats a given. I KNOW....Thank God!)

There are a few minority pressure groups close to the DMK who have forced the government to take this absolutely gutless decision. Fear law and order problems? Then get your police force to tackle it not buckle and ban.

Despite the Andhra Pradesh High Court upholding the right to free speech and expression, theatre owners in Hyderabad are not taking the risk of releasing the film because they fear violence. The case is being heard in a court in Tamil Nadu also. Lets see what this court says. We interviewed a few people outside Sathyam theatre and one guy said, "If it hurts the sentiments of a community, then its good that the film is banned." To him I wanted to say... Dont like it? Dont watch it. Simple. The choice is YOURS.

(Of course, the only reason the movie should be banned is because I hear its a CRAP film! I haven't seen it... Remember? Its banned!))

'COVER'ING A NEWS STORY

Here in India, in our jargon its called 'cover journalism' - the type of journalism where you accept cash (or freebies) for stories. So, journalists could be slipped an envelope or 'cover' containing cash and he/she will take care of the rest. There are lots of journalists who are very accepting of this sort of thing.

The American military has institutionalised 'cover journalism' - especially in Iraq. Following is a very brief excert from a New York Times article.

The most critical portion of the report concerns the military's creation in 2004 of an entity called the Baghdad Press Club, in which Iraqi journalists were paid if they covered and produced stories about American reconstruction efforts, such as openings of schools and sewage plants.

THE SUN RISES

HI all....Thanks for the comments to the previous post and apologies for not being able to reply. The new government is firmly in place and Vijaykanth has won afterall. The swearing-in ceremony was a disaster held in the nauseating heat of an indoor stadium bursting beyond capacity. Sun TV's pre-eminence was on display with their cameras getting the best positions and live coverage of a horribly organised event. Im not too excited about the DMK coming to power and obviously neither is Jayalalithaa. She has gone to the extent of saying that handing over power to the new government is like garlanding a monkey. I dont know about monkeys but what concerns me is the DMK's hold over the media and its ability to blot out all critical points of view. Tamil daily 'Dinakaran' is owned by them and its cut-throat pricing of 1 rupee is seriously threatening the existence of papers like the Dina Thanthi. SUN TV of course, continues to beam down propaganda and Dayanidhi Maran's ownership of the Telecom Ministry will cause even the most daring neutral channels to pause and think.

WHO IS WHO?

Poor actor Vijaykanth, founder of the fledgling DMDK, is taking on two Dravidian juggernauts who are adept at the art of sabotage. Take for example the fact that in backward Virudhachalam, from where he is contesting, there are three other 'independent' candidates also called Vijaykanth! These candidates have been propped up allegedly by the DMK and PMK. Remember that on an electronic voting machine there are only party symbols not the party names. Vijaykanth (the real one) has only recently received his, which is a drum. But as he goes around Virudhachalam asking people to vote for the drum, three other Vijaykanths will be at work asking people to vote for a 'Banana', 'Ring' and 'Television respectively. Put yourself in the place of an illiterate voter..... all pretty confusing. It might be a muffled drum beat indeed.

BANGALORE BURNS

Drunken mobs attacking helpless policemen, burning police jeeps and buses, pelting stones and attacking the media ... but actor Raj Kumar's passing away had little to do with it. It was just the occasion and a great opportunity. The establishment's tenuous grip on law and order is exposed everytime a mob comes face to face with authority. Girish Karnad, one of Bangalore's more famous citizens placed the blame entirely at the doorstep of the Kumaraswamy government. No doubt they did botch it up. Directing and re-directing thousands of people to different venues is like sending a bunch of elephants in heat down a labyrinth. But isn't it unfair to blame it all on the government? Where, oh where, is responsible citizenship? I spluttered with rage when I saw Bangalore youth attacking everything in sight and then grinning like madmen into the camera, stripping the funeral of any dignity. But then again, such occassions are perhaps the only time when the vast majority of the lower middle class and the poor can hit back at the system. The occasion becomes the excuse to attack the same system that on an ordinary day in Bangalore denies the numerical majority of their dignity. Its the rare moment when they are on top.

