Raising the flag for truth
Those who always walked against the line or who always revolted against the mob crawling on the rotten path, why did they choose ‘By- Line’ as the name of this magazine? Everyone knows that ‘by-line’ is the lifeline of a reporter, when his name goes with his story; it is a reward in itself for all the effort. For this magazine, this title is not a decision taken by chance. Rather, it is a well planned and well-conceived thought-product. Here comes to mind a doha of saint-poet Kabir: Na Main janu sewa bandagi, Na main ghant bajai / Na main moorat dhari singhasan, Na main puhup chadhai / kiriya karam achar main chchada, chchada teertha nahana / sagri duniya bhai sayani, main hi ik baurana… (I do not know flattery or to yank the temple bell / I do not wish to get a throne or to festoon the throne / I left behind all the orthodoxies and holy baths / the whole world became sensible, only I remained mad). Our magazine is the quintessence of this doha. The present state of the media is well before you. There were days when people used to swear on truth in the name of journalists. But now, unfortunately, journalists (or a section of them) have become synonymous with lies, treachery, duplicity and brokering. The media is considered as good or as bad as a neta, babu, judge or police. And on this path made shoddier, our whole country is wriggling and slithering, since independence till today. ‘By-Line’ is an announcement of revolt against this putrid path. From the very beginning ‘By-Line’ refuses to stand in the same line of such journalists. We are not a part of the flock of flatterers or the drummers of the power-temple. We are neither a part of the throne nor the democratic-mob of the slave mentality. We are in true sense the itinerant or the nomadic, condemning the creepers of the rotten lane. We only bother for the security of the natural beauty of the truth… nothing else. Let the word think itself to be wise… I alone choose to remain mad… In the present society 'truth' has become a crude materialistic product, with varieties of ugly lies and deceptions wrapped in colorful packs being sold in the market. Falsehood and dishonesty are cat-walking on the ramp of truth, attracting the society, and the truth hides itself hither and thither trying to cover its face. Dishonesty is openly raising its finger on truth and truth fails to defend itself. Truth faces a combined assault from politicians, judiciary, executives and the media and the society revels in its nonpartisan-enjoyment. We are the killing squad against these attackers. Their number is large and ours is smaller, but we have the guts to raise a loud voice, opt to stand alone and raise a strong fist and can throw a stone against the glass-wall of the system. Can anyone dare to hinder? ‘By-Line’ is the name of this very flowing courageous thought-stream. It is the name of independent brain-wave adorned with the beauty of the natural truth which dreams to construct its own 'Grand Trunk road' against and parallel to the rotten road of the stinking system. Every week on this very last page, I will get the opportunity to be before you, to talk to you, to interact with you… every week on this very last page, any villain-element or the villain-face of the dilapidated-system will get a hard slap from me, so we decided to name it … Last Punch… In Hindi, we have chosen comparatively a humble word… and that is Ant-Anant (Last but not the Least)… The echo of our voice of dissension will not end, it will go beyond… to the infinity… And you should very clearly understand that ‘By-Line’ in Hindi and English are original and novel to the spirit and soul, not translated copies of each other. (Published in By-Line National News Weekly (Hindi and English) January 16, 2009 Issue under regular column - Last Punch)
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