India: More than Bollywood and Batsmen

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3875415.htm Panellists: Shashi Tharoor, Diplomat and Minister of State for HR Development; Pallavi Sharda, Australian-born Bollywood star; Swapan Dasgupta, Senior Indian journalist and political commentator; Shoma Chaudhury, Managing Editor of news magazine Tehelka; Karan Thapar, Award winning TV journalist and Host of Devil’s Advocate and Stuart MacGill, Former Australian Cricketer. -- Shashi Tharoor Minister of State for Human Resources Development and an elected member of the Indian Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor, wears many caps. Born in London in 1956, Shashi was educated in India and the United States, completing a PhD in 1978 at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he received the Robert B. Stewart Prize for Best Student. At Fletcher, Shashi helped found and was the first Editor of the Fletcher Forum of International Affairs, a journal now in its 35th year. When he earned his Ph.D. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at the age of 22, Shashi was named by the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1998 as a "Global Leader of Tomorrow. Prior to embarking on a political career, Shashi Tharoor’s career in the United Nations began in 1978 as a staff member of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva. In 2007 he concluded a nearly 29-year career with the UN, including working for refugees in South-East Asia at the peak of the “boat people” crisis, handling peace-keeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, and culminating as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. Shashi is also a well acclaimed author and written fourteen books including eight non-fiction books. Besides, he has written numerous articles and book reviews in a wide range of noted publications, both international and domestic. One of India’s most net savvy politicians he has close to 2 million followers on Twitter. A strong proponent of “soft" power, where India has its ability to share its culture with the world through food, music, technology, Bollywood, Shashi argues that in the long run it's not the size of the army that matters as much as a country's ability to influence the world’s hearts and minds. -- Pallavi Sharda Bollywood actress Pallavi Sharda is a true blue Aussie-Indian. Having grown up in Melbourne, she trained in classical Indian dance (Bharatha Natyam) from the age of three and is most well known for her captivating fusion semi-classical dance choreography. She obtained degrees in Law, Media and Communications and French at the University of Melbourne before shifting base to Mumbai. Since her first movie in 2008, Pallavi has had roles in the Bollywood and Independent American film industry. Pallavi's debut Bollywood film, Dus Tola, was released by Warner Brothers on October 22nd 2010, garnering critical acclaim. Her second release as a lead actor came in American crossover film Walkaway, and her next Bollywood venture was the romantic comedy Love, Breakups and Zindagi. This was her first role in the mainstream Indian film scene. Pallavi’s first Australian film is Save Your Legs, directed by Boyd Hicklin and starring Stephen Curry and Brendan Cowell. -- Swapan Dasgupta Swapan Dasgupta is a columnist and TV commentator based in Delhi. Specialising in domestic Indian politics, Swapan is self-professedly 'right wing' in his orientation, an orientation that marks him out in a media that is liberal dominated. He writings are marked by contrarian views on issues such as secularism, India-Pakistan ties and the economy. He was among the first columnists to advocate the projection of Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate by the BJP. Born in Calcutta, Swapan was educated in La Martiniere College (Calcutta) and St Stephen's College (Delhi). He pursued his graduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, where he was awarded a Ph. D in history. He was subsequently elected a Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University, where he shifted his concerns to more contemporary themes. Swapan began his innings in the media at The Statesman in 1985. Subsequently, he held senior editorial positions in Times of India, The Telegraph, Indian Express. He served as Managing Editor of India Today from 1997 to 2003. Since 2003, Swapan has been working in an independent capacity but with regular columns in Telegraph, Times of India, Pioneer, Asian Age and Jagran. Named by Indian Express in the list of the 10 most influential writers in the media, he is seen as an opinion-making "insider-outsider" in the BJP. Widely travelled, he has often raised hackles for his self-confessed Anglophilia. -- Shoma Chaudhury Shoma Chaudhury is Managing Editor of Tehelka, a weekly newsmagazine widely respected for its investigative and public interest journalism. Earlier she worked with The Pioneer, India Today and Outlook. When Tehelka was forced to close down by the Government after a story on defence corruption, she was one of four people who stayed on to fight and articulate Tehelka ‘s vision and relaunch it as a national weekly. Shoma has written extensively on several areas of conflict in India – people v State, the Maoist insurgency, the Muslim question and issues of capitalist development and land grab. She has won several awards, including the Ramnath Goenka Award and the Chameli Devi Award for the most outstanding woman journalist in 2009. In 2011, Newsweek (USA) picked her as one of 150 power women who “shake the world”. In May 2012 she also won the Mumbai Press Club Award for best political reporting and in 2013, the Italian Ernest Hemingway Lignano Sabbiadoro Award for journalism across print, internet and broadcast media. Shoma lives in Delhi and has two sons. -- Karan Thapar Karan Thapar is the only Indian television professional who has worked for ten years in television outside India. Trained as a correspondent, producer, editor and presenter with London Weekend Television in the United Kingdom, where he worked for programmes as varied as Weekend World, The World This Week, The Business Programme, The Walden Interview and Eastern Eye, he has both the most varied and the most in-depth knowledge and experience of television current affairs programme making available in India today. In 1991, on his return to India, Karan Thapar helped establish H.T. Vision Limited, the first television venture established by the K.K. Birla group, which he headed as Executive Producer. HTV’s flagship programme, Eyewitness, initially