The Hindu

The Hindu, as is written right under the title, is “India’s national newspaper since 1878”. This is the main English newspaper that I read daily, if possible. Each state also has local paper and I also try to pick these up if I can. At only 10 cents they are good entertainment on the busses and trains. They also contain a sudoku which Jenneli and I race to see who can finish first. (I have yet to beat Jenneli) It’s interesting to see what the paper picks up. Stories range from the immigration bill that failed in the US congress to the demolition of a building built on illegal land. I learned yesterday that a outbreak of hoof ‘n mouth disease was underway at the zoo we visited in Triviandrum and they had to close because animals were dying. Two had died the day we had visited, which explained certain exhibit closures and the security present.

Reading the paper I have also noticed a few trends:

1. Property and real estate is big news. Builders will bribe government officials for land rights that will end up being reclaimed by the rightful owner or the government itself. Homeless will try taking over unclaimed land or even claimed land if they can get away with it. Often the court will have to decide who ultimately owns a piece of property.

2. Corruption. There is always a corruption scandal of some form or another at the local, state and national levels.

3. NRI are important. NRIs are Non Resident Indians. It may be that the English paper just has much more focus on NRIs but the paper will follow any story that impacts NRIs, that includes immigration, visas, terrorism in the UK, even when NRIs are elected to office in foreign countries. When the Nimitz docked the paper reported that the only Indian born sailor was a cook on board.

4. No city is ready for the Monsoons when they happen. The month before the monsoons the papers ran stories about how the problems from last year are still present and that government mismanagement is to blame for not being prepared. The government claims things will be better. The monsoons are pouring down now and the papers are covering how many cities were not prepared, like last year, for the monsoons.

5. Education is important. The papers are full of ads for higher education, courses in IT, engineering, degrees from colleges, the paper runs stories about student entrance exams, educational trends, prices and the like. The local papers will publish the names and photos of the top students in the area and where they are likely to go to college. The paper will also include educational supplements about a particular subject or field. The paper has the normal crossword but may also include math problems, chess problems, sudoku, brain teasers and story problems.