Reunion at August house

His life teetered on the brink
Hardly gathered guts for a blink
Silent and fully gone, he remained in darkness
In the name of his mysterious duchess.

Slaving around the clock for her tone
Heavily bore the weight of bane
Alas! she was just deaf and blind
Apparently, it nagged him to bleed.

Laudable,he held on his crumpled hope tight
Rather grew bold to reckon until the end of height
Every time on entering his August house
Saw his gorgeous angel awaiting him with huge smile.

Awesomely blessed and fulfilled he felt one good day
Everything he craved for just came truly
Whispering in ears whole note,he hugged her  tight
But so sad,no feel of touch he felt.

Alas! it was just in  daydream
She was no more still,such a doom
Breaking down a cry,he yanked her absence
He realized hoping for someone never to come.

Climbing onto his August hut
Tirelessly kept on counting the dust
Waiting for her comeback
Albeit everything was struck in blank.

Media and Privacy

A person’s right to privacy is the right to be left alone. A citizen has the right to safeguard the privacy of himself and his family. This right can extend to all aspects of an individual’s personal life (as opposed to things that the public may have an interest in knowing). It follows that a person in the public spotlight (be it as a politician or celebrity) will enjoy a degree of protection that is less than that applicable to the common man. 

Every person has the right to enjoy his life without any interference. However, the degree of right to privacy varies from person to person. A public figure, who functions under public gaze as an emissary/representative of the public cannot expect to be afforded the same degree of privacy as a private person.Media can bring the acts of these personalities to public knowledge.

The acts of public personalities are not afforded the same level of protection. The public has a right to know about the acts and conducts of the public officials as they work for the benefit of the public. Therefore if the acts and conduct of the public person are of public interest even if conducted in private they may be brought to public knowledge through the medium of the press. 

The media person has however, a corresponding duty to ensure that the information about such acts and conduct of public interest of the public person is obtained through fair means. It should be properly verified and then reported accurately.

A public personality has to pay the price for being in the eye 0f the public. However, this does not mean that the media can publish any information it receives. The information has to be verifiable and accurate. The essential ingredient required for the publication is that it has to in public interest.

 Any information which is not available in the public domain is termed as private. Private information can be related to the family, education, marriage of the person or any other personal information.

The Right to Information Act defines information as any material in any form, and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force. This information is public information. Any other information would be termed as private information.

The perception regarding what is private information varies from person to person. But whether the objection will be sustained or not will depend upon the facts and circumstances of the case. If information regarding the private individual is accessible by a public authority then it would be public information. Moreover, if any private information is published in the larger interest of the public then the objection would not be upheld by the concerned authorities.

 

The maintenance of privacy is important for every individual. Thus, if information is disclosed merely on the fact that people want to know about that issue then the right to privacy has no meaning. The only justification for breach of privacy in such a case is where the publication of information was in public interest. The interest of the public must outweigh the individual interest.

 A journalist cannot publish information only on the demand of the public. If he does so then he can be held liable for breach of privacy by the person. The larger interest of the public has to be necessary for avoiding liability.

To prevent breach of privacy there are certain steps which the journalist can take. The journalist has to verify whether or not the information is in public domain. If not, then the publication of the private information can be done only after the person regarding whom the information has given his consent for publication of the information. Where the consent is not obtained then the publication of the private information can only be done in the case where the protection of the public interest outweighs the protection of the right to privacy.

Love's long road

William Shakespeare once wrote, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” This was certainly the case for PK Mahanandia who rode his bicycle all the way from India to Sweden to reunite with his love. 

PK was a poor young Indian artist, who made his money by painting portraits of people on the street. One day, a young woman named Charlotte  noticed PK’s artwork and asked to have her own portrait painted. PK agreed and painted it. However, Charlotte wasn’t satisfied. She asked if he could repaint her portrait the next day.

Again, he failed to paint a portrait that Charlotte was satisfied with. But in his defense, PK had an excuse. He said he was distracted by something his mother had told him when he was just a little boy.

One day, after PK was bullied at school for being from a poor family at the bottom of India’s caste system, his mother told him that he would marry a woman whose zodiac sign was Taurus. His mother also said that the woman would be musical and own a jungle. 

For some reason, meeting Charlotte had made him think about his mother’s prophecy. He asked her if she owned a jungle and whether or not she was musical. Since Charlotte’s family was of Swedish nobility, she replied that her family did indeed own a forest. And as fate would have it, her zodiac sign was Taurus. She also played the piano. 

PK described meeting Charlotte as “love at first sight.” He said they were drawn to each other like magnets. So when Charlotte had to return to Sweden, he was determined to see her again. Because he had very little money he knew he wouldn’t be able to fly or take a train. So, he sold all of his stuff and bought a bicycle. 

He began his trip on January 22nd, 1977. Along the way, he paid for food and shelter by painting people’s portraits. PK said, “My legs would hurt, but the excitement of meeting Charlotte and seeing new places kept me going.” 70 kilometers-a-day and four months later he finally reached Europe.

Soon after, Charlotte and PK were married. They now have two children and are still together. “I am still in love just as I was in 1975,” he said. The road to his true love wasn’t necessarily smooth, but it sure was worth it.