I recently read a long feature about the harm caused by mobile phones in “Vanitha Magazine“, a local womens magazine which is very popular. The main argument was that students are using mobile phone to view and share porn. The article is written in such a manner that no parent will dare to buy a mobile phone for his son or daughter.
This is not the first time that Vanitha magazine is writing against mobile phones. A few years back, it was the cable TV and then the internet and now mobile phones. I know many families who decided no to buy a computer or take an internet connection just because of some stupid article in Vanitha or the newspapers.
All the features that came in Vanitha about the internet or the mobile phone had many touching stories in them, supposed to be true, where some boys are using mobile phones to share porn, or some kid who lost interest in studies because of the internet.
Some schools and colleges have banned mobile phones. I still dont A college student is expected to be the responsible head of a family after a few years. If we cant trust him/her with a mobile phone, how are we going to trust him/her with a family.
We all make mistakes. Its very true that the internet and mobile phones can be misused. We can misuse cable TV, anyone watched MTV grind or the FTV ? Why are we not banning cable TV ? Id say its double standards cos we all want to watch the silly serials where every husband has a secret affair and all the young girls are roaming around with other boys.
Vanitha dont have the moral right to speak about the harm caused by phones or the internet, cos they are the part of a Malayala Manorama group, which owns another “M” publication which publishes all sorts of tingling stories. Just take a look at the drawings in those magazines and you will understand what I am saying.
Why dont they review the effects of such stories and drawings on the youth in Kerala, rather than fighting a war against the technologies that are feeding millions and have changed the world so much.
Read my other posts related to Vanitha and Malayala Manorama
Woah!Athu kurachu kaduppam thanne. Paavam pillere jeevichu pookanum sammathikkilla
But then, this could very well be a sponsored post. Who is to gain by a lot less mobile phones? Or atleast, going by the angle they’ve taken, lesser mobile phones and computers for porn will mean that these hormone crazy people will have to depend upon stupid books like the infamous “M” publication you’ve mentioned. Hmmmm?
I agree with your observation – who the hell is Vanitha to take a call against the morality of teenagers? Who the hell are they to decide whether teenagers will misuse their phones?
And again, what the heck is wrong with a bit of porn? I’m not advocating it, but what is porn going to do the individual? Pervert him/her for ever? I don’t think so! In this country wherein there is no proper sex education, porn serves as the only repository for education in that particular niche. Though highly insufficient, it atleast shows the individuals what to do after marriage
What Vanitha also doesnt realise is that a Nokia 3310 cannot carry even photos, much less, porn!!!
Comment by Mohan — April 25, 2008 @ 9:32 am
What they are trying to do is, gain the trust of the older and ignorant generation. They have succeeded in that, but not for long.
Comment by admin — April 25, 2008 @ 11:09 am
Strongly supporting you Kenney…. When I was doing my Bsc, I used to spend most of my days in internet cafes. At that time broad band internet was not very familiar and the net speed was very slow (it’s only 5 years before). The internet cafe was ‘Infonet, Adoor’ (Specifying this name here for getting some publicity for that cafe, I appreciate the owners behavior to their customers). At that time Vanitha and some other so called family (?) magazines published such irresponsible articles. As a result (I think so), some of my friends and even few of the teachers suspected me. And I know many of my friends were afraid for signing up for a free email address because of these articles..
I strongly believe that these articles are funded by porn sites for promoting their business. Many of the guys understanding about the various porn sites through these vanitha type articles. Their hidden agenda is very clear, they want to deviate the indians from the good things and want to promote all the bad sides of western culture. YES, I strongly believe this.
-Habeeb-
Comment by Habeeb — April 25, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
Well….its the same thing in Vanitha every time. They r just adding masala to the articles to get readership…Its just kerala culture. These kind of things sells.
