Media for conviction not convenience: Mr. Varma

Equipping IIMCians with essentials of media profession during orientation ceremony held at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, Mr.  Uday Kumar Varma, former secretary of Information and Broadcast Ministry, said selection of pertinent issues and presenting them in a language being understood by laymen is a must for media professionals. Those who are driven to media with firm determination not just out of shallow interest can only make a change, can head to north. Thus whether to pursue Journalism by conviction or convenience...choice is of one’s own!

Mr. Varma’s informative lecture also threw light on when the newspaper breathed first and how it grew up during the years to come. He told that Raja Ram Mohan Roy is known as the father of press whose Samwad Kaumaudi is the very first published newspaper on Indian soil. Newspapers were launched during independence movements in order to make people aware of the atrocities British inflicted on Indians. He further elaborated that in today’s scenario; media must mould public opinion towards the good and must also arouse some “desirable sentiments” in the hearts of readers.

His lecture was full of stories, anecdotes, poems and popular phrases which appealed to students and teachers alike. In the end, he motivated the students by stating that compassionate and passionate attitude is a must for budding journalists. He rested his words by reciting following poem by Janet Rand:

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach for another is to risk involvement. To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To believe is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by their attitudes they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is free.