2008 Woodie Awards
There's hope for India after all
Blog dispatch from students in India
Rand Lutomski
Issue: 7/14/08 Section: summer in india
Posted August 14, 2008
Before today, I had quite a vivid picture of what I was going to blog about. My blog was going to be interesting but decidedly negative. It focused around the idea that despite the multiple realities Indians experience all over the country, there was one attitude that has been expressed by all of the Indians with whom I've come in contact. In one way or another I have heard Indians from all different realities say in response to something negative, "Well, that's India." This phraseology recognizes something bad is happening or has happened, while separating themselves from the unfortunate in a way that resolves them of any accountability. It is a selfish, defeatist attitude. If everyone said, "It's not my job," and nobody took any initiative nothing would ever get done.
I have heard "Well, that's India," from everything from cab drivers increasing their rates infinitely just because their passengers are white and don't speak Hindi, to a VP at the Times of India regarding why they choose not to cover substantial, important issues as opposed to infotainment. Nobody takes any responsibility for their actions or the state of their country. People are OK with police corruption, tourist scams and a lopsided distribution of wealth because, "Well, this is India." Somewhere along the line, a standard of accountability must be established.
That was what I was going to write about until today when I realized there is hope for India after all. Ironically, this hope is the offspring of globalization and the ever growing "global community." Time Out Magazine started in London and spread over its 40 year history to New York, Los Angeles and most of the globe--with editions in Dubai and even three in India. This global franchise is a unique business model in that aside from following formatting guidelines set by its corporate office, it functions as an independent machine with the freedom to adapt to its environment in any way it deems necessary. For example, the Mumbai edition of Time Out it has been able to establish itself not only as a Mumbai culture magazine but an information source for local issues not adequately reported. Time Out has adopted a narrative style of reporting on issues that one would be hard pressed to find covered in dailies such as the Times of India. Time Out will run stories on issues in order to provide background information and create a context by which the issue can be understood by Mumbaikers. They have been able to run an issue on the proposed gentrification of Churchgate market. The Times of India did not cover this in great detail. Some may say this is partly the result of a conflict of interest, mainly "Private Treaties," or financial relationships the paper has with particular developers and real estate factions.
Before today, I had quite a vivid picture of what I was going to blog about. My blog was going to be interesting but decidedly negative. It focused around the idea that despite the multiple realities Indians experience all over the country, there was one attitude that has been expressed by all of the Indians with whom I've come in contact. In one way or another I have heard Indians from all different realities say in response to something negative, "Well, that's India." This phraseology recognizes something bad is happening or has happened, while separating themselves from the unfortunate in a way that resolves them of any accountability. It is a selfish, defeatist attitude. If everyone said, "It's not my job," and nobody took any initiative nothing would ever get done.
I have heard "Well, that's India," from everything from cab drivers increasing their rates infinitely just because their passengers are white and don't speak Hindi, to a VP at the Times of India regarding why they choose not to cover substantial, important issues as opposed to infotainment. Nobody takes any responsibility for their actions or the state of their country. People are OK with police corruption, tourist scams and a lopsided distribution of wealth because, "Well, this is India." Somewhere along the line, a standard of accountability must be established.
That was what I was going to write about until today when I realized there is hope for India after all. Ironically, this hope is the offspring of globalization and the ever growing "global community." Time Out Magazine started in London and spread over its 40 year history to New York, Los Angeles and most of the globe--with editions in Dubai and even three in India. This global franchise is a unique business model in that aside from following formatting guidelines set by its corporate office, it functions as an independent machine with the freedom to adapt to its environment in any way it deems necessary. For example, the Mumbai edition of Time Out it has been able to establish itself not only as a Mumbai culture magazine but an information source for local issues not adequately reported. Time Out has adopted a narrative style of reporting on issues that one would be hard pressed to find covered in dailies such as the Times of India. Time Out will run stories on issues in order to provide background information and create a context by which the issue can be understood by Mumbaikers. They have been able to run an issue on the proposed gentrification of Churchgate market. The Times of India did not cover this in great detail. Some may say this is partly the result of a conflict of interest, mainly "Private Treaties," or financial relationships the paper has with particular developers and real estate factions.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 16
Joshua Lynch
posted 8/14/08 @ 11:13 PM PST
I find it interesting that you place the hope of India in the hands of an entertainment magazine that has no semblance of a news section. I've heard a far amount about the Time Out corporation and know enough that it is like the alternative weeklies of the U. (Continued…)
Laurel Saito
posted 8/15/08 @ 12:34 AM PST
Rand, I really like this post! I think it is very insightful on a lot of the frustrations we have all been having. And for a while, I didn't think that there was much hope for this country to address any of the problems. (Continued…)
Gina
Gina
posted 8/15/08 @ 2:14 AM PST
Funny, I haven't had one Indian say "Well, that's India" to me...should I feel cheated?...and I've never thought of India as hopeless. Instead I sense hope of things that can be as this nation adjusts to new realities and swift change under its own direction. (Continued…)
Veronica Martin
posted 8/15/08 @ 2:57 AM PST
i think our visit to Time Out restored hope for all of us as the trip winds down and we are left to sift through all that we've been told and all that we've experienced. (Continued…)
Kevin Wren
posted 8/15/08 @ 8:36 PM PST
For shiz. I know what you mean by "That's India." No one said it explicitly, but I sensed that everyone was hinting at it. From speakers giving us impossible statistics, the VP of the Indian Times, and even Jerry Pinto showed us one said to the overwhelming problems facing India. (Continued…)
Erica Webster
posted 8/15/08 @ 11:35 PM PST
I dont know how much the actual content material of Time Out reflects a change in Indian attitude towards how the society is organized, but at least Naresh F. (Continued…)
Jessica Miller
posted 8/16/08 @ 3:18 AM PST
Nice writing... but I don't really agree. At first I was really jazzed listening to Naresh, hearing about how Time Out doesn't forsake certain issues in order to keep their advertisers, and how they do in-depth feature stories in the place of hard-hitting news (since they are a monthly magazine and the major stories would already be broken). (Continued…)
seanmilton
Sean Milton
posted 8/16/08 @ 8:43 AM PST
I too felt deflated from the lectures we've attended. Coming to India I wanted to figure out how we could make a difference, but I felt like nothing could be done. (Continued…)
Lauren Padgett
posted 8/21/08 @ 1:38 AM PST
I think Josh put it best when he described the incredible differences between Times and Time Out coverage of events in Mumbai. And, it's important to remember the reader demographic of India, that Time Out is a luxury magazine catering to a specific group of Indians - most don't read it. (Continued…)
Brittany Eddings
posted 8/24/08 @ 10:02 AM PST
I believe that the phrase "well, that's India" is not meant to excuse a negative reality. Instead it is meant to acknowledge and accept the inevitable misunderstandings that arise when one encounters a new culture. (Continued…)
Post a Comment