Kumbh Mela - The 80 Million-Pilgrim March

[Brahmanyan]

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I got the following message from my cousin, which reflects my views on our news media :

"I am reproducing an article from the Wall Street Journal on the organization of Kumbh Mela now going on in Allahabad. WSJ gives the mechanics that went into organizing it. It is a pity we have to depend on American media to get to know this. Our Indian English media and TV failed to even notice this huge event, while they were busy with film actors and cricketers and gamesmanship of corrupt politicians. "


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323701904578275961736436782.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

I guess our folks have an eye for the mass appeal

rather than awesome but dry and tiring facts! :bored:

 

[sarang]

1. It is a hindu event.
2. There are no communal incidents.
3. There is no money to be made in covering this mega event; CWG has more 'news'.

The authorities must be complemented.

I got the following message from my cousin, which reflects my views on our news media :

"I am reproducing an article from the Wall Street Journal on the organization of Kumbh Mela now going on in Allahabad. WSJ gives the mechanics that went into organizing it. It is a pity we have to depend on American media to get to know this. Our Indian English media and TV failed to even notice this huge event, while they were busy with film actors and cricketers and gamesmanship of corrupt politicians. "


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323701904578275961736436782.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

[Anand Manohar]

Dear Bala Sir

Namaskaram. I am right there in the midst of it all.

Sir Ji, elaborate coverage in Aaj Tak channel - definitely not as exhaustive as what you have posted
but it is there - I have been interviewed by reporters with field crew tagging along and 'on screen' a few times.
I look pretty scruffy and rustic - I don't think I ever looked as grand / handsome as you.

If I ever tell how to recognize me, Smt VR will kill me - no, I didn't say six-pack abs & a Stallone torso .

Guruvethunai
Yay Yem

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Dear A.M ji

You can't boast of WHAT you don't have namely

Arnold's 26" arms/ Abraham's six pac abdomen/ Stallones torso!

I already told you that you will much closer to Omaguchchi

than to these people named above!

I can recognize you but I never watch TV. How sad!!!

Reg the tip to recognize you...Anything to do with the missing wet ....???

 

[Brahmanyan]

Dear Bala Sir

Namaskaram. I am right there in the midst of it all.

Sir Ji, elaborate coverage in Aaj Tak channel - definitely not as exhaustive as what you have posted
but it is there - I have been interviewed by reporters with field crew tagging along and 'on screen' a few times.
I look pretty scruffy and rustic - I don't think I ever looked as grand / handsome as you.

If I ever tell how to recognize me, Smt VR will kill me - no, I didn't say six-pack abs & a Stallone torso .

Guruvethunai
Yay Yem

Dear Sri Anand Manohar,

Whether one believes it or not, it must be a wonderful experience to be in the midst of millions of believers
congregating at the confluence of three rivers considered holy for generations.
You are blessed to experience the holy bath at Prayagraj in the Maha Kumbh.

Wishing you well,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

PS: My Hindi is not that good to watch AajTak cannel.

 

[prasad1]

[video=youtube;qw3bAbwmoB8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qw3bAbwmoB8[/video]

I can not outdo Mr. AMji reporting from the ground.

 

[Brahmanyan]

Dear Sri Pradad,
Thanks for uploading the nice video on Kubh Mela.
Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[venkat2206]

1. It is a hindu event.
2. There are no communal incidents.
3. There is no money to be made in covering this mega event; CWG has more 'news'.

The authorities must be complemented.

When two days Viswaroopam can be discussed - two days Afzal guru can be discussed - two days Plaghar girls' face book issue can be discussed - why such a big event on earth could not find two days in prime channels like Times Now, CNN etc. As it was rightly put there are no communal incidents or juicy news in this event. As there was a Railway Station overbridge accident yesterday, you may expect a good coverage of this negative publicity to show the country in bad light. It is sad but this is the truth,

Venkat K

 

[tbs]

hi
our media wants HOT TOPICS....like rape/murder.....the positive thinking of human beings never highlighted....generally

this is a hindu event....so anybody report abt hindus is CALLED NOT SECULAR......then they say ..this is saffron event....

but CNN/WSJ are different world media.....THIS IS OUR SECULAR MIND....anything support with hindu events are

called fanatical/fundamentalist....this is sad for india....

