NDTV Hindi Managing Editor Ravish Kumar, displaying his contempt for other reporters of Hindi media, took to Facebook to mock Hindustan journalist Adarsh Kumar for his reportage of Deepotsav.
Ravish shared a clipping of Hindustan article on Deepotsav, where journalist Adarsh Shukla had described Deepotsav as an event which can only be experienced and not described in words. Objecting to describing Deepotsav as an ‘experience that cannot be described in words’, Ravish Kumar said that such an article deserves a Pulitzer prize.
Ravish thanks the Editor of Hindustan for giving a byline to Shukla because despite two other articles on Deepotsav, the editor was ‘kind enough’ to give Shukla a byline.
हिन्दी का पत्रकार मजबूरी में नौकरी न करे तो उसे भगवान के स्वरूपों की रिपोर्टिंग का सौभाग्य ही प्राप्त न हो। इसलिए हिन्दी के पत्रकारों को प्रार्थना करनी चाहिए कि उन्हें मजबूर करने वाला संपादक मिले। मजबूरी में ही मुक्ति और मोक्ष की प्राप्ति होती है। कई बार संपादक की मजबूरियां रिपोर्टर को आकाश की ऊंचाई प्रदान करती हैं। मुझे यकीन है कि हिन्दुस्तान अख़बार के न्यूज़ रूम में इस रिपोर्ट पर हर न्यूज़ एडिटर गौरवान्वित महसूस कर रहा होगा। इस रिपोर्ट का अंग्रेज़ी अनुवाद कर हिन्दुस्तान टाइम्स के प्रथम पृष्ठ पर प्रकाशित करना चाहिए।
In a caustic tone, Ravish mocks reportage on Deepotsav as if it is a faff piece. He writes that if Hindi journalist works out of helplessness, then he gets is privileged to report on various avatars of gods. “Hindi journalists should pray that they do not get an editor who forces them to write certain reports. Only when one is forced, one gets ‘mukti and moksha’,” he writes. Mocking the reportage of Deepotsav further, Ravish Kumar added that he is sure Hindustan newsroom must be proud of this report. “This report should be translated into English and republished on the front page of Hindustan Times,” he mocks.
Read: Ayodhya’s grand Deepotsav finds spot in the Guinness Book of World Records
Ravish Kumar, who perhaps considers himself an epitome of journalistic standards, then further mocks Lord Ram and says that while the above report on Deepotsav was on page seven, wherever there is Lord Ram, it becomes first page.
Ravish Kumar further reproduces the Hindustan report in his Facebook post so that ‘he could experience the Treta Yuga’ while typing the way journalist Adarsh Shukla did while witnessing Deepotsav.
Further mocking Deepotsav, he writes how a national hero like Lord Ram was ‘welcomed’ by state leader like UP CM Yogi Adityanath. “At least the PM or Home Minister should have been present,” he writes. “With a small budget of Rs 133 crore, Yogi Adityanath lit up 5 lakh lamps and entered the Guinness Book of World Records. In a country of 33 crore gods and goddesses only a meagre sum of Rs 133 crore was allotted to Lord Ram. If Yogi Adityanath wanted, he could have given entire UP budget to Lord Ram and then he could have gone on an exile himself,” Ravish wrote.
Amusingly, Ravish got it wrong since the budget allotted for the Deepotsav was Rs 1.33 crore and not Rs 133 crore as claimed by him.
