Do you still read 'The Hindu'?
Or are you taking a look at the 'Times of India'?
Perhaps, you buy three newspapers - 'The Hindu', the 'Times' and the DC ('Deccan Chronicle').
You may not have the time to read all three but for less than ten rupees you can pick your choice from the 92 pages at your doorstep. And we haven't forgotten 'The New Indian Express', redesigned, repackaged and ready to be part of the newspapers' battle in this
city.For the past four weeks, a small group of us have been looking a bit more closely at all these four dailies.Now, we can take a break.
For, our annual Journalism Camp for senior school students has just closed. We began with the dailies, we lived with them and we learnt some thing from all of them. Some good, some not so good. Our group has always been small and out of the group, are a few sparks who go on to sparkle.
A very positive outcome of this year's programme has been the steady stream of writing assignments that the young people have accomplished. They are all posted on a blog ( http://www.mtjclass.blogspot.com/). There are a few pictures too. And jottings on what took place every day.
The experience has been varied.
Last Tuesday, we landed at the NDTV's Chennai bureau and found correspondent Sam Daniel
getting entangled into a breaking story - related to the wall that had been built to separate a Dalit and a upper caste community in the Madurai region.Sam lectured gamely between phone calls and 'to camera' feeds for two morning news bulletins.
All of this was a great learning experience for the students who join our camp to get an idea of what journalism is all about.
In the days ahead, three participants who reside in the same neighbourhood may launch a Net initiative.
A blog for Thiruvanmiyur perhaps.
Populating the blog will not be so difficult for this trio. They now know how to seek news and info, how to interview people and ferret details and how to write and post.If their initiative moves forward, then they will network with the livewires of Thiruvanmiyur and enrich this blog and create the buzz.
Neighbourhoods need to have such initiatives going.
Lets see what happens with this trio.
May 10, 2008
May 03, 2008
Homeless in Chennai
This happened in January this year.
The annual Mylapore festival was on on the Mada Streets and I was taking a short break between the folk performances on the main stage.
A middle aged woman came up to me and introduced herself.
She said she had met me a long time ago and was aware that I was a journalist.
But now she wondered if I had a few minutes to spare.
She quickly told me about the serious problems that people like her had to face in Mylapore.
Families who lived in rented houses or apartments were being asked to vacate the place the moment the contracts expired.
Or, if they wished to stay on, then they would have to pay double the rent.
She said she was paying a rent of two thousand five hundred for a small place off the crowded streets of Mylapore.
Now, the house owner had found people who were willing to pay four thousand.
Hers was not a rare case, she said. Lots of middle class families faced the prospect of moving out of the core city areas where they had resided for decades and seek a roof in the suburbs.
Because house rentals had shot up.
I let that story pass.
But over the past few months, this story has been coming back. Only, the voices are different. The people though are from the same background.
A serious social churning is going on in our city.
Middle class families who cannot afford their own hearths and have resided for years on the streets and lanes of Triplicane and Mylapore, Royapettah and Mambalam, Nungambakkam and Alwarpet are told to get out.
For, a new set of people can now afford to pay fancy rents for accommodation in the city centre. And these are people who enjoy the fruits of the new economy.
Are there public platforms for 'deprived' communities to discuss such issues?
Are there forums where urban matters are seriously considered?
This past week, an NGO - Nandini Voice for the Deprived - hosted a meeting for families who have been severely affected by shooting rentals.
Is this a voice in the wilderness?
The annual Mylapore festival was on on the Mada Streets and I was taking a short break between the folk performances on the main stage.
A middle aged woman came up to me and introduced herself.
She said she had met me a long time ago and was aware that I was a journalist.
But now she wondered if I had a few minutes to spare.
She quickly told me about the serious problems that people like her had to face in Mylapore.
Families who lived in rented houses or apartments were being asked to vacate the place the moment the contracts expired.
Or, if they wished to stay on, then they would have to pay double the rent.
She said she was paying a rent of two thousand five hundred for a small place off the crowded streets of Mylapore.
Now, the house owner had found people who were willing to pay four thousand.
Hers was not a rare case, she said. Lots of middle class families faced the prospect of moving out of the core city areas where they had resided for decades and seek a roof in the suburbs.
Because house rentals had shot up.
I let that story pass.
But over the past few months, this story has been coming back. Only, the voices are different. The people though are from the same background.
A serious social churning is going on in our city.