PS: Another perspective - sometimes busting things up is plain good fun!

REPORTER'S BLOCK

I have finally finished scripting the story on the chaos in medical and technical education in Tamil Nadu. Big thanks to all of you who left messages and contacts here. But to be honest with you, I'm not happy with the final product. (It goes on air sometime between 9 and 10 pm on 'India This Week' today - 19th March, though, I'm probably not doing a good job of promoting it!)

Its been a difficult story to write what with trying to describe the myriad problems of higher education with its complex network of government and private institutions. TV is not a very information-friendly medium, so I'm afraid that the viewer will either be bored or befuddled by the twists and turns of the Common Entrance Test (CET) first being scrapped, then being restored, then the legislation scrapping CET being scrapped, then challenged... If I have lost you, the reader, by now, the viewer may have shifted to VH1 paragraphs ago.

I tried not to detail too many twists and turns, but there in the details, lay the devil, and, without it there was perhaps no story. Anyway, its an important story to tell because it's high time the Ministry of Human Resources Development seriously started thinking about introducing only ONE single test, like the SAT, going by the chaos on campus here. So if you do watch it.... I hope you find it engaging.

WHAT AILS TECHNICAL EDUCATION?

I'm working on a story about technical education in Tamil Nadu - trying to look at flaws in policy-making (reservation for instance) and the affect of privatisation in the engineering education. The idea stems from the recent violence on the campuses of deemed universities and the TN government's move to scrap the Common Entrance Test of TNPCEE as it is better known. If you guys have any ideas, suggestions, opinions or better still experience of studying in one of these institutions do write in to me at alaphia@gmail.com. I'm also looking to interview students and parents so if any of you are currently studying and are willing to speak on camera do leave a number. My deadline is 16th evening - yes 3 days from now!

LOOKING BACK IN ANGER

A big thank you to all those who wrote in to find out how I was doing.

I won't get into the details of that night of vandalism on the SRM campus here, but I will say one thing - there are some seriously dangerous and delinquent officers in our police force.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Kancheepuram district A Amal Raj sprang upon my cameraman, snatched our camera, broke it and then stole the tape. (It was returned to us after we complained to the Director General of Police.) But the frustrating agony is that nothing is being done to punish this man! Absolutely NOTHING!

1) The police have refused to register an FIR.
2) They have arrested two people (local goons who assaulted me) but they could well be fall guys because I have not been given a chance to identify them.
3) Revenue officials are conducting an enquiry into the affair because it involves a police officer. But, so far, I have received no phone calls from the said revenue officials. Considering i'm the 'victim', shouldn't I be in the picture somewhere?

If this is the way they treat journalists then I really do shudder to imagine how the common man must suffer at their hands. The police can do so much but they do so little. It tires me out now to constantly understand 'the system' and be more sympathetic to the pulls and pressures of working in government. Frankly, whats the point of understanding?

I dont think its too idealistic to say that if you want to be corrupt you will, if you want to abuse your power you will. However if you want to be clean but poor - you can.

BOARD OF CONTROL FOR COMMERCE IN INDIA

The whole issue of copyright over cricket score SMSes is a “trial balloon” floated by the BCCI, according to a source, and the firm that has taken mobile phone companies to court is a front. The essential argument made by this firm (Marksman Marketing Services Private Limited) is that if there are audio rights and video rights why cant there be textual rights? So the BCCI is testing the waters to see if the courts will allow rights over text. It will obviously mean more money for the Board of control for cricket (or commerce) in India. Heres a gist of what both sides are saying – For all practical purposes, lets just call them – BCCI and Mobile Co.’s

BCCI: Scores constitute ‘hot news’ that I as the owner of a match can exploit.
Mobile Co.’s: Its hardly ‘hot’ because there is a delay in transmission of the SMS by atleast 4 minutes and Sec.13 of the Copyright Act has not been amended to include any concept of ‘hot news’.