One article I remember well is about college life in Bangalore. It was the time I joined the PG course here in Bangalore. One of my hostel mates parent called up after reading the article and was talking about discontinung the course and waste the fee of Rs 100k already paid. If the parents in a city in Kerala,can’t trust their son (NOT Daughter) studying for PG and has more trust in mags like these, I feels there is a problem with the older generations of kerala.
I wonder how many young people’s dream of getting a mobile got shattered by this article.
Comment by JAX — April 25, 2008 @ 5:32 pm
Good article !
But there is always two sides of a coin.
Teens should not get spoiled due to technology, that should be clear. As almost any technology can be misused.
Doubting is wrong, as a missing T can RUST the relationship. So parents may advice their children effectively before getting these kind of gadgets.
Magazine can soften such articles, by writing certain exclusive things in a different way.
Comment by Dinesh — April 26, 2008 @ 10:48 am
[...] Kenney Jacob writes about the nonsense articles published by mainstream magazines in Kerala (specifically Vanitha from Malayala Manorama), Vanitha dont have the moral right to speak about the harm caused by phones or the internet, cos they are the part of a Malayala Manorama group, which owns another “M” publication which publishes all sorts of tingling stories. Just take a look at the drawings in those magazines and you will understand what I am saying. [...]
Pingback by Kerala Tips » The nonsense that Vanitha (and other magazines) write — April 27, 2008 @ 9:50 am
Hi,
I totally agree with Kenney. Yes, some of these magazines do spread such malicious articles (btw, Vanitha is a superhit magazine in Kannada also
) and a bunch of parents are left confused as in “to mobile or not to mobile” type of situations.
Not long ago, when I first started visiting i-cafes, I used to be the only girl sitting in the cafe and all suspicious eyes looking at me. My parents were worried and my friends little too ashamed to be my friends. After that I started taking my brother with me protection to these cafes
hehe.
But just blogging this shouldnt be the end of all. Can someone write to the magazine’s editorial on how internet/mobile etc have changed the lives of many and infact have become bread and butter for a large number of population.
Can someone take an initiative and write to the editor and add more names to that letter. Please add my name to when you write a letter.
Comment by Padma — April 27, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
[...] http://www.kenneyjacob.com/2008/04/25/vanitha-internet-and-the-mobile-phone/ [...]
Pingback by Malayala Manoramas Stinking Journalism | Disruptive Technologies and Education — April 28, 2008 @ 7:33 am
Vanitha has been feeding on the scare-mongering propagated by the ignorant.
No colleges should ban anyone from using cell phones. For heavens sake, 90% of the students are over 18yrs of age in most colleges. They have the right to do whatever they want. Sure, you can have restrictions like only silent mode allowed during classes etc. Anything more than that is an invasion of privacy and personal liberty.
Does anyone really think that banning cell-phones and not having a computer with internet at home is going to keep teenagers away from porn? For heavens sake, when I was a teenager, there was no internet(let us say, in today’s speeds and ubiquity) and I have only heard of mobile phones, and you bet me and about 75% of my peers had access to porn one way or another.
Keeping a computer at home would only help in one thing. Whatever he is accessing, he is doing it from a safe place. Rather than in some shady internet cafe with other side businesses.
This is not the first time Vanitha is doing this. They have been running stories like this much to the dismay of educated and the people in the know. Some of the tactics that Vanitha articles suggest to control your children are so naive that even a six year old could find ways to circumvent such restrictions.
What parents should do is to keep their children know about the perils and keep them street smart enough to deal with all these on their own. If they do not get that training, in a few years, they will be out in this cruel world on their own, where the Wolves and Grizzly bears roam. They will perish before you can type V-A-N-I-T-H-A!
Comment by Issac Cheriyathu — April 28, 2008 @ 7:40 am
[...] with the angle that it is harmful since it is mostly used by students to share and view porn. Kenney Jacob asks We all make mistakes. Its very true that the internet and mobile phones can be misused. We can [...]
