Panaji, May 9
Narad, an ancient Indian sage
who appears prominently in the Ramayana and was known for disseminating
relevant information, spreading gossip and carrying tales that often led
to fights, has been projected wrongly and should be held up as a "role
model for positive journalism", a top representative of an RSS-affiliate
has claimed.
Pranav Bhonde, editor of the Mumbai-based Vishwa
Samvad Kendra, a media training and publication centre that also acts as
the publicity wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), claimed
that that Narad, whose flits in an out of ancient Indian scriptures and
epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, was also India's first
journalist.
"Narad rishi not only used to ferry information from
one place to another, but he also had the sense to ferry relevant
information. He would not ferry the information for personal benefit,
but for the good of the people, the country and the religion," Bhonde
told IANS.
Bhonde's organization is in the process of organizing a
series of events across the country and in Goa in May, to celebrate
'Maharishi Narad Jayanti'. According to the lunar calendar, Narad's
birthday fell on May 5 this year.
As part of the agenda, there
will be a letter writing contest, felicitation of veteran journalist
Gurudas Singbal and an interactive session that local journalists and
editors are expected to attend.
"Maharishi Narad followed the
basics tenets of journalism ages ago. The information he sourced and
passed on to the people, was difficult to obtain then, when means of
communication were rare," Bhonde said, claiming Narad was omnipresent,
as journalists are required to be, to source information.
"It is
mentioned in the old epics and texts that whenever big incidents
occurred, Maharishi Narad was invariably there. He did not miss
anything. He is an idol for positive journalism. We are trying to
establish this across the country," he added.
The Vedic age sage,
has been described in the old texts as having traversed across the
"different worlds" and realms ferrying and sharing his repository of
information with its inhabitants. Naradasmriti, a well-known ancient
text which also serves as an aggregation of social mores and rules of
conduct, has been credited to the sage, who appears in the Mahabharata
to counsel the Pandavas over sharing Draupadi as a joint wife.
Ancient
scriptures have also described Narad as a carrier of missives and
instructions, as well as gossip from heavenly abodes to earthlings,
giving his character something of a mischievous demeanor.
Bhonde,
however, preferred to describe Narad as someone who quizzes
personalities of eminence, much like the relationship journalists share
with newsmakers of the day.
"You cannot say mischievous; his image in the Puranas is of someone who quizzes," Bhonde said.
"Whether
it is in the Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata or any other text, what
Narad has done is communicate society's ills to people who can address
them and resolve issues which are stuck," he added.
(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at [email protected])
