Thursday, July 24, 2008

Essence of Uncommon Ground

As I write this, my first blog ever, on the eve of the TV show UNCOMMON GROUND, I admit much trepidation. Will today’s viewers want to see such a show? Will they watch a dialogue between two people on rather serious issues?

I am betting that the time has come for such a platform, even on TV. UNCOMMON GROUND has emerged from my experience as a journalist, from my knowledge of the corporate sector as Nandan Nilekani’s wife and also from the direct work in the social sector that I have been involved in over the years. It seemed to me that there were too many elements in our society that simply did not interact.

And so the show is conceived as a ‘let’s talk and understand’ rather than a ‘let’s fight and score points’ conversation between the leaders of the corporate and social sectors, one on one. The goal is to deepen a national discourse on critical issues on which there is currently much polarization, some of it unneccessary.

For several years, our government has been seceding its traditional space to both the corporate and the social sector. Look at education, health, and many other public services. In that process, companies and NGOs have become more powerful than ever. And they have also been changing their attitudes to each other. What does this all mean for our country going forward?

It was really hard to select the people for this show, because it was so important to get leaders who would listen. Interestingly, every one of the 16 people I approached agreed almost immediately to do the show, even though there were some risks with doing something new in a very public space. And I hope people who watch will engage with what they are saying, will give their own views on these very difficult questions and the many choices we as a nation have before us, and I hope they will do so in the spirit of the show.

There are no simple answers. But sometimes, the right questions are very important – What must we all do , each one of us, to get the government and the society we think we deserve? I hope the answers will emerge from a constructive debate.

- Rohini Nilekani

34 comments:

rajivbee said...

We are indeed fortunate to have business groups such as the Mahindras & Tatas, who are leaders in corporate social responsibility, as leaders in the `organized development of localities' more commonly referred to as Townships and SEZ. Diversifying revenue streams is the only way forward for the development and betterment of India's poor rural farmers. Take the case example of Thai farmers who have revenue streams from tourism - such as working on golf courses. The debate on the right process forward emerges from the lack of inclusive planning and synchronized implementation, addressing all relevant details. Through this link I have tried to explain the way forward, with a focus on Maharashtra http://www.astrategies.com/pdf/advanced_strategies_for_Maharashtra.pdf

deepak said...

Hie Rohini,

that was an excellent debate..I cannot help but agree with Anand Mahindra when he says that India cannot sustain its agriculture dependent population any more. 60% of our population earning their daily bread out of agriculture, and still our productivity is amongst the lowest in the world.

The problem lies not with urbanization or in creating more SEZs but in the fact that majority of the land holdings in India are so small that neither can the farmers invest whole-heartedly technology to improve productivity neither can they continue like that because its always a gamble counting on our monsoons..

Sadly, the age old adage of hard work bearing fruit becomes quite irrelevant when it comes to Indian Agriculture; there is no guarantee that working hard will get you good crop!

deepak said...

And by the way, i thought i was getting a flavor of the UPA-Left debates that we saw on our tv sets a couple of weeks back; with Anand speaking like our Prime Minister and Medha dismissing him like Prakash Karat!

SUNDAR said...

Madam,
The program is excellent but with one shortcoming and that is TIME.My humble suggestion is why don't you have two programs on the same subject.Though an hour is not at all sufficient for a comprehensive debate,at least it will avoid too simplistic conclusions.
To be true i felt happy to see such a program in a pvt. news channel where actually the so called t.v. journalists many a time
simply don't even show the basic courtesy towards distinguished guests in a discussion forum (excluding politicians). congrats! carry on your good work.

Unknown said...

Dear Rohini,

It was very intresting to watch your ' Uncommon Ground 'program at 21.30 on Sunday 3rd August. The discussion between Ms Mehda Patkar and Mr Anand Mahindra and your precise questions were very key issues for Indian development and taking care of people whose lands are necessary to acquire for industrial development - SEZ - and other large projects of Indian corporate sector. I am sure Govt. regulations on this key issue will provide right options to both the groups : the farm land owners and the corporate sector.

Is there any possibility to refer to you or provide details of farm lands acquired by UP Govt.'s NOIDA and not providing the basic benefits, even to the senior citizens, whose farm houses were aquired by Noida for development of Expressway toward Greater Noida.

