Following Article is a contribution from Gauri Joshi, a student of Delhi School of Journalism. We feel that it demonstrates faithful zeal of a young Journalist.
We have reproduced the same without any changes.
It was ten in the night. The family had gathered to watch television. The iconic, unmissable voice of Amitabh Bachchan hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati flowed through my ears while I was reading about Indian Polity.
10.15-the buzzer went off. KBC drew to an end this early today? No, there was a special feature covered by India Tv which connected soldiers to Big B and the TV audience via live video
conferencing. A cordial exchange of Diwali wishes took place.
I have been brought up in a family where some male member or the other of my extended family is an army officer. And that is a very small reason why I feel extremely connected to the crisp uniform donned by men who resolve to selflessly serve the motherland. A surge of patriotism prevails in any Indian when the efforts of the army are highlighted. As the vision of gunshots and bravery filled me with an enforced sense of nationalism, the pen I was working with rolled down my lap, as if to say-Pen is mightier than the sword.
Suddenly, the only visions in front of my eyes were the bright,fearless eyes of Gauri Lankesh and the faces of Rajiv Ranjan, Gurdas Kamat who were killed in the process of fearless reporting.
I was woken up to a new insight and gripped with a new determination- Journalists are warriors of democracy.
The world may fall apart, but every morning the newspaper greets us and the television news rolls 24×7. A war so intangible, journalists fight with restricting, non-progressing and conservative mindsets. They may lose their sleep in this process or give less or no time to their families. What is worse-they do not even get a respectable pay for it. They feel content only by getting featured or bringing the minutest change in the system. They may get a stiff back from sleeping on their desks or not sleeping at all, but they work round the clock to uphold every citizens’ right to a dignified life.
It is the journalist whose coverage ensures transparency. Lawmakers think twice before trying to snatch peoples’ fundamental rights by politician-friendly ordinances. The only tokens of thanks they get for this is negligence, comparison from other professions, or a bullet on their heads. And yet, that passion to uphold the truth motivates
them to be at war. Till they don’t get tired out, killed or run out of breaths allotted to each human.
