In my case, no one could prepare me for the world of journalism, where the collapse of the traditional business model coupled with the recession, had changed the professional game entirely. Newspapers were closing, organizations weren’t hiring (especially not foreigners,) and everyone was working extremely hard to keep their jobs or to get one. By the time a few years had passed since graduate school, only a handful of us foreigners remained in America.

A few weeks ago, Anup Kaphle, the digital editor of World and National Security at The Washington Post, delivered the honors convocation speech to students at Tennessee’s Tusculum College (also his alma mater.)

He traced his incredible journey from the mountains of Nepal — where he did not have the means to pursue his childhood dream of writing. His window to the world came from his father, who worked part-time at a hotel, and brought empty bottles home wrapped in foreign newspapers.

Anup struggled financially all throughout his life, working small part-time jobs after gruelling hours in school. He was turned down for opportunities several times but persisted and innovated to get to where he is now.

I hope you’ll take the time to listen to a speech that isn’t just a rag to riches story, but one that makes you humble and inspires you to keep following your own dreams.

Beijing-based videographer and photographer Sean Gallagher has been documenting China’s environmental problems from various perspectives since 2006 — covering everything from wetland disappearance, desertification, air pollution, to endangered species like the giant panda. Often backed by Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Gallagher has raised awareness about the global impact of China’s rapid development.

Gallagher points to China’s desertification problem, which parallels similar issues in North Africa and Australia, as one example of a topic he’s covered that resonates worldwide. “These are issues affecting everybody and it’s incredibly important that we realize the impact we are having on our ecosystems and bio-diversity.”

The multimedia profile above encompasses the wide range of Gallagher’s reporting in photography and video, and offers a personal account of what it’s like to be a freelance journalist in China.

Read more at AsiaSociety.org

“Shreeya Sinha ’10 recently won a 2012 duPont-Columbia Award silver baton for her work on “Undesired,” a multimedia report about violence against women in India produced by MediaStorm and Walter Astrada for the Alexia Foundation.

“My mission was to bring alive photojournalist Walter Astrada’s haunting images with video testimonies from women, their families, activists and government officials,” Sinha said. She was both associate producer and a videographer for the piece.

This interactive story, told through photographs and interviews, details the under-reported cultural pressure on Indian women to bear sons and the decimation of the female population.

“As a journalist and an Indian woman, the story became shocking and personal,” Sinha said. “From birth to death women are threatened with violence because they are considered a burden, and as a result, 40 million women are ‘missing’ from India’s population. I felt strongly about shedding light on this complex and media-dark issue.”

Sinha is a multimedia producer and social media strategist at the Asia Society in New York. She explored her passion for multimedia when, as a student, she was selected to do the ‘hybrid’ thesis, which included elements such as video, print, photos and a website to house the project. She graduated with honors and has also won a national Foreign Press Association Award. For her master’s project, Sinha produced “Ricocheting Bullets,” a multimedia project incorporating photography, video and audio on psychological trauma in gangsters.

Sinha is soon to become a foreign news producer at The New York Times. “

For the past six years, freelance photographer Kosuke Okahara has been documenting the grave issue of self-injury among young Japanese women. According to a 2006 survey by Japan’s health ministry, one in seven Japanese women aged 20 to 24 have committed self-injury in one way or another, including cutting their own skin.

“We cannot deny the possibility that pessimism has become a prevalent mood among young women particularly and that bitter feelings about society have caused them to harm themselves,” said Kunio Kitamura, who took charge of the survey.

Okahara uncovered lives of deep despair, haunted by violence and perpetuated by a “culture of shame.” “It’s not normal for a photographer to go into someones’ home, to live with them, take pictures, and see what’s happening inside the family,” he said.

When I asked him how reacts when girls cut themselves while she’s shooting, he said he asks them to stop. “There is ethics for journalism, but also ethics as a human being. ”

The theme of his work (and also the title of our multimedia project) is Ibasyo — which translates from Japanese into “the physical and emotional space in which people exist.”

Read more on Asia Society.org

For Asia Society Museum, Choe has created a kinetic, seal-like creature that appears to be breathing while dozens of intricate “wings,” leaf-like and gold in color, flutter above him. Guardian of the Hole (Custos Cavum in Latin) is the name of the piece, and its creation was inspired by a 10th-century Indian sculpture, Shiva as Lord of Dance (see image below), part of the Asia Society’s Mr. And Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III Collection. The exhibition is part of an ongoing In Focus series in which contemporary artists create new works inspired by Asia Society’s permanent collection.

According to Choe’s story, Custos Cavum guards the flow of communication between two realms. Just as the Hindu god Shiva represents balance and harmony, the Guardian is also a symbol of coexistence.

Read more from the Asia Society Blog

Manohar Bali, fondly called my grandfather’s “twin” took a full plate of glowing  diyas (candles) up on the house terrace to decorate its edge. He accidentally  stepped over the edge of the terrace and fell head-first into the street below. My grandfather never celebrated Diwali again.

As memories fade with time, my grandfather’s love and affection for his 16 year-old brother did not. In the poem below, he worries that he will be the only one left with his brother’s memories.

