When Abhishek Dutta wanders into the offices of The Express, he is just another small-town boy looking for means to survive the big city. Crime reporting in Delhi, however, was never going to be simple. The young man must negotiate a troubled city, its side alleys and six-lane highways, the supermalls and shantytowns, and the cancerous nexus of police, politicians and press. Embroiled in a sensational kidnapping, will Abhishek survive a ruthless megapolis? And what is the price he is willing to pay? Somnath Batabyal's debut novel exposes India's dark underbelly, where common lives are mere pawns in deadly games of power and revenge.
From the bestselling author of The Price You Pay comes a new story of grit, determination and hope set in the Kargil Mountains during the war of 1999. Captain Samir Singh Rathore and his men are posted on the treacherous heights of the Himalayas to rebuff the encroaching Pakistani army. As they camp and prepare to attack, the men intercept a conversation in which a Pakistani soldier, knowing he is going to die soon, says farewell to his wife. Her cry of pain rips through the bunker, overwhelming the Indians who listen in rapt attention as the man talks about the life they shall leave behind, the house he can no longer build and about their son who he hopes would grow up to be an army man. But their captain exhorts them to fight without compassion: 'This is a war not started by us, but we will finish it.' This is the human story behind a brutal war fought in inhuman conditions.
Post-liberalisation India has witnessed a dramatic growth of the television industry as well as on-screen images of the glitz and glamour of a vibrant, ‘shining’ India. Through a detailed ethnographic study of Star News and Star Ananda involving interviews, observations and content analysis, this book explores the milieu of 24-hour private news channels in India today. It offers insightful glimpses into the workings of one of the mightiest news corporations in the world and its ability to manufacture everyday reality for its audiences. Based on fieldwork in Mumbai and Kolkata, this study not only provides a detailed description of the television newsroom, its rituals and rhythms, but ventures beyond it to investigate how editorial and corporate strategies converge increasingly in an industry driven by profit. Through analysing how TRPs work to produce a non-inclusive idea of the ‘audience’ and examining hundreds of hours of news content, the book explores how news channels construct a vision of nationhood and of a successful and vibrant economy that caters primarily to the needs of the resurgent Indian middle class. While it will be of particular interest to media and cultural studies scholars and students, and to journalists and media professionals in general, this lively, engaging book also aims to give the general reader the wherewithal to analyse and critique the continuous barrage of 24-hour news television today.
Post-liberalisation India has witnessed a dramatic growth of the television industry as well as on-screen images of the glitz and glamour of a vibrant, ‘shining’ India. Through a detailed ethnographic study of Star News and Star Ananda involving interviews, observations and content analysis, this book explores the milieu of 24-hour private news channels in India today. It offers insightful glimpses into the workings of one of the mightiest news corporations in the world and its ability to manufacture everyday reality for its audiences. Based on fieldwork in Mumbai and Kolkata, this study not only provides a detailed description of the television newsroom, its rituals and rhythms, but ventures beyond it to investigate how editorial and corporate strategies converge increasingly in an industry driven by profit. Through analysing how TRPs work to produce a non-inclusive idea of the ‘audience’ and examining hundreds of hours of news content, the book explores how news channels construct a vision of nationhood and of a successful and vibrant economy that caters primarily to the needs of the resurgent Indian middle class. While it will be of particular interest to media and cultural studies scholars and students, and to journalists and media professionals in general, this lively, engaging book also aims to give the general reader the wherewithal to analyse and critique the continuous barrage of 24-hour news television today.
When Abhishek Dutta wanders into the offices of The Express, he is just another small-town boy looking for means to survive the big city. Crime reporting in Delhi, however, was never going to be simple. The young man must negotiate a troubled city, its side alleys and six-lane highways, the supermalls and shantytowns, and the cancerous nexus of police, politicians and press. Embroiled in a sensational kidnapping, will Abhishek survive a ruthless megapolis? And what is the price he is willing to pay? Somnath Batabyal's debut novel exposes India's dark underbelly, where common lives are mere pawns in deadly games of power and revenge.
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