- There is a popular saying that "If you had a good meal
today, thank a farmer". Yet today, nearly 2,00,000 farmers
have committed suicide in India over the last 10 years. But
the mainstream media hardly reflects this.
Nero´s Guests is a story about India’s agrarian crisis and
the growing inequality seen through the work of the Rural
Affairs Editor of Hindu newspaper, P Sainath. Through
sustained coverage of the farm crisis, Sainath and his
colleagues created the national agenda, compelling a
government in denial to take notice and act.
Through his writings and lectures, Sainath makes us
confront the India we don’t want to see, and provokes us
to think about who ‘Nero’s Guests’ are in today’s world.
Here is a preview:
v=cPa6AomH1Ao
- And the full length.
v=4q6m5NgrCJs&feature=related
(Courtesy - TreeLabs).
A common question that runs in my head after watching such media, is how such documentaries could be made more popular. This documentary has only 27,000 views compared to any commercial media viewing on Youtube.
As a Computer Science student, I always think hard on this question. Because information though available need to be of interest of general public. Twitter / Facebook and other such new media sites which are prominently used for entertainment and gossiping can also be used and are being used for disaster management, live feedback etc. However, their correct usage stays limited to a handful.
And there could be lot of questions that could be tackled here through correct use of technology to spread such awareness. I keep on thinking on such questions.