I know this is just a blog. But this is my feeble attempt to start to record the life of two brothers so poignantly written about in this poem which highlights love and humanity.

I hope you will  find a human being who affects you as deeply for so long.

I know I have.

‘Manohar’ by J.S. Bali

I as all of 14 when I encountered the face of death—death of my “twin” brother Manohar

He was a year and a half older but a fraction shorter in height, we were called twins

It was a fall from roof which was only five metres higher than the steps on which he fell

But all impact was on the head, tell-tale bleeding from the ear was an ominous symptom

He wal fully conscious, and saying the devastating words: Mein bachna nheen ai

( I will not survive )—the pathetic words are as devastating for me now as they were then

On the dark Dewali evening of June 22, 1938 at Narowal (now in Pakistan)

I have named my Dehradun house, Manohar Villa— a feeble attempt to perpetuate his memory

I am not Shah Jahaan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife

But the memories of poor men’s love and the shock of loss are no less than that Kings’

A poet has thus remarked on the Taj:

Ik Shahanshah ne daulat ka sahara le kar

Hum gharibon ki muhabbat ka udaya hai mazaaq

( An Emperor, taking support from his wealth, has mocked we poor men’s love )

Manohar and me returned from the Dewali shopping, loaded with sweets and candles

On the home street, other children joined us, entered our deodhi, the entrance room

I walked into the inner court-yard with the bundles on my hands

But Manohar and street children went upstairs on the roof, to light candles

Hardly a minute later a loud thud, children running downstairs, shouting

Manohar has fallen off the roof, Manohar has fallen off the roof !

We two younger brothers had come after finishing the Urdu medium 8th class from the village school, where classes were held under a pair of Peepal and Bodh trees

Eldest brother Joginder Singh was Agriculture Inspector at Narowal which had a Church Mission Society School

Manohar was a year ahead in the English Only special class meant for village pupils

We three and servant Gauri were in the house, Bhabi Parmeshwari having gone to her Brother at Lahore

All the street inhabitants were in our house, they carried Manohar in a Charpai

To the ill-equipped hospital run by the Government ( Government hospitals in small towns like Narowal, still ill-equipped after 64 years of Independence )

The doctor with his assistant called compounder, was full of sympathy, but did not know what to do

The doctor said, An ice cap was needed whaich was not there

But why could he not put ice in a cloth and produce a make-shift ice cap?

This idea occurred to me years later when I learnt more about brain injuries and internal bleeding

The doctor said Manohar’s leg was also broken, and he was preparing to set it

Manohar was in full consciousness, he was saying: Do not give me chloroform

Do not make me unconscious; main bachna nheen ai, mainnu hosh wich rehn deo

( I am not going to survive, let me remain conscious )

But the doctor was anxious to show some activity, he put a cap on Manohar’s face

Chloroform, now discarded as a dangerous drug, was commonly used as anaesthesia

Manohar became unconscious, stopped talking— for ever and ever

Three hours later, Manohar was dead, his leg set and bandaged !

No fault of the doctor, the discovery of drugs which could be injected

Or a brain surgery to correct haemorrhaging small blood vessels of the brain

—-All came later, and still available only in very big hospitals, which are few in the country, in this year, 2011, of the 21st century

Manohar’s death was a wound on my being, too deep for description

I would go to a lonely spot behind a wall in the street and weep for hours

Till I was discovered by some neighbour and brought back home

Death of 16- year old son was a great shock for my mother and father

They were ever trying to save me from risks

Mother was even against my going away to far-away-Allahabad for higher studies

Manohar was a child still, death came to take him away to unkown realms

No wife, no children or grand children to keep his memory alive

I am the only one left who knows of him, others are all gone

What could I do to let Manohar’s name remain in this world for some time?

I live in Manohar Villa, whose bricks would last far beyond my own life (now of 88 years )

But ultimately winds of time will obliterate all memories

Na dhup rehi na chhaan rehni ( Neither the sun, nor shadows would remain for ever )

Na peo rehna na maan rehni ( Neither father, nor mother would remain for ever )

Har shai ne aakhir muk jaana ( Everything will end in the end )

Ik reh jana Rab da naam bandeya ( O Man! Only God’s name will remain in the end )

Our Biradari association, called General Mohyal Sabha, started a system of Langar at their Hardwar Ashram

I have given them their prescribed amount of rupees eleven thousand

On Manohar’s Death Anniversary ( October 22 ), Langar, or free meals, available

Residents of the Ashram get free meals, but few caring to know why

This world, too busy, to remember the dead

Few would even care to read the sign-board where ManoharSingh Bali’s name is written against the date of October 22

But I am still alive , at least to write these few words, in memory of the departed Manohar

We are all helpless parts of the ever moving Cycle of Being and Nothingness

The sun was born 5 billion years ago, it will die after 5 billion years

Planet Earth was born 200 million years later , but would die with the sun

The Universe itself was born 13 billion years ago with the Big bang

The expanding Universe will start contracting and end ultimately in the Big Crunch

But the atoms of which Manohar was made, are still around, some might be part of a star

But what are atoms made of?—Nothing but energy, enormous energy

If atoms of one human body explode, the energy released will equal 30 large Hydrogen Bombs!

