Look Who is Talking…

By Sooraj Rajmohan

The venue for ‘Talkathon’ prelims in the SRM Tech Park was bustling with activity as around 100 excited participants turned up for one of the most talked about events in the ‘Literati’ domain. The anxious participants were first tested with a general knowledge and personality test that evaluated their aptitude.  Following this, 60 selected entrants moved on to the intensive group discussion round, where 10 teams of six each were made to spar it out on various topics chosen by the judges.

The judges for the group discussion were Ajay Zener, founder of career12.com and Praveen Kumar of U.S Technologies . The session separated the best from the rest and 12 finalists were selected for the debate round in the Talkathon final.

The audience at Mini Hall 2, the venue for the final, were awoken from their melody induced slumbers by the arrival of twelve young debaters who took the stage for the debate. The topic given to them was ‘Role of the media in people’s lives – devil in disguise?’ The finalists were split into two teams of six and individually allowed to present their views for or against the topic, following which the floor was opened to questions from the judges, audience and other participants.

As in most media related interactions, the issues raised revolved around terrorism, human interest stories including the Aarushi and Ruchika cases and even went on to sub standard bullet proof jackets provided to the Indian Army. The ‘for’  team focused on the rampant corruption and sensationalism the media today indulges in, using these as points to paint it as the titular devil, while the ‘against’ team raised moral issues like the uprising in Egypt and how the media supported people like Rajesh Talwar in their time of crisis.

Some interesting quips peppered the competition with some food for thought and had people in splits as well. Robin Singh, arguing on behalf of the media, quoted Mark Twain’s statement that the sun and the associated press are the sources of light in the world. Supporting Robin, Niranjan spoke about the power of the media with the statement, “A few months ago, if you asked me what I know about Egypt, I would have said, ‘Pyramids’