Pingback by Vanitha and Mobile Phones | DesiPundit — April 28, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
So,instead of cell phones, all the kids in 7-9th standard would go back to “Doctor odu chodikkam” in Vanita, its sleazy question answer column?
Vanita has taken the threat from Cell phones seriously
Comment by Nikhil Narayanan — April 29, 2008 @ 9:48 am
Very Interesting…And good to see such a healthy discussion going on.
What Kenney has pointed out is very right – any technology or medium can be misused or abused – but that does not make the technology bad – the people who use it are the ones who are to blame.
And if the youth in India were so irresponsible – I think all of us here would be sitting and watching pron over the internet rather than discussing such a hot topic…
Comment by JMJ — April 30, 2008 @ 3:08 pm
I have a different take let us start a new magazine opposing vanitha titled po-nitha
our first story will be sari.. yes the same cloth that an Indian woman drapes.. the story will be on kids who were orphaned because their mothers committed suicide hanging from a sari! We will also demand mallu women give up wearing sari.. yeppadi? gandhigiri no?
Comment by | Balu | — May 2, 2008 @ 9:44 pm
i simply don’t get the point…
wht r u trying to say..
ban vanita…
y r u least bothered abt vanita publishing such an article…
”
A college student is expected to be the responsible head of a family after a few years. If we cant trust him/her with a mobile phone, how are we going to trust him/her with a family.
”
this few years are what it counts for tht fella to become head of a family….
its the reponsibility of the family to be sure he becomes eligible to be one rite person…
its their primary job to get him there..
all this internet/mobile/tv have there own side effects.. u can’t deny that..
if a family wants to keep it in check whom should v blame..
Comment by jstsum1 — May 6, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
This is FUD at its best. The old guard at the old media establishments spreading Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt about the new wave in communication/communities.
Kind of like M$oft’s campaign against Linux. meh.
It could be argued that some of it could be the deliberate moral policing that our parents’ (X-1)generation want to impose on their kids to protect them. BIG DEAL. Kids everywhere always find a way around restrictions. Kids of any given generation are almost always more savvy about tech than their parents’ generation. Its a LOSE-LOSE business proposition.
The other reasons could be a bunch of badly-paid writers who feel their livelihood writing poorly-disguised ‘soft porn’, being threatened by the ‘new media’ ‘s accessibility. I get a laugh out of the Rs4 publications from the house of Manorama and Mathrobhoomi that my mum is fond of. I never miss a chance to poke fun at her. God bless her soul. heh heh.
Nice writeup Kenny. I’m adding you to my feedreader.
Comment by Vimal George — June 7, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
Intresting Article…..Some articles in local magazines are really irritating though I read it
…Bcos of such articles in the popular magazines, its impossible for a girl to talk using mobile phones in public places…. noone can sit in the internet for more than 2 hours….chatting has now turned out to be a biggest sin…!!!!
Comment by aries_curious — June 14, 2008 @ 10:21 am
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Comment by sushanth — July 7, 2008 @ 10:32 am
Kenney,
u r absolutely Right.No more questions to that
I still dont A college student is expected to be the responsible head of a family after a few years. If we cant trust him/her with a mobile phone, how are we going to trust him/her with a family.
This point struck me a lot………. THE MAN is a manorama publication and it is a Peak of Vulgarity… (Business Tricks)
I have read an article about these different eyes of Manorama to different peoples
http://www.linjojoson.com/?p=20
Comment by linjo Joson — July 26, 2008 @ 9:23 am
Came across this from Google. Vanitha, for many is the “aunty next door”, who gives valuable information, at times gossips, at times pries to another neighbour’s possessions
I was lucky that my mom was not interested in Vanitha. Still, I used to read it from start to end, winding it up with the cartoon.
There is a quote from famous malayalam poet Kunjunni Maash, roughly translates to, “A dog understands the real taste of a good fish, only if it has eaten rotten fish atleast once”… Thats it…
Let us not forget that some moms trust their kids blindly, and end up suffering. If such an article opens eyes of such a mom and make her check her son’s phone once in a while, isn’t it worth it?
