IN 2019, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Nirmal Jovial brought an interesting story alive on THE WEEK’s YouTube channel. It was all of seven minutes long. But it has stayed with me six years later, and I might even have mentioned it earlier here.
It was about a group of girls from Kotri village in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district making a 1,700km trip to Kozhikode, Kerala, for their first glimpse of the sea. They were from the Manthan Shikshan Sansthan school in the village.
One of our editors shared this video on his Facebook page and got an unexpected share from a journalist friend in Mongolia. He reached out to her and asked, “How does this story matter to you?” She said, “I watched this and showed it to my colleagues in my newsroom, and soon it grew into a wider conversation about when each one saw the sea for the first time.”
As my life has hugged the coast for the most part (Bombay, Madras, Kochi), I am struggling to remember my first glimpse of the sea. My best bet is Bombay, where I was born. Do you remember the first time you saw the sea, dear reader?
This letter comes to you a day after THE WEEK concluded the second edition of its annual Maritime Conclave. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal delivered the keynote address. In comparison, last year’s conclave looked at the strategic importance of our coast; this year’s looked at the commercial angle. The minister graciously launched THE WEEK’s maritime microsite, which is intended to be a window into the sector in India. My thanks to the minister for addressing the stakeholders at the conclave.
This week’s cover, though, is about the sea of rage that swept the Himalayas. Correspondent Badar Bashir is in Nepal to report the ground situation. True, the pot is off the stove for now, but much depends on how the interim government and the people together handle the situation.
Chief Subeditor Anirudh Madhavan spoke to Justice Girish Chandra Lal, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Nepal. As he said, there is hope because Justice Sushila Karki, the former chief justice who heads the interim government, is a brave woman with her own moral compass. Lt Gen Shokin Chauhan, former director general of Assam Rifles, looks at the strategic angle and what it means for India. And, Prof Nirmala Mani Adhikary of Kathmandu University analyses the communication gap between politicians and the people, and how it enraged Gen Z.
As I opened with an event powered by THE WEEK, let me close with a mention of the Heritage Awards it hosted in New Delhi. Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat presented awards to state tourism boards and organisations that have innovated to conserve our collective heritage and market it to audiences both domestic and international. My thanks to the minister, too, for making time to honour the awardees.