BCCI: There is a shelf life to the news and by giving latest updates you are commercially exploiting my information.
Mobile Co.’s: Rubbish! Its not ‘your’ information and we get the news from TV so the scores are already in the public domain.

BCCI: It is an intellectual property
Mobile Co.’s: A cricket score is NOT intellectual property!

BCCI: If mobile phone companies make a tidy sum giving these updates, why should I – the owner of the event forego the right?
Mobile Co.’s: It’s a value-added service in larger public interest. We create the SMS so why should we pay you!

And so on and so forth. . . This is unchartered territory even in highly sophisticated sports marketing and the matter is likely to go all the way up to the Supreme Court resulting in a landmark judgment.

'WE THE PEOPLE' IN CHENNAI

'We the People', hosted by Barkha Dutt is being shot in Chennai this Sunday, 29th Jan. The topic is 'Is Chennai conservative?' If you'd like to participate please mail audience@ndtv.com, with all your contact details and what you do. (This does not guarantee participation since there is an outer limit) Not surprisingly we've got lots of confirmations from people with liberal views. So it will be great if you're actually someone who supports a dress code and conservatism. In case the mail bounces... just mail me. :)

ANNA UNIVERSITY – FADED GLORY

The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Anna University has banned cell phones on campus. So of course it cannot be used it class (a rule students WANT to obey) but it cannot even be used after class anywhere on campus. And, if you are even found in possession of one it is immediately confiscated. Now, in a protest letter to President Kalam, students write, “We are being frisked humiliatingly – an ignominy normally reserved for terrorists.”

The VC has also introduced a highly unpopular dress code. He thinks that by placing a blanket ban on cell phones and forcing people to dress a certain way he is introducing a greater degree of professionalism into college functioning. But little of all this he practices himself. He turned up half an hour late for my interview without intimating me of the delay. His arrival was preceded by a servile peon who carried in two of his cell phones while he walked in a little later with the third. And despite Anna University being a green campus, he zips around in his spanking, air-conditioned TATA Safari while some students have to walk nearly half a kilometer under the blazing sun just to get some lunch.

The letter written to the President is being circulated to gather signatures. It is written straight from the heart and shows the vice-chancellor in very poor light. The VC therefore is desperate to get hold of the letter. His office called and asked me for a copy and they were told kindly to go to hell.

But beyond the dress code and cell phone ban and harassment, students allege that there has been little academic advancement over the years. They say the syllabus has not been updated, labs lack proper equipment and the faculty does not spark their imagination. A moribund academic environment and the Talibanisation of the social and cultural climate on campus is the real Anna University today where the product just does not match the brand.

ON A DEVASTATED ISLAND - AN ANCIENT TRIBE SURVIVES

Everything about the Andaman and Nicobar islands can leave the Indian mainlander staring with wide-eyed wonderment. For most journalists it was a similar experience - learning how these remote and largely inaccessible islands function, how their ancient tribes live and of course discover the endless beauty of its shores and what a world away these tiny dots in the ocean are from anything we see on the mainland. Vishnu Som, the Associate Editor (Defence) at NDTV was among the first journalists who landed in Car Nicobar after the December 26th tsunami. Here is his account of what he saw, what moved him and what became of one of the world's oldest tribes – the Shompen.


From Heaven to Hell: The Great Nicobar Story
By Vishnu Som Associate Editor (Defence), NDTV

Ever had the feeling of the ground sinking under your feet? It's a strange feeling, the earth gently quivering, not quite an earthquake, but not quite normal either. On Great Nicobar Island, India's southernmost landmass, nothing was normal. Ever since the magnitude 9 earthquake struck, just 40 kms away from where I was reporting, everything had gone topsy-turvy.

Late one evening, as I prepared for a live standup report from Cambell Bay, a small township on the northeast of the island, the ground started shaking again. Should I run, was this a major aftershock ... was another Tsunami just around the corner? Great Nicobar felt like a sinking ship, except that there were no lifeboats. In fact, there was nothing and no one really knew what to expect next. On the one remaining road which connected Campbell Bay and the tiny airstrip the Japanese had built during the Second World War, there were families of crabs, dozens of them, scurrying around. Inside the nearby Coast Guard headquarters, now partially under water, there was only one resident. A crocodile.

