On September 20, India virtually came to a standstill (barring some specific cities) courtesy the ‘Bharat bandh’. The main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Left parties and UPA’s outside supporter Samajwadi Party (SP) had called for nationwide protests against the central government’s decision to hike diesel prices, cap subsidised cooking gas cylinders and to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.

Workers of these parties held protests on streets, downed shutters and halted trains at a number of places across the country. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, to an extent, were the worst hit. Further, BJP workers and traders blocked the Agra-Gwalior Highway by burning tyres.

Of course, everyone knows that the ‘bandh’ called by the Opposition parties had a political hue; but are these bandhs helping us in any way? Does the common man, who is facing the brunt of so called ‘reforms’, getting any respite after such mega protests? The answer is a clear NO. Some of you might disagree with me and opine how else to attack an immune government, but I don’t think it is actually helping the aam admi.

Yes, it is true that the masses are feeling the pinch of the price rise which is expected after all in a growing economy, but, I think rather than achieving something, we lose more as thousands of people are stranded in m1ost of the cities. Further, vandalisation of public property takes place and above all there is a revenue loss.

For a country’s economy, which is already under so much pressure, we just cannot afford to burn a single penny in vain in the name of a ‘bandh’. In fact, for an economy like ours, ‘bandh’ seems to be a more threatening word.

According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the nation-wide strike against the government’s reforms move is estimated to have caused losses of Rs 12,500 crore (2.25 billion USD) to the Indian economy.

The above figures clearly indicate that the call for ‘bandh’ has therefore done more harm than good.

Resorting to ‘bandh’ is never a common man’s reaction. We have to understand that ‘bandh’ is not actually a protest; rather it is an opportunity for hooligans to have a field day.

Voices can be raised regarding an issue by other means too rather than crippling the life of the common man, which further burns his pocket as he has to spend more on a day when it is a ‘bandh’ to reach offices, schools, hospitals etc.

Undoubtedly the prices of almost all commodities are going up, but you are fooling yourself if you believe that ‘bandh’ itself will bring down soaring prices. A ‘bandh’ can only signify that the ‘aam aadmi’ is not taking it lying down and if the government at the Centre is not doing anything to tame down the prices, they may be shown the door in the next elections.

Even the Supreme Court of India has put a ban on forced implementation of ‘bandhs’. And the real ‘grimy’ picture is that the burden of these economic losses will again fall on the back of the common man when the government will chalk out a new reform to recover these losses.

So, dear common man please don’t look at the ‘bandh’ as a solution as nobody is actually trying to solve the problem, rather it is just a political tool to get votes and take ‘aam aadmi’ for a ride.

I don’t know if this would work or not but can we start by gathering at a stage of prominence and show that we are not liking the reforms introduced by the government. Or, another alternative could be raising awareness with the help of SMSes, tweets etc and swelling support against an unjustified move of the government.

Although the UPA government is firm on its stand that it will not rollback diesel price hike, but in case of FDI in retail it has put the ball in states’ court which implies that a state may or may not opt for it.

Further, in a desperate attempt to score over the opposition and project itself as pro-aam aadmi, the Congress has instructed states ruled by its governments to increase the cap on subsidised cylinders from 6 to 9 per household annually.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram too came forward with an initiative to abolish import and excise duties on non-subsidised LPG cylinders, which implies that consumers will now be able to buy the 7th cylinder at Rs 97 less. The government had last week restricted supply of subsidised cooking gas to 6 per household in a year and any requirement beyond this was to be purchased at market price, which currently works out to Rs 895 per 14.2 kg a cylinder.

So, while the common man gets some respite, one thing is sure that ‘bandh’ is certainly not the right way to protest.


Src:- Shruti Sexena 

Nowadays, another very popular means of social interaction and propagation that has emerged along with the print Media is the rise of Electronic Media.


When the voices get a face through Television, the people were left aghast. How could they see a person sitting miles away? And that hear him? So clearly so closely? It was the miracle of miracle, wonder of wonder. Science is a park of magical things. Television is a revolution in itself. The whole get shrunk into that one room of the house. The on September 15, 1959, Doordarshan was inaugurated in India. It was a great privilege to have a Television set every evening either to watch Chaupal or Humlog or Chitrahaar. Sunday were the eagerly awaited days with the Sunday Feature-film and then in the late 80s and early 90s with the nine to ten show or Ramanand Sagar’s epic creation “The Ramayana” and later BR Chopra’s ‘The Mahabharata’ The entire nation used to come to a standstill with great love, respect and interest the greatest epics of all times dramatized on the silver screen.

These also reflect upon the social impact that television has. With the introduction of cable Television in 1993, electronic media has emerged as a greatest social force than ever. Gone are the days when television was a monopoly of a few rice. Now the ‘Idiot box’ as it has been called by many is found in every home, shop and office. Television now has invaded not only every home, but every sphere of life. In fact, in some way or the other television now-a-days dictates our life. It has invaded and cut shot our social life .People prefers to watch television instead of visiting people or socializing. It has severed all homely conversations around the hearth. People don’t want to talk to each other as they don’t want to miss even a single image displayed on the Idiot-Box. Thus, Families sit around as strangers watching sacrificing their family bonds at the alter of Television. Visitors too are unwelcome when the favourite serial or movies is being aired. Moreover, with the host of channels, Television is also responsible for quarrels within the families for people wanting to watch different programmes on different channels at the same time.

But blaming Television for all this solely would be an utter foolishness. Such things happen when human beings are enslaved by technology, when they let such thing to guide their lives and master them. If used judiciously, the electronic media can prove to be very useful, educationally as well as socially, political and economically. TV can in fact, be used to as a powerful medium to spread social awareness among the illiterate masses against various social evils. Discussions on various topics can help the educated masses increase their intellectual abilities and widen their horizons. The various news channels keep the vigilant citizens updated. Channels like Discovery and national Geographic keep the inquisitive mind busy and satisfy every intellectual query of a probing mind. Along with these are endless number of entertainment channel have come up to cater to this special section of the society of the society. Television can help popularize technology and internationalize and universalize our outlook.

Along with TV, there are other means of electronic media like the internet or cinema which are fast growing and are extremely popular TV can help strengthen our diversity, strengthening our unite and integrity and shake off social evils and superstitions. Thus electronic media can play a great constructive role in help build of the social and cultural infrastructure of the nation if wisely within the limits of decency and intellectuality.