[To Mark International Media Ethics Day]
Media is facing hard times. It’s not only receiving blows from advertisers but also from the Internet. The Internet has emerged as a tough competitor, and without money-generating model, media are forced only to spend on online media to remain competitive.
And, through social media, individuals are expressing their dissatisfaction over media –from questioning priority to lamenting coverage to ridiculing news. Continue reading…
[To mark the International Day of Democracy]
Artist Manish Harijan painted a few arts depicting Hindu god and goddess in poses that were disliked by many people. Some, including the former army colonel and head of a Hindu group, decided to register a case against him and issue the death threats. The controversy ended after the artist and the exhibitor Sangeeta Thapa agreed to remove two of the paintings and signed a paper agreeing not to paint and exhibit such images in future. The artists were furious over the compromise made over the Freedom of Expression by Thapa, and the role played by the administration.
Those incidents brought a big discussion on Social Media. I generally said that artists should be able to exercise his freedom of artistic expression and people thinks it’s legally not acceptable they can seek judicial remedy. I also said that issuing death threat is against the law. People can dislike his painting but that shouldn’t translate into threatening him of consequences.
SuperKali: A painting by Manish Harijan depicting Hindu Goddess Kali imposed in Superwoman. Copyrighted painting used under fair use policy.
Many of the people expressed that they didn’t like it. Some of them wrote foul and threatening words to the artist. Continue reading…
Great nations are built on the back of ideas—not force.
This is the concluding line of an article by Indian thinker Sundeep Waslekar. The article is a thought-provoking one and I recommend all for a read. Although it’s more on India, it is applicable to any society.
After completing the article and reading the concluding line, I was attracted to idea of ‘ideas’. Of course, ideas lead to innovation and innovations to prosperity but where does the ideas come from. The sources of ideas are not only great heads but heads with knowledge.
Any idea needs to be backed up by knowledge for it to become an useful innovation as Plato put it: A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers. Continue reading…
I was born on August 24, 1978 AD. It was Bhadra 9, 2035 BS and the day, according to astrological calculations, was Krishnastami – the birthday of Lord Krishna.
In Nepali, they are known as tarekh (for English calendar day), gate (for Nepali calendar day) and tithi (the astrological day). They all fell on the same day in 1978 but then onwards it’s always a mess.
I only remember one instance when both English and Nepali calendar matched otherwise the tarekh, tithi and gate are all on different days – leaving me with a question: when exactly do I celebrate my birthday? Continue reading…
“When I see ordinary people speaking on the program, I feel motivated and confident that I also could speak in front of the public.”
This was what a 46-year-old woman from the rural area of Surkhet district told a researcher studying the impact of the radio/television show — Sajha Sawal, literally, Common Questions.
My questions! A woman speaks during Sajha Sawal’s shoot! Photo Courtesy: SajhaSawal
Nepal’s internet penetration is 18.28 per cent as of June, 2012, according to Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA).
Wow! That’s not bad for a country where the literacy rate is below 60 per cent.
And, most amazing thing is the growth rate of internet users. In 2010, the internet penetration was 3.69 per cent and it was 10.89 per cent in June, 2011. Continue reading…
The Sacred Garden: The Maya Devi Temple with the Ashoka Pillar.
I was in Lumbini a week ago to attend a seminar. This was my fourth visit to the Birthplace of Buddha, and there was along gap between this and the third one. And, I felt happy about the difference I saw in Lumbini. Continue reading…
Finally, I watched Highway!
Let me begin with a disclosure: I’m a longtime friend of Deepak Rauniyar, the director/producer of Highway. I was not invited to the premier show or private show of the movie. I have donated USD 5 at Kickstarter for Highway and promoted it via my blog and twitter during its production. And, a statement: I have tried to be fair with my writing here (with knowledge gained during my cinematography training in 1992 in Kathmandu and 2011 in Koln; a year of film reporting/reviewing in 1995 in Kathmandu; and a little bit of film studies in 2010 in Oslo).
Is the movie good?
The answer depends on with which movies you compare. If it’s to be compared with mainstream Indian or American movies, it lacks many things. If you compare it with mainstream Nepali movies on the aspect of enjoyment, it’s probably not very good. Continue reading…
Today, social media is a buzzword. It’s everywhere – and everyone feels isolated in an unmanned island, somehow away from the contemporary world, if not using a few of the services free on internet. But what is it?
The best way to understand the current situation surrounding social media is probably a tweet from Google’s Avinash Kaushik, also an author:
OH: Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise its not better.
— Avinash Kaushik (@avinash) March 2, 2009
Everyone wants to jump in. It was like internet browsing in 90s or blogging in early 2000s. This probably explains why there are so many users signing up for services like blog, Twitter or Facebook and seldom using them. Because after a few days until you get properly involved into it understanding a few basic ideas, the social media services are as boring as it could be. Continue reading…
I have travelled a few times this year using the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the only international airport in Nepal. Every time I have departed from or arrived to the TIA, I have had a feeling of anger, frustration and embarrassment due to mismanagement. Continue reading…