The waters of the Bay of Bengal were now just 20 feet away from us. If the waters rose even one foot more, the road would be under water and the only link to the airstrip would be severed. Not that it really mattered. Planes couldn't operate onto the airstrip at night. Rescue would not be possible. But the most frightening reality of Great Nicobar wasn't the aftershocks, or the crashing waves. It was the fact that there were no dead bodies, no over-filled hospitals, no stench of death and devastation and no illness. Those who had survived were in a handful of relief camps. Those who weren't there were dead, their bodies somewhere out there in the ocean, never to be recovered.

The knowledge of death brings with it a sense of closure. For the first several days after the Tsunami, many of those who made it to the relief camps lived with a sense of hope. Sure, their loved ones were missing but who was to say that they were dead?Thousands of people from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are still missing. They have not survived. It's a reality many survivors on the islands have no choice but to slowly come to accept .

Elsewhere on the island, a remarkable story of surviving the odds. The Shompen, perhaps the most isolated tribe in the world date back between 30,000 and 70,000 years. Unlike some of the other tribes in the Andaman and Nicobar chain, the Shompen have conscientiously avoided any contact with `civilization,' content in living off the thick jungles which form the core of the island.Very little is known of the tribe. They are extremely shy, scurrying into the jungles at the sound of helicopters. Armed with poison-tipped spears, the nomadic Shompen hunt wild boar and fish in rivulets which run through the island.

The Shompen may have survived 70,000 years but had any of the 200 tribals survived the wrath of the Tsunami? I joined commandos of the Indian Navy in trying to find out.A day earlier, the first signs that at least some members of the tribe may have made it. Two naval pilots had spotted a Shompen dwelling in a densely forested area along a narrow rivulet. Today, it was time to verify the survival of the tribe.

With the jungles on the island too thick to land a helicopter, I was winched down into a narrow opening and joined by a young commando, a Lieutenant from the Navy in hiking to the Shompen village."Be careful where you tread. This undergrowth is infested with snakes and scoropns. Stay clear of the rivulet, there may be crocs" I was warned. As I hiked along the slippery, muddy slopes alongside the rivulet, falling to my knees every fifty metres or so, I spotted the Shompen village - 6 small thatched structures built on stilts at least 15 feet high and 3 smaller enclosed pens nearby. Wading across the rivulet and climbing the thick slope on the opposite side, we reached the dwelling.

There were no Shompen.

This was a deserted village. Or was it?"They're here said Lieutenant K U Singh. And they're watching. They're probably a 100 metres away from us looking on at us from somewhere there" he said pointing to the thick forests which ringed one side of the village. And sure enough, the signs of the tribe having survived were all there. Smoke from what looked like a cooking utensil, freshly cut fruit, footprints in the mud and wild boar in bamboo cages under the Shompen huts. Soon, it was time to leave. No one really knew about the behaviour patterns of the Shompen and there was every possibility that they could attack. In any event, our goal was not to disturb the tribe, only verify their survival through a natural disaster of unimaginable proportions.

The next day, my last on Great Nicobar, was perhaps the ultimate reality check, an opportunity to view the island from the air, and gauge the true extent of the topographical damage.The Navy flew me along the coastline. Within minutes we were at Indira Point, the southern-most point of India. The lighthouse at the southern tip of the island was ten feet under water, the 16 people who worked here, presumed dead. They had no chance. The Tsunami waves struck the lighthouse less than 5 minutes after they were triggered by the earthquake.

But it was the Western coastline of the islands where the fury of the Tsunami was most evident. Every few kilometers, there were dagger-like blows into the jungles along the coast, sea water making its way upto three kilometers inland, parts of the island completely cut-off, now islands by themselves. However, there was one silver-lining. The parts of the island worst hit by the Tsunami were also the least populated and that really was the saving grace on Great Nicobar. Only 7,500 people lived on the island. 567 are thought to have died. Only 27 bodies have been found, of which just 10 have been identified.

