Sari shock!

Didn’t think that I have to write this, but a series of comments — some of those were quite personal in nature — on Facebook made me taking up the keys once more.

I’m not going to defend what my newspaper published today, but the nature of protest till late in evening just fascinated me. It was the sheer "power of words" — a catchline ABP has been using for quite sometime — and also a visual that stirred our morning minds, which led to protests and sloganeering outside our office. The protest continued on web space also. Most of the protesters were women, both on the road and the cyber highway, who thought that the sari-clad images done by our designer were in poor taste and humiliating for people who love traditional saris — either to wear or to appreciate.

Most of my friends and colleagues were furious over the way the visual was represented, thinking that women were the target. For long, I like debates, especially those concern the common masses. I also wanted to start a debate, taking a stand, which I may or may not like, on this issue this afternoon. One of the first comments was targeting the profession I chose some years back. I was also told that we, including my bosses, should give up journalism! Why should we? Just because some people react like that? One of the first lessons in journalism I got from Dipayan da — who nurtured many a young brain to turn into great professionals in this "cocoon" (as one of my friends said) — was that a journalist’s job is done when people react to a story, or a picture, or any visual.

Have we forgot to think things differently? If someone chooses that, does that mean he has lost his "senses"? What sort of communication is that? And it came from my sensible journalist friends and ex-colleagues! Experimenting with a new idea might be bad, but isn’t it better than printing some run-of-the-mill stories and pictures everyday? The day — it was Dashami in Bengal — Sourav Ganguly lost his captaincy, TT did a nice graphic, which I think everyone remembered till date. There were lots of hate calls and mails, like what we have been receiving now, but was there a better way to compare him with the goddess Durga being immersed in the Ganga? Tell me another broadsheet newspaper in India which experimented with so much in design and layout? The day after 7/11, when Mumbai was limping back to normality, can you remember the TT Page 1? Or on January 23, 2002, a day after the attack on American Center?

TT is not at all a "piddly paper bent on gimmickry", as it would be a really long list, which papers have been doing this for ages and on how many occasions!

I know, my friends would again bombard me with comments, and some of you may think that it’s just waste of time responding to this blog! Nevertheless, I welcome feedback and criticism, of course!

©Supratim Pal, 2009