Rohini, I wait to have some reply from you on this key issue of my life as a swnior citizen.

Thanks and warm regards,
CPS Sethi

Mobile # 98 181 10896

Venkatesh Goud Aelugani said...

Hi,

The Debate is quite good, but we need to understand even medha’s view the reason behind that. Today in India the name of Development and Employment there is a huge land grabbing is happening which is public property.

There is no proper terms & conditions to provide land for industries.

This is absolutely negotiations between political leaders (constitution observers) and corporate .which sadly our political leader doesn’t have much vision and reality to allot how much land and whom to give of the public property, only they know how to negotiate there shares.

To day in India there are huge people who are unprofessional contractors turns into corporate .even they are getting {grabbing} uncounted acres of land of public. The name of development or Employment or SEZ etc.

Today a common citizen gets doubt that some companies are which sectors like IT, Financial, Manufacturing Etc or Real Estate Sectors .we can see in our India even in house services companies like IT and Financial companies succeeded to get public land thousands of acres. Which they may not required for there operations or Utilizations but they want to grab as much as they can improve there capital with fixed assets.

To stop this land grabbing India people have to get much more educate for that this type of platforms is required.

tolifetolifelachaim said...

I watched the discussion and it was really an eye opener for many. I do agree with Anand Mahindra to a greater extent, of course the dialogue is always important before you do something to a place that belongs to someone.

My question is how many people are watching this kind of program. I also watched the earlier one with Mukesh and Dr.Pachouri and I wish the younger generation gets a chance to view these kind of debates and dialogues.

Regards
Arasu ST (Baden-Switzerland)

Debi said...

Hi Rohini,
When i heard about the programme, i was excited first because i am an infoscion and i know about you. But after watching the two episodes, i want to congratulate you not for making this programme a success but for starting such a movement. I am pretty sure many young people like me who are realy interested in understanding our countrys problem will be very happy to learn from the show.
I have one suggestion to make it better. Towards the end of the show if you can take some questions from general public and ask to the panel, we can also get one more angle to it which you might not have thought or asked.

Anyway, i am spreading the news about your programme and blog among many people now. Lets make this effort a success. we can start many things like this one by one. If you feel i can be a part in helping you then just let me know.

Thanks again for starting this but we have a long way to go.

Aravindan Umashankar said...

Rohini,

I commend you personal leadership to take up this chaallenging mandate of bringing to divergent minds to mull over matters significant to the countries state of affairs.

I believe that we as "Indians" have the greatest opportunity to become a becon of light to the globe across many faculties and agendas defining world order.

As "Indian" set up an agenda for the world and ensure that we are indeed a superpower by 2020.

But how we go about this is a much greater opportunity in our hand.

Adopting inclusivity , pluralistic and democratic thinking verve today by india will be the greatest point of impact we can as leaders of today leverage.

I see this forum is one such platform were bold and important agendas caan be brought to the space where intellects , nation builders , thought leaders and importantly commoners can engage , thus creating clear paths for the promise India has in abundance.

Time we realised that the opportunity ahead of us is OURs to lose !!

Kudos !

Aravindan

Vikram Sridharan said...

HI Rohini,
Today's episode on food was good. But It would have been great if one person from Pepsico had represented teh corporate side in the discussion instead of the one from UNilever. They are the ones who make Pepsi , Lays and Kurkure . All of them controversial "snacks" in their own sense. And one suggestion on the programme : i get a feeling that the scope of discussion is too broad . For eg Today Food - Hunger crisis and the Genetically MOdified food were two really important topics and deep enought to have been discussed in two different episodes . SO it would be great if you could narrow the Point of DIscussion once the point of difference in opinion on the topic between two sides is known.
This initiative is commendable and Thanks for providing viewers like me a good programme.

Anonymous said...

Hello Ms. Nilekani and the UG team,

a)Nice to see moderated discussions on our otherwise hysterical English TV news channels

b) apart from the personalities ( fantastic) and the issues under discussion, I have to say what makes me *happiest* is seeing you (Ms. RN) sign off with our Indian, hygienic, no germs transfer, traditional 'Namaste" :)

c) I wish this URL ( the UG Blog) was screened through the duration of the brief program...blogs can be a powerful forum, for the comparatively minuscule number of Indians on the Net.

