Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee |
30.5.21
Hindi Journalism
30
May is Hindi Journalism Day. On this day in 1826 Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla
started the first Hindi newspaper of India, a weekly titled Udant Martand, which means the rising sun
from Kolkata. Udant Martand employed a mix of Khari Bolo and Braj Bhasa and was
published in devnagari script. The
first issue printed 500 copies, the newspaper was published every
Tuesday.
 |
| Udant Martandm the first Hindi newspaper |
Shukla hailed from
Kanpur and settled in Kolkata. He was a lawyer by profession. On February 16,
1826, Shukla and his friend Munnu Thakur received a license to publish a
newspaper in Hindi.
There were not may
Hindi readers in Kolkata and nearby places. The Hindi readership was more in
North India. It was difficult for Udant Martand to reach north
Indian towns because of the transportation cost involved. Shukla tried for
postal concession and also for government funding for his newspaper but did not
get it.
Soon due to higher
postal rates as well as distant readership, the newspaper ran into financial
difficulties and eventually closed on 4 December 1827.
Effectively it
survived for less than one and a half years. But it showed the path. Hindi
journalism has travelled a long way from that time. It has played a very
important role in freedom struggle. Presently it occupies a major space in the
media ecosphere of India. Half of the top ten largest circulated daily
newspapers are in Hindi. The viewership of Hindi channels far outnumbers any
other language in India. It has a significant presence in the digital media
space.
However, it still
has to catch up with the quality of content and influence on the society and
policy makers that English or Malayalam or Marathi or Bengali journalism offer.
It needs to invest more in quality human resource and news gathering.
Sundarlal Bahuguna, the green leader
Noted
environmentalist and Padma Vibhushan Sunderlal Bahuguna succumbed to Covid on
21 May 2021. He was 94.
 |
| Caricature by Jayaraj Vellur, Kerala |
Born in the village
Maroda, located in the Pauri
Garhwal district of Uttarakhand Sunderlal Bahuguna
was a life-long environmentalist and was credited for founding the Chipko
movement - the grassroots movement that swept through the Garhwal region in the
1970s with villagers hugging trees to stop them from being axed. Later in
1990s, he spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement and even went to jail for it
in 1995.
He always
voiced his protest for the Himalayan
Niti and the sustenance of the Himalayas. As Arwind Bijalwan
writes: During a lecture in our college, he used a Garhwali slogan: “Dhar ainch pani, dhal par dala, bijli banawa khala-khala (Water
needs to be recharged on hill tops, trees should be
on the slopes, electricity should be generated from every small water
source).
Sunderlal
Bahuguna was against large constructions in the ecologically fragile Himalayan
areas. Though he created awareness about the importance of protecting the
environment among the masses, his words fell into deaf ears of the policy
makers.
Years
later, we are facing the consequences now with frequent devastating floods in
all the Himalayan states.
His
words find resonance with the theme of this year’s environment day (5 May): Ecosystem
Restoration. It denotes assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been
degraded by activities like pollution and deforestation. Ecosystem Restoration
can also be promoted by conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Let’s
do whatever we can to conserve our eco-system.
Caricature
by Jayaraj Vellur, Kerala
Yass Effect
The severe cyclonic storm Yaas, which made landfall in Odisha’s Balasore
district on the morning of May 26, 2021, is the latest of the 96 tropical
cyclones to hit the state in 130 years. As many as 541 tropical cyclones formed
in the Bay of Bengal during the period, according to a study made by Pratap
Kumar Mohanty, professor, marine science, Berhampur University.
According
to the study, There are two peaks of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal —
the primary peak (October-December) and secondary peak (April-June). There has
been a significant reduction in the number of tropical cyclones in a year over
the north Indian Ocean basin between 1951 and 2018. But the frequency of very
severe cyclonic storms during the post-monsoon season has increased significantly
in the last two decades.
 |
| Victoria Memorial in Kolkata |
Despite a decreasing
trend, the region still remains prone to extremely severe cyclones. On an average, three to four out of five cyclones
developing in the north Indian Ocean region make a landfall, causing loss of
life and property. Low-lying coastal belts of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are more prone to the impact of these
systems. All these states, therefore, need to take appropriate steps to engage
with the severe cyclones.
Tailpiece: Tale of two donkeys
Two
old men one day declared that they have the solution of the problems of the
country. Journalists gathered around them and asked, “What is the solution?
One
old man said, “Put all the people of this country in jail…plus two donkeys.”
The
journalists asked, “Why two donkeys?”
The
two old men laughed loudly. One old man said to the other, “See what I told
you… nobody is interested about the people of this country. Everybody is
concerned about the donkeys.”
(Courtesy:
Social Media)
***
The columnist is a journalist
turned media academician. He also writes and translates fiction and poetry.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
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