For me as a journalist, the Great Nicobar story was not just about death and suffering. It was also about survival, courtesy a few good men, soldiers of the Indian Army, a few Coast Guard Officers, transport pilots of the Indian Air Force and helicopter pilots of the Indian Navy.Two stories stands out.

Within days of the Tsunami, two Navy pilots flying a tiny Chetak helicopter off the deck of a destroyer rescued a remarkable 170 people from a settlement to the south of Campbell Bay. On each trip, their helicopter could not carry more than 2 survivors but that didn't deter them. They kept flying for more than 5 hours non-stop, landing more than a 100 times in order to bring trapped islanders to safety.

Elsewhere, a young Major of the Indian Army felt that those who survived the disaster may have lost everything, but shouldn't feel that they have lost their dignity. And so, he ordered his soldiers out of their barracks and made them camp outside in the open, while survivors were put into the soldier's barracks and given three proper meals a day.No one knows what is going to happen to Great Nicobar. Most of the settlers who were brought here in the late sixties have lost everything. Most families worked on betel nut and coconut plantations which have been devastated by the giant waves. It takes between 12-14 years for these trees to grow back to their full height. Earning a living off these plantations is just not a possibility.

And then there's the fear factor.

Tremors continue to be felt on the island and the coastline has receded sharply. Sea water levels remain higher than normal. All settlements will have to move further inland, a process of resettlement which may take years.Great Nicobar was a tropical paradise. Warm seas, a stunning coastline, a laid back life. Today, it seems to have gone back a century. A handful of settlers, a handful of soldiers and ofcourse the ever-present Shompen.

(Vishnu Som was the first journalist into Great Nicobar Island and the first to independently corroborate the survival of the Shompen tribe.)

DAUGHTERS OF THE WAVE, WALK ON

This is a piece I wrote for the first anniversary of the tsunami. I was given all of three days to shoot this story and with almost a month of rain and floods, I had little time to research what was really going on in the tsunami-affected areas. I employed three strands in my story to give viewers a big picture – that the men turned lazy, that women are pulling their weight with help from banks and donor agencies and a strong culture of self-help groups, and that the grief for individual families is still very raw and fresh. Its been re-written in parts to make it a print script. Here it is.

Across Tamil Nadu's tsunami-ravaged coast-line some scenes are common – women gathered in groups – some are weaving baskets, some others are making soaps, somewhere else they’re making dolls, yet another group is making slippers…. the list is long and the road has been hard. But many of these women of the tsunami have shown that the path to salvation is through self-help.

When Palamma returns with her large metal carrier – you know shes been at work selling fish. She didn't make much money today but shes grateful that her familiar routine has been restored. This routine has returned after months of struggle. The fishermen were first beset by a fear of the ocean, then they were happy to live off generous NGO and government doles. But their inaction was making Palamma and many fish-sellers like her - desperate. So she and the other women in the hamlet started applying pressure on the men. Palamma says, “We told them not to be scared and to overcome their fears. We said, the tsunami wasn’t going to come again so they should start their regular fishing and then slowly things began.”

The collector of Nagapattinam, Dr. J Radhakrishnan, a man responsible for reducing the turnaround time on restoring livelihood says that Palamma’s hamlet of Nambiar Nagar set off a trend. “'When the catch came and it was so huge the word went around to the other hamlets. The catalystic role played by the women in that hamlet was perhaps very critical for the other hamlets to realise the bounty available in the sea for them to follow suit and then it caught on like fire and people went fishing... this is one area where I am very thankful to the fisherwomen.”

But fishing activity is going through its annual lean season again and today in most villages you’ll find groups of men at street-corners playing cards.

But a once highly insular fishing community has learnt one very hard lesson – the importance of an alternative livelihood – another skill that can sustain them. Women have shown the lead by coming together in these self-help groups to learn new skills and men are now seeing its virtues.