Thats the silver lining I see, when I try to forget about disgusting vulgarity and cheap sentiments….
Comment by Nasrajan — December 9, 2008 @ 10:16 am
I have an hundred incidents to state VANITH is correct. These incidents includes in my own extended families. VANITHA is cautioning. Nor propogating agaist Mobile phones. it is up to the parents or Mobile phone users to dicide to keep it or throw it. One should not suspect the intension. take it in right spirit. technology brought revolution no doubt, along with brought culture of ruining ourselves. Balancing it is in our hands. Messenger should not be shot. Please take it in right spirit.
Dr. Madhavan
Comment by Dr.Madhavan — April 20, 2009 @ 8:58 am
Hmmm, what is this bs about ruining our culture?
Sex and porn is definitely a part of
our culture from 100s if not 1000s of years ago.
Anyone hear about the Kamasutra or even the vedas or upanishads?
We should get over this stupid victorian morality that the
old british have infected us with.
And stop painting blouses on the naked statues in temples, please.
Have some pride in you culture!!!
Comment by Jose Thomas — May 9, 2009 @ 3:57 pm
[...] Vanitha and the Mobile Phone [...]
Pingback by Eloping Girls - Vanitha Blames Mobiles Phones — June 1, 2009 @ 9:10 am
Kenny i strongly disagree about your post.
Please do not write such things based on your single view about such magzs. If Internet or the mobile phone had such bad effect then there is another side also that i agree. Many schools and colleges banned mob phones .Why ? Many schools and colleges blocked almost all sites even Google talk and other IM Why ? Before posting such things please do a walk through in these facts too. I think these magazines did a grate role to aware the parents about these side too.
“A college student is expected to be the responsible head of a family after a few years. If we cant trust him/her with a mobile phone, how are we going to trust him/her with a family ” …… I don’t understand what you mean ?
Comment by Kiran KV — June 1, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
@KV
If you take the stats, you will see that eloping was more common in the past. My grandmother used to say that my uncles have eloped many times in their life. How many of us elope from our homes these days ?
If you look at the number of girls eloping, it also have come down. These days kids are more bold and most of them can talk to their parents and sort out any issues. Eloping has become an out of fashion.
My point is that, phone, internet or be it any technology, its just a means. We are the real culprits here to have used it for doing wrong. Dont blame the phones, or the internet.
Comment by Kenney Jacob — June 1, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
i agree with ur statement.in my point of view , in this world every thing have there own merits and pitfalls.if we crossing the limits in our life with the misuse of technology ,its going to be a pitfall……………
Comment by arathi.v — May 19, 2010 @ 6:17 pm
Just discovered this website/ blog today .. Nice work …and … Screw vanitha.. whats in watchin some porn? Every other married fella gets some sex on the side w/o the knowledge of his family or has some dirty secret. Hypocrite mallus suck cos they think about sex all the time but argue its wrong to think or talk or be open about it. The happiest thing about 2day is i have found some ppl on this blog who are at least having that will to take a non hypocritical approach to things like myself, cos i believe its very hard to get out of our forced shells. But we so are gettin out of it fellas….. sooon..Get real. C ya around ..\m/
Comment by JC — June 13, 2010 @ 12:49 pm
kenny =,
u r absolutely right.just b,se some students use mobile phones for some malacious things like sharing porns doesn’t mean that all students do the same.more over it is rreally true that if you cannot trust a student with a mobile phon now then how can you trust him with a family later.
Comment by A mlandeep Bhattacharya — October 2, 2010 @ 9:48 pm
kenny ,
u r absolutely right.just b,se some students use mobile phones for some malacious things like sharing porns doesn’t mean that all students do the same.more over it is rreally true that if you cannot trust a student with a mobile phon now then how can you trust him with a family later.
Comment by A mlandeep Bhattacharya — October 2, 2010 @ 9:48 pm