 

[Anand Manohar]

Dear Venkat 2206 & tbs Jis,

Writing from "Ground Zero", [if you may call it that] - you are both correct.

Whether the Railway bridge broke because of the overload, I guess, we'll never know
the truth. There will always be that never-ending 'blame game' and the relentless, repetitive
[ actually re-wind & play ] of one version of an issue that the media wants to tell.

The officials here are actually doing a commendable job - I had mentioned elsewhere in another thread
that the security personnel have been having sleep-less nights. Every cop's [ man/lady ] BP must be
very high. I have seen many plain-clothes cops whose voice shivers and fingers shake involuntarily.
It is telling on their 'system'.

What I heard here [ I was nowhere near the Rly Stn ] was that there was a panic caused by a rumour
of some kind of an explosive having been planted somewhere.

Yes Sirs, when something is of such a magnitude, there's always a 'Disaster Waiting to Happen'.

Your reading of the media and their reporting is 'Spot On' - Kudos .

Guruvethunai
Yay Yem

 

[tbs]

hi AM sir,

keep urself safe...take care...i know MOUNI AMAVASYA crowd in north india....normal mouni ammavasya itself tough time in

prayag...especially kumba mela time unimaginable....keep good health and pray for god....thanks..

 

[prasad1]

Stampede - It was waiting to happen
Soon after the stampede at the Allahabad railway station killed 36 people on Sunday, railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal admitted that the arrangements were not adequate for the huge number of devotees who came to board their trains after visiting the Maha Kumbh Mela site on the banks of the Ganga.




A few hours later, Uttar Pradesh urban development minister Azam Khan resigned as the in-charge of the mela organising committee. Even though the two have accepted their administrations’ responsibility in the incident and the state government has ordered an inquiry, that old question crops up again: why were the people in-charge careless even when they knew that the Maha Kumbh Mela was going to be a supersize affair? Any religious congregation in India is a large affair and it was known that the Maha Kumbh Mela, which comes round only once every 144 years, would attract 100 million bathers across its 55 days. But even then our very experienced public administrators were taken by surprise — or should we say, caught napping — when more than expected people turned up at the Allahabad station on Sunday.
If the administration failed in its responsibility, the police deployed at the station compounded that mistake by suddenly resorting to lathi-charge when possibly all they needed to do was to manage the crowd with some calmness. This is not to say that managing such large (and sometimes unruly) crowds is an easy task, especially for our overworked and under-prepared policemen. But then that is what planning is all about, isn’t it?


Moreover, why were there so many people there at one station at the same time? Why weren’t other nearby stations utilised to distribute the passenger load? What is absolutely appalling and shows how shortsighted are our public authorities, ambulances could not even get to the station for two hours to evacuate the injured to hospital or retrieve the bodies because probably there was no one to coordinate the efforts. Stampedes are not uncommon in India.


We have had similar tragedies in the Kumbh Mela twice: 1954 (1,000 people died) and 1986; the 2012 stampede in Jharkhand when thousands of people arrived to take part in Saint Thakur Anukul Chand’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations at the ashram; the 2012 stampede in Mathura; 1999 and 2011 Sabarimala stampedes, the 2008 Naina Devi temple stampede to name a few.


Stampedes happen due to combination of factors: facilities are often far below capacity, bad crowd management and the lack of seamless coordination among authorities. In India, this combination keeps repeating with deadly consequences all too often. This is because lessons are never learnt and incidents just end up being statistics in official timelines.

 

[Anand Manohar]

Dear Bala Sir

You could probably watch the coverage on Tamil channels - Jaya, and Vasant and if you
did spot an 'Omaguchi' there on screen......................... (you know whom to notify).

Guruvethunai
Yay Yem