Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 9.6.19
Democracy
Recently I read a long article by Booker winner writer and social
activist Arundhati Roy in which she was ventilating her ire at the democracy we
live in. She argues that it is not the real democracy, it can at best be called
majoritarianism.
Several other thinkers also share her views and they say, it is
happening at a global scale. Populism is on the rise. People are looking at
short term gains, politicians are offering them exactly that. Everything is instantified. In the rush to get short
term gain and instant nirvana, we are probably ignoring or are becoming short
sighted enough to see the big picture.
The public sphere is losing its credence and probably traction with what
is beneficial for the society.
Part of the problem today probably lies in the democratisation of public
space itself. Everyone is entitled to express themselves in any form or medium,
and on any subject. And everyone does. In a single day there are 150 million
exchanges on Snapchat, 1.15 billion opinions on Facebook, 500 million Twitter
feeds, and a multitude of reactions on newspaper, TV and web pages. Certainly,
social media platforms allow the world to be more connected, but much of the
connection comprises only an unhealthy competition
to be heard for a reason — for more followers, more likes, and other forms of
self-adulation. With more selfies taken, every life event recorded, the
self-obsession becomes desperation to gain approval from strangers. The petty
personal nature of the exchanges aside, the sheer glut of useless factoids only
degrades and diminishes the content of public space. And political parties are
force-crowding this space with bombardment of propaganda.
In the cacophony the sane voice is probably
getting lost. And the problem is in our haste to make our voice heard, hardly
anybody notices that.
Children’s Literature
Children worldwide
love to hear stories and explore the unknown. They need to be provided the
opportunity for both- to develop them into fine human beings. Literature is one
area that can provide both. It opens the gateway to fun, entertainment and
knowledge. It satiates the curiosity of children and ignites their mind to
explore more. It tells them stories that take them to a dreamland. They enjoy.
They learn.
National Book Trust
(NBT) established National Centre for Children’s Literature (NCCL) in 1993 to
promote, create, coordinate, monitor and aid the publication of children’s
literature in Indian languages. It also provides assistance and expertise to
teachers, librarians, editors, writers
and illustrators by arranging creative workshops across the country especially
in rural areas for promoting reading habit among children.
NCCL runs Readers Club
Movement to promote the habit of reading at school level. Till date over 35,000
Readers’ Clubs have been established in the country.
NCCL also has a
beautiful Children's Library cum Documentation Centre in its Delhi office with
a collection of over 15,000 books on Children’s literature in 44 languages of
the world. Besides Children's books, it has a good collection of reference
books. The Centre has an aesthetically designed wall panel depicting a story
from Panchatantra made of particle board.
Do visit this centre
if you love Children’s books or just to soak in the ambience. I went there and
was impressed.
Daryaganj
Daryaganj in Delhi with rows of offices and showrooms of publishers is
like the College Street of Kolkata minus the enthusiasm with which people
throng the second hand book stalls in Kolkata. Most of the publishers in
Daryaganj publish and sell educational and text books, guides, self help books,
etc.
There are several publishers here who would publish your books for a
price. The price depends on how badly and how fast you want your books to be
published.
Tailpiece 1: Delhi ki Garmi
Delhi was sizzling at 40 plus degree when I had been there. A
joke was doing rounds: the heat will continue to rise till it crosses the
number of seats Congress has got.
Tail piece 2: Desh Badal Raha Hai
Look at this. Man will take care of Home, and woman will take
care of Finance. The country is changing, bro.
Tailpiece 3: Circle Complete
Cabinet Allocations in a nutshell:
Party Chief gets Home,
Home Minister gets Defence,
Defence Minister gets Finance and,
Finance Minister goes Home
Circle complete.
(Courtesy: Social Media)
***
The
author, a journalist turned media academician lives in Central Odisha town of
Dhenkanal. An anthology of his weekly column Window Seat, published in 2018 has been published as a book. Write
to him to get a free e-copy. mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
This weekly column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.orissadiary.com
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