I managed to see the blog's URL by sheer chance

Anonymous said...

May I add that I am really surprised that this blog has very few views, and far fewer comments!

If I may: quoting your OP - original post - "It seemed to me that there were too many elements in our society that simply did not interact" ... perhaps ground level NGO's are the ones interacting most with our farmers/weavers et al?

I say this because the most captivating guests on media discussions such as We The People ( NDTV again) are often the former child-worker, or the socially shunned sex worker, not the renown dress designer or the corporate condom manufacturer.

Just a thought!

Unknown said...

Uncommon Ground on NDTV at last fulfills Edmund Burke’s claim made 150 years ago ---‘’ Yonder sits the fourth estate and they are more important than them all ‘’. Too often the media forgets this onerous responsibility, preferring instead to chase eye-balls and TRP’s.

Having set the bar higher it is tempting to think that Rohini’s program has thrown open the possibility for an initiative in the public space that allows for a more extended dialogue on some of the contentious issues facing civil society. An initiative that is not constrained by the inherent limitations of the broadcast media.

These issues are rooted in our complex history and do not easily lend themselves to a full and complete understanding without adequate background information . To cite just a few of these --- Amartya Sen’s concept of ‘’ friendly fire’’ while discussing subsidies and primary education shows the complexities in framing public policy. Similarly Ramachandra Guha’s ‘’India after Gandhi’’ sheds light on the inherited contradictions of the Indian state. These paradoxes confront us now much more than in the past.

Rohini with her outstanding credentials as a philanthropist, social activist and corporate insider could make such a public service initiative happen.

Some may question the need for such an initiative but with the press having diluted its role [the late night breaking news on TV dictates the lead story for the next day’s paper] and magazines with rare exception unwilling to stretch beyond a point there is a vacant space out there.

Undoubtedly considerable ideation would be required. Corporate sponsorship would be critical and the format of delivery would need to be thought through. But Uncommon Ground’s success makes one believe that these challenges are not insurmountable.

Unknown said...

Hi Rohini,

It was a pleasure to watch Mr. Sunil Mittal in his very natural style take on Ms. Aruna Roy in your debate on skills development & Re- skilling.

I must congratulate you for choosing Mr. Mittal, who has been very pro-active through his community initiatives, particularly for this issue.

I agree with him that Corporates cannot take the role of the state. Regulatory & Functionary strength has to come from the governemnet.He also very righty pointed that in lieu of retaining the farmer in the contract model, the corporate shall 'pamper' the farmer which will again be win -win. the fears that aruna expressed regarding corporates taking control are agreeable, but that is where the state has to play a role. PPPs are a clear answer today. the industry is strong in delivery & this needs to be capitalised by the government. Civil Society also has an important role in this.

i think, it is time all of us take responsibility and in whatever capacity we can - partner this cause of self -entreprnuership.

the crux being that 'we have to Teach a man to fish' if we reallu want himto ably fight the battle for survival.

great initiative! lots more still to be discussed...

Those who feel for this cause are welcome to take time out & visit my blog on skills development http://indiaskills.blogspot.com/

Gaurav said...

Congratulations to you and NDTV for conceptualizing and executing this idea. The discussions have been very informative. They are a welcome change in the high decibel television debate age. As some others have suggested 21 minutes is too short for these topics.
I hope this contributes to a greater debate ( and concrete actions) towards bridging the seemingly increasing gap on numerous issues across the social-economic spectrum.
As Ms. Roy and Mr. Mittal agreed we need an Indian solution for our issues.

Archana said...

Hi,
The "Uncommoness" of this venture continues even off-air into the e-space by the very fact that the blog has been started on this platform that is used by the common man. It could just as well have been a part of the NDTV website. To my eyes, that itself shows an identification with the general public.
I missed the first program (featuring Mr Mahindra) but did watch the next two episodes.
The effort to bring together two parties with diverging stands to really 'discuss' a issue is fairly successful.
India is progressing fast and the needs of the hour are different from those some years ago. We need to grow in a global context while retaining our Indian values and protecting our still largely agricultural base.
The mindset that corporates are only out to exploit or make profits has to change. It may have been true some years ago but with the CEOs of today willing to reach out a hand I think the so called 'activists' have to also reciprocate with an open mind.
Times change and one has to use technology to our benefit.
One program may not cause a change but it will surely set some people thinking and probably even result in some concrete steps.
It would be interesting to know the outcome of Mr Mittal's offer at the end of last night's episode of the one/one week interaction for a close up view to really understand how the other side functions.
Do keep us updated on that Ms Nilekani, either via the program (if possible) else surely via this blog. Even if does not work out then which was the person who backed out....