Middle class families who cannot afford their own hearths and have resided for years on the streets and lanes of Triplicane and Mylapore, Royapettah and Mambalam, Nungambakkam and Alwarpet are told to get out.
For, a new set of people can now afford to pay fancy rents for accommodation in the city centre. And these are people who enjoy the fruits of the new economy.
Are there public platforms for 'deprived' communities to discuss such issues?
Are there forums where urban matters are seriously considered?
This past week, an NGO - Nandini Voice for the Deprived - hosted a meeting for families who have been severely affected by shooting rentals.
Is this a voice in the wilderness?
April 26, 2008
Reporting the Neighbourhood
Why do families have the 'ear-piercing' ceremony of their child at a church?
On Wednesday last, we were at the Annai Vailankanni Church in Besant Nagar.
The girls who are attending our annual Journalism Camp for senior school students opted for a field assignment and since a majority of them are from the Adyar region, we opted to start from the church and end in the kuppam area further north.
The intention of this field assignment was not to study a church. Rather, we went there to see how we could go about getting story ideas and leads, learn something new and examine the experience.
While we were at the church campus, trying to take in the myriad things that went on around us, Mayuri got curious about a gathering at the far end and walked across to observe the social event. The 'ear-piercing' was being celebrated!
When we regrouped, we realised that there were many Indian rituals and practices that were being followed on this campus.
Saris were being offered at the shrine of the Vailankanni madha, agarbathis were being lit beside the candles and coloured threads with petitions and vows were wound round the flag mast,
For everyone in the group, this was a new experience. So we spoke a bit about the Indianisation of the church.
Further down, we stopped to look at the Odaima-kuppam. Once an exclusive fishing village, its fringe facing the main road was now lined with eateries of all kinds, catering to the pilgrims who came to the Aarupadai Temple and to the madha church. The kuppam was changing.
On the other side, we took in the façade of the buildings. At the 'T' and the 'M' type houses, the first to be promoted by the Housing Board. We stood in the shade of a tree and I shared with the group my observations of the changing face of Besant Nagar.
Of times when there were no takers for these HB houses and when this 'nagar' was a sandy expanse.
As we walked further, we realised how the façade had changed.
Shops, eateries and more shops.
Bessy Beach is now a hot spot now for young people and the "M' types have made way for eat-outs, coffee shops and boutiques.
Hopefully, the two hours on the road was an educational experience for the group.
As they work on their assignments for this course, the students are getting to know their neighbourhoods better.
If you have the time, you can go through the stories and pictures they have posted on a blog - at www.mtjclass.blogspot.com
On Wednesday last, we were at the Annai Vailankanni Church in Besant Nagar.
The girls who are attending our annual Journalism Camp for senior school students opted for a field assignment and since a majority of them are from the Adyar region, we opted to start from the church and end in the kuppam area further north.
The intention of this field assignment was not to study a church. Rather, we went there to see how we could go about getting story ideas and leads, learn something new and examine the experience.
While we were at the church campus, trying to take in the myriad things that went on around us, Mayuri got curious about a gathering at the far end and walked across to observe the social event. The 'ear-piercing' was being celebrated!
When we regrouped, we realised that there were many Indian rituals and practices that were being followed on this campus.
Saris were being offered at the shrine of the Vailankanni madha, agarbathis were being lit beside the candles and coloured threads with petitions and vows were wound round the flag mast,
For everyone in the group, this was a new experience. So we spoke a bit about the Indianisation of the church.
Further down, we stopped to look at the Odaima-kuppam. Once an exclusive fishing village, its fringe facing the main road was now lined with eateries of all kinds, catering to the pilgrims who came to the Aarupadai Temple and to the madha church. The kuppam was changing.
On the other side, we took in the façade of the buildings. At the 'T' and the 'M' type houses, the first to be promoted by the Housing Board. We stood in the shade of a tree and I shared with the group my observations of the changing face of Besant Nagar.
Of times when there were no takers for these HB houses and when this 'nagar' was a sandy expanse.
As we walked further, we realised how the façade had changed.
Shops, eateries and more shops.
Bessy Beach is now a hot spot now for young people and the "M' types have made way for eat-outs, coffee shops and boutiques.
Hopefully, the two hours on the road was an educational experience for the group.
As they work on their assignments for this course, the students are getting to know their neighbourhoods better.
If you have the time, you can go through the stories and pictures they have posted on a blog - at www.mtjclass.blogspot.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)