launched as a video magazine but which later transferred to Doordarshan as a weekly programme, quickly became a window on current affairs tackling all the major subjects of the day and interviewing every single top politician from the prime minister onwards. Presently he is head of Infotainment Television (ITV), a television production house which has made programmes for BBC, Channel NewsAsia, CNBC, CNN-IBN and Doordarshan. Perhaps the most prestigious programme Karan Thapar has presented is the BBC series of one-to-one political interviews generically called HARDtalk INDIA and modelled on the lines of the BBC’s well known and long standing programme, HARDtalk. Within this series the non-political interviews are called Face to Face. In December 2005 HARDtalk India won the Best Current Affairs Anchor Award at the Asian Television Awards. Earlier, in 2003, Face to Face won the Best Current Affairs Anchor Award at the Asian Television Awards. In January 2006 Karan Thapar launched a primetime sunday night one-to-one current affairs interview called Devil’s Advocate on CNN-IBN, a channel jointly launched by CNN and Network 18, where each week he interviews in depth a single leading high profile political personality. Devil’s Advocate has won the Asian Television Award for Best Current Affairs Anchor in 2007 and 2010. Since 1999, Karan Thapar has won 7 Asian Television Awards, 5 as best presenter, 1 for best current affairs programme and one for best current affairs special programme. There are two interviews which Karan Thapar did in 2000 which achieved world-wide recognition. The first was in February when he interviewed the then Chief Executive of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf. The programme won the Best Current Affairs Special Award at the Asian Television Awards in December 2000. The second interview, which was part of the BBC HARDtalk INDIA series, was done with India’s World Cup winning former cricket captain Kapil Dev and became instantly famous because Mr. Dev broke down and cried uncontrollably for over ten minutes. -- Stuart MacGill Stuart MacGill is the third generation of his family to play first class cricket, his father Terry and grandfather Charlie having both played for Western Australia. Despite the fact he was denied a regular Test place by the legendary Shane Warne, he has the highest strike rate of any leg spinner from the modern era, taking 208 wickets in his 44 Test Matches for Australia. He retired from international cricket in 2008 with 39 Ashes wickets, a Test best of 8-108 and the most five-wicket hauls by any player at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Stuart is the fourth quickest bowler of all time to reach 200 Test wickets, and only West Indian great Jeff Dujon played in as many Tests without losing a series. For better or worse, this record is often overshadowed by Stuart’s decision to mix sport with politics. In 2004 he refused to tour Zimbabwe, saying social and moral concerns led him to declare himself unavailable. In the latter stages of his career he again decided to dig his heels in, insisting that sponsorship of elite sporting teams by fast-food outlets was inappropriate. Stuart stepped off the playing field and into the media. He was host of award winning wine show Stuart MacGill Uncorked for The Lifestyle Channel, also broadcast worldwide on The Australia Network. His digital cricket show, The Cricket Club, features lively debate with former Test cricketing mates, most notably Damien Martyn and Aakash Chopra. In a little over six months the show has attracted 800,000 followers. Stuart is an ambassador for Perrier-Jouet Champagne and lives in Sydney with his wife, communications consultant Rachel Friend, and their two children Alex and Penny. ---- Audience: A Q&A special from India. OZ & INDIAN STEREOTYPES Jasmeen Malhotra asked: As a person of Indian birth brought up in Australia, I often find that while I'm in Australia I have to defend Indians against the stereotype that they are corrupt, uncivilised and have no respect for human dignity, and while I'm in India I have to defend Australians against the stereotype that they are lazy, immoral and racist. Do you think we will be able to overcome these stereotypes and work towards a respectful and mutually beneficial partnership? INDIAN STUDENTS Sonya asked: What protection do Indian students get in Australia and what steps are taken to deal with the racial violence and to ensure students’ safety? TENDULKAR AND INDIA Pavan Gandhok asked: There's been a fascinating parallel between how India has gained prominence on the world stage over the past two decades - with the emergence and reign of Sachin Tendulkar. So what next - post his retirement? Another peak or a steady decline - both for Indian cricket and for India's relevance to the world? TENDULKAR OR BRADMAN Rajesh Khatana asked: The cricketing cognoscenti are largely united when it comes to naming history's two greatest batsmen: Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar. So please tell me what you think about Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar – who is the greatest batsman in cricket history? RAPE Bharti Yadav asked: Rapes have become so common here that people have become much used to it contrary to traditional India where it was very rare and was a serious issue. What according to you is responsible for the increasing trend? BOLLYWOOD & RAPE Anand Gururajan asked: Bollywood films are well known for the sexualisation of women and I am wondering whether Pallavi could comment on the link between this and the increased incidence and abuse of women in India? INDIA GROWTH AND INEQUALITY Dr Ushvinder Kaur Popli asked: India is a country with a lot of economic growth and development. To be effective this growth and development should percolate to the masses and its gains translate to the masses, but we have not seen that kind of percolation to the grass roots level. Why would the panellists say we have not been able to achieve this for the people at large? INDIAN ELECTIONS Ajoy Roy asked: India, with its emerging youth is poised to be one of the biggest economic superpower by around 2020 and beyond. India knows it, the world is anticipating it and many of the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are considering returning back to India. In view of this and the context of forthcoming elections, what does the panel think are the implications for India and Australia if Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi become the next Prime Minister of India?