All the Best!
Archana Pande
www.yenforblue.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for the blog comments. This whole activity is new to me, so forgive my being a little less than regular in my response.

I am noting down all the valuable suggestions and will action whatever is possible. Please note that we have already recorded all eight shows and unfortunately I cnanot make any changes now. But perhaps there will be other opportunities.

I like the idea of scrolling some of the blog comments during the show and will certainly ask NDTV to do so. But we will need many more comments to come in !

Many people have suggested that SUnil Mittal and Aruna Roy should not only take up the promise of going and seeing each other's work at close quarters but also then tell viewers of national television what they learnt from each other.

Anand Mahindra and Medha Patkar had also similarly decided, during our shooting, to stay more in touch. Unfortunately, it happened off camera, while we were talking together.

Maybe there is a huge opportunity to further reduce the chasms between our thought leaders!

Unknown said...

Good Programme to Watch
Contributing More materials on
Areas To boost Public-Private Partnerships in:

eco-friendly, cheap Solar Power Generation to avoid Green House Global Warming effects
http://in.geocities.com/siddharth_bhatta/solardream.html


On Boosting e-Agirculture,
like entry of Reliance...
into Agirculture as high tech industry
http://in.geocities.com/siddharth_bhatta/archives/E-Agriculture.zip

Civic Participation is really the need of the hour.

The Power Game's slowly tilting in the hands of the evolving people of India with improving literacy rates.

Infact, e-Governance initiatives & Right to Information must involve the Indian citizens not as mere users of the system,
Querying it for results,

But give them(each Citizen) the position of Solution Architect.

How the future course of action as regards evolution of the system's concerned.
That should lie in the hands of the people.

Not just the influential elite few ...
Because, becoming a private entreprenneur/businessman can be called rather a mechanical process, luck dependent taking calculated risks.

That's not a big deal.
Nowadays, Becoming Crorepati's not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice.

But it should be in Indian interests benefitting even the weakest in the society.

More Thoughts & Ideas at:
http://armageddonsaviour.blogspot.com

http://armageddonsaviour.wordpress.com

http://in.geocities.com/siddharth_bhatta/

Sriyanka said...

a very nice program.its high time that we address socio-political issues in such a constructive manner!

ankan said...

Rohini ji,

Please accept warm congratulations on your wonderful work. It is indeed refreshing to see such a level headed program on TV amidst all the shouting and screaming.

It seems that you are recording only eight episodes. After watching two episodes, I believe your program has the potential to become a good platform for policy discussions. Why don't you develop a weekly series in the same vein as the initial few episodes?

Namaste

P.S. I really like the way you end the program with a Namaste.

legalfunda said...

Hi Rohini,
It was sad I missed first 2 episodes of UG. It was by chance that I watched the third one featuring S.Mittal and Aruna Roy. Must say it was an excellent discussion. One of the rare and mature programmes of this kind, where the participants are not vying with each other to make their point. CONGRATS!! Keep it up. Please tell at what times, ( other than on Sunday night), will it be telecast.
Rashmi Desai

Unknown said...

On Prime Minister's 15-Aug-2008 Speech
Express Yourself by writing your comment ...

Know what others have to say ...

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/45542

Salil said...

Dear Rohini and the Uncomonground team,

I have been watching this program on NDTV on a regular basis now. Its a great way to open up a public platform to some of the strongest figures and start a debate on important issues faced by us. We as viewers get a better idea of both the sides on the debate. One thing i observed is that even though coming from opposite backgrounds the guests generally tend to have a similar kind of goal with slightly different views and approach to solve the problems. Maybe taking a cue from UG the corporates and the non profit organizations will meet up more often to discuss and solve the problems with exchange of ideas rather than just bickering with each other.

Upendra Namburi said...