Sister Lily Pushpam from an NGO called the Daughters of Mary Immaculate has been training self-help groups (SHG’s) for the past 12 years. We met her as she was beginning training with a new group of women. She says the burden of the times is shared unequally. She observes, “Men actually have become lazy because after the tsunami NGO's and voluntary organisations have given enough materials....so their mentality today is to ask of whoever comes from outside. They ask for money or materials. The first question is always - what are you going to give?”

But womens groups are also more successful because of their higher credit-worthiness and SHG’s in Nagapattinam have already saved upto 6 crore rupees! It's real empowerment for people like Kavitha. She had been a housewife till the tsunami forced her out, because it killed her husband. After learning printing she makes about 2700 rupees a month – enough to sustain her young son and her. She prints bags that carry the brand name of the products made by the women of Nagapattinam – 'Alai Magal' or 'daughter of the wave'. Then Kavitha's along with the products of hundreds of other groups travels to a specially set up market called ‘Rural Bazaar’ and also to exhibitions in different cities. Through the bazaar one group has even received an order of candles worth 5 million rupees from Netherlands. But the scenario is not entirely optimistic. The difficulty lies in finding and sustaining markets for these products. The district administration has come out with a brochure on all the available products but even they are nervous about the challenges. Dr. J Radhakrishnan says, “What we are worried about is the capacity of these SHG's to manage the requirements of the market once they attain the quality.”

If you want to help you should visit a store called ‘Tsunami ka dukaan’ that has opened recently in Pondicherry. (Its very close to Goubert Avenue. Ask for an art gallery called ‘Aurodhaan’ and they’ll direct you.) The process of the governments disengagement from rehabilitation can only begin once people start patronizing such stores. This enterprise shown by the victims has had both monetary and psychological benefits. Its helped soothe traumatized minds where hope and despair can be easy bedfellows.

I found that the people most desperately searching for a new reason to exist are parents who lost all their little children to the tsunami. One such couple is Selvi and Vijaykumar. The couple lost all their five daughters to the tsunami. But life throbs inside Selvi again. She was one of 50 women who underwent a surgery to reverse an earlier sterilization operation. Only four women have been able to conceive so far and Selvi is one of them. But having this baby will be very different for her. Her husband remains slumped in mourning, a strong smell of alcohol surrounds him, he speaks reluctantly and his face contorts with grief at the mention of his five girls. The name of ‘Sneha’, his favourite daughter, is etched across his heart. He says, “I just drink to forget….i loved Sneha because she was just like a boy. Very boisterous and playful. No matter what time I came home, she’d be awake, waiting for me. She would only go to bed after I bought her a little trifle.’

Vijaykumar has contemplated suicide very often. But somewhere deep inside he does hope to be holding his sixth child soon. Palamma hopes to be making more money once the lean season gets over and the women who are diligently employing their new skills are hoping their products will continue to inspire clients. For now, if you're looking for hope, you'll find it in Nagapattinam.

THINKING ALOUD

Viewers often accuse the media of jumping from story to story without telling them enough about anything and without doing enough follow-ups. It’s a valid criticism. Then, why I wonder, is the market not dictating terms to news-channels? Why isn’t there a greater need for independent documentary film-makers who can bring in the analysis and follow-ups that the viewers are looking for?

WAKE-UP CALL IN TRICHY

One afternoon while covering the floods in Trichy I found myself wading through knee-deep water in the interiors of a residential colony. It was lunch-time but I figured if I tried to get out it will take me half an hour. 45 minutes for lunch (I eat slowly) and then another 30 to get back in. Not worth it. Skip lunch and continue wading.

By the time I got back to my hotel room at 10 pm, I was ragingly ravenous. I decided dinner had to be elaborate and stylish. I opened the menu and went straight for the white meat. I wanted soft, tender chicken, preferably marinated, drenched in a sweet-and-sour sauce with a generous dollop of mashed potatoes.

With such longing in my heart, I searched for the chicken dishes. I found the page but it was titled, (brace yourself) ‘Cock-a-doodle-do’.

All plans of an elaborate dinner were hastily abandoned. I settled for rice.