But these energy units are just drops of the Ocean of Energy— call it God if you like

Like raindrops, from the Ocean they came, to the Ocean they go

We are made of energy, matter only a form, an illusion

We come from Energy, we go back to Energy

Energy lives for ever

Manohar was Energy, he lives for ever, but in form and abodes, unknown to us

Manohar is dead, long live Manohar

—————————

Dr. J. S. Bali is a professor and industry luminary in soil and water conservation, having worked for the Government of India and the United Nations during his  illustrious career. As importantly, he is a humanist with a passion for animals and nature. This blog captures his poetry on a diverse range of topics about his life, his understanding of it and the world around him. Read more poetry. 

I grew up in developing countries all my life. From places like Nigeria and Zimbabwe to Vietnam, I’ve seen the effects of poverty and studied the politics behind it. My father’s job — building small-medium enterprises in developing countries — took me to some of those places. And my grandfather spent his life dedicated to soil and water conservation at the U.N. and the Indian government.

The work of Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen appeared in much of my schooling and discussions with family. Even the comparative measure of social and economic development across nations, the U.N. Human Development Index, was influenced by him.

When I went to India to report on violence against women last year, I referred to Dr. Sen’s seminal 1990 research on Asia’s ‘100 million missing women.’ He coined the term ‘missing’ and was the first to sound the alarm about the consequences of killing baby girls. More than two decades later, Asia finds itself in the same crisis Dr. Sen warned the world about — and the issue is still underreported. It was honor for Dr. Sen to read my story and say it was “very well-written.”

As a multimedia journalist and producer at Asia Society, I got an exclusive interview with the intellectual force about his new project — to revive Nalanda,  an ancient university, through a Pan-Asian initiative.

My interview was picked up by The Hindu, Times of India, Yahoo News and mentioned by Dr. Sen in his speech at Asia Society.

‘Q&A: Nobel Prize Winning Economist Amartya Sen on Reviving Nalanda University’ – Asia Society

‘Video: Nobel Prize Winner Amartya Sen Responds to Nalanda University Critics’ – Asia Society

‘Oxford doesn’t ask Pope or Archbishop to do planning of religious education’ – Yahoo News

‘Vision for a new Nalanda’ – The Hindu

‘Amartya comes to Gopa’s defence’ – Times of India

‘Oxford doesn’t ask Pope or Archbishop to do planning of religious education’ – The Telegraph

by Shivika and Shreeya Sinha

“The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975,” is a gripping documentary on the struggles of the civil rights movement narrated by black activists Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis as well as contemporary artists who were inspired by them like Talib Kweli and Erykah Badu.

Theme Song

India at 64 years after independence, 43 years wasted in Nehruvian socialism
Come 1991, Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh started deregulating the economy.

Twelve years till 2003 saw the suppressed energy of youthful Indian entrepreneurs, transform India

Poverty reduced, economic growth more than 8 per centIndia in the front rank of Information Technology, centre for BPO—Business Process Outsourcing

Visible vigour and prosperity among the 300 million middle class
Vast numbers from lower strata joining the middle classesFree enterprise fitting the optimistic, youthful entrepreneurial genius of India

Foreign investment in Indian companies, providing financial capital to the human capital of Indian technologists
Unlike China where only Foreign Direct Investment came–foreign companies themselves opening shop

Slogans of inclusive growth spreading the failed socialistic thinking again
Government seems unable to continue what they started—apparently eager to stall reforms, perhaps in order to retain power
Giving Ministers a long rope, some coming under cloud, charges of irregularities galore
Opposition also not condemning the wrong path forcefully enough
Immediate advantage of votes more alluring than the lasting national good

A part of Indian Admini

strative Service perceived to be in collusion with politicians
Its numbers and powers need to be reduced, technical departments must come under technical personnel, not generalists
Health measures for the people, education which brings employment, and infrastructure, the urgent needs

Life imprisonment for corruption, to be mandatory
Labour regulations to be reduced to the minimum
Let Indian economy be free to develop linkages nationally and internationally

Urgent need to project India as a strong economic and military power, the two are closely linked
Only then there will be reduction in the border conflicts
Tribal areas to be given special attention under time-bound programmes
Win back the Maoists and other terrorists, but curb the internationally funded elements
India ignoring internal cleaning for too long, one third of the districts in trouble

Save India from the slippery road towards socialistic populism

Let freedom permeate the economy, and let it grow leaps and bounds

And let us sing with Tagore on this 65th Independence Day:

Into that haven of freedom my Lord, may my country arrive

——————–

Dr. J. S. Bali is a professor and industry luminary in soil and water conservation, having worked for the Government of India and the United Nations during his  illustrious career. As importantly, he is a humanist with a passion for animals and nature. This blog captures his poetry on a diverse range of topics about his life, his understanding of it and the world around him. Read more poetry.