Dear Ms.Nilekani,
I watched the episode on Financial Inclusion(FI), and was thrilled to see a mature and down to earth discussion on the subject. The need for discussion and (even more) action is the need of the hour in this space. However subjects of such intensity, to my mind, would perhaps require a greater time duration and also more debate with a larger panel.

Would it be possible for the panel participants to engage in a dialogue via this blog post the broadcast. You might be able to further the subject and the cause.

Wish you all the very best.

futureredefined.blogspot.com

Benita Menezes said...

Hi Rohini,
I just watched your programme on NDTV and was wondering if it is possible to get details of topics and speakers of other epsiodes which have been telecast. Is there a repeat telecast of this programme?

Thanks

Benita

Thirteen said...

Hello Madam,

Good day. How about having the transcripts of the interviews hosted on this site for us to read at leisure?

Rgds
Tej
Author & Writer
Web Cave-www.thejendra.com

UG2008 said...

Dear Benita,

Uncommon Ground is an 8 part series and it started a month back on 27th July. The show airs every sunday with a repeat telecast on the following monday afternoon.

Till now six episodes have already been telecasted - Mukesh Ambani & Dr RK Pachauri, Anand Mahindra & Medha Patkar, MS Banga & Suman Sahai, Sunil Mittal & Aruna Roy, Uday Kotak & Vijay Mahajan and Rahul Bajaj & Dinesh Mohan.

Unknown said...

thank, upendra and others for your comments. a lot of people seem to feel that the conversations could have been longer. It will be good to keep in mind. I am happy that there seems to be an audience for serious television. And hopefully, there will be much more of it, on all channels. meanwhile, there are only two more shows in this series, so please keep watching. thank you.

Unknown said...

Hi Rohini
Your show uncommon ground is truly the most mature debate/discussion forum i have seen on Indian television. There are a few issues i wish the show could focus on.
1. The Army. In an increasingly hostile world, with neighbors such as China and Pakistan who are investing heavily in there armed forces, and with the 5th pay commission arrogantly killing the request of our Army officer's, is there anyway Private companies can contribute either in forms of technology or in forms of discount programs, in return for tax rebates, to those in the Armed forces.

Unknown said...

Firstly,it's great to know that there's a place to reach out and be able to share thoughts about the program and learn more in the process.Rohini,I think the program is a great initiative! I try my best not to miss any episode since the time I accidentally learnt about the show.Somehow, you seem to be asking the right questions and "dealing in solutions" rather than focusing what have been the obvious problems for so long.That's not to say that it's not important to discuss the problems ,but "focusing on the solutions" seems to get us closer to actionable solutions faster.I don't know about others,but ,personally, I greatly value your show!

On a different note,I hope someday you will focus your attention on the sports fraternity ,too:) I know more important issues need to be addressed first ,but if sports can become a viable career ,then a lot of villages can benefit from it,especially olympic sports( perhaps I am biased here).It'd be great if you could get Abhinav Bindra meet a corporate willing to invest in sports and make it a movement that becomes a longterm viable profession,no matter what the sport.Of course the start can be small.Alright,enough about sports,lol.

Just logged on to say that your show is loved and waited for with considerable interest!

Kind Regards,
Vik

Unknown said...

Rohit's comment ( the one above my first comment) surely needs to be given precedence! It's something that's of absolute essence, I feel.The defense forces should have the highest pay scales and sadly,their's isn't even close to the highest.If possible,please look into it,
Thanks,
Vik

Benita Menezes said...

Hi again,

Thanks for a response. I was wondering if these discussions are being published in an electronic format so that people can read these discussions. I am particularly interested in the discussion between Anand Mahindra and Aruna Roy; is there a possibility to read these discussions some where since I have missed these programmes.

This nature of dialogue is important to raise awareness amongst people on possible ways of seeing negotiations and evolving methods to intervene!

Unknown said...

Hi Benita,

I believe there's a repeat telecast of Sunday's episode on Monday at 16.30.I watched a discussion involving Sunil Mittal (Bharati) and Aruna Roy on SEZ and that was perhaps the best yet.There was probably another discussion involving Anand Mahindra and Medha patkar.(but I could be wrong)
Vik

Swarna said...

Hi Rohini
I am glad I caught a few of Sunita Narain's sound bytes on redifining growth in today's show (15 Sep).
Best wishes.