Not everyone was celebrating Press Freedom Day on May 3, which is when the United Nations commemorates the value of press freedom – and also just the time when Nepalis were pushing for the Indian media to leave their country.
Some portions of India's right wing would prefer to celebrate it today, May 6, instead. That's because it is Narada Jayanti, the birth date of the legendary sage Narada, whom the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has dubbed the "first reporter of the universe".
J Nandkumar, the assistant publicity head of the Sangh, has an article in Organiser, the RSS' newspaper, explaining why Narada should be a model to India's media, and why "nationalists" have been celebrating his birthday as journalism day for a few years now.
"Narada has been explained as the knower of Upanishadas, adored by Devatas, specialist in Itihas and Puranas. Along with all these virtues he was a master communicator. Narada was considered to be the first reporter or journalist of the whole universe. He knew the crux of journalism. His mastery over journalism and expertise in communication was shown when he gave tips to Yudhishtira on governance."
Nandkumar gets into exactly what he means by pointing out what has gone wrong with the Indian press over the years, starting with simply using the English language – which makes our government feel like a foreign presence. As an example he points out the continuing usage of the word Collector to refer to the person in charge of a district, a vestige of the British Raj, as also Commissioner, which he believes refers to someone who works on the basis of a financial commission. (It does not.)
"Same is the case of education, history, industry and economics," Nandkumar said. "Everywhere the alien presence can be felt. Are we ready for an all out change? In this perspective, we have to revisit Narada."
Of course, the traditional image of Narada isn't exactly one of an objective, passive viewer of world events. While some Hindus, Vaishanavites in particular, consider him a pure, glorified soul who is dedicated to Vishnu Bhakt, other ancient tales tell of Narada's propensity for spreading gossip and making mischief.
This image of him is so prevalent that Indian author and mythologist Devdutt Patnaik wrote that a better analogue for Narada wouldn't be the jouranlist so much as the office gossip.
"Step into any organisation anywhere in the world, and if you find ‘office politics’ know that Narada has been at work," Patnaik wrote in a piece in 2008. "You can sense his presence at almost every office lunch or late night booze party, where invariably, inevitably, someone will provide fodder for enthusiastic conversations about cunning secretaries, unfair promotions, manipulative colleagues, favoritism of bosses, disproportionate salaries, nefarious practices."
Former Chief Justice of India Markandey Katju, in a blogpost, once even managed to merge these two images of the sage, portraying him as a former gossip as well as India's first journalist, who couldn't keep up with the sensationalism of the modern Indian media.
But Nandkumar addresses this concern, while managing to echo his contemporary compatriots concerns about the modern media. "Being portrayed in films and secular discourses as a negative character and also as a war monger, many raise eyebrows hearing about Narada Jayanti celebration. Fact is that Narada was a philosopher, law maker and a communicator par excellence. He communicated with a sacred mission. It was the triumph of truth and dharma."
One can easily see the same argument being made about a prime time news anchor or two who insist that their work, whether loud or abrasive, has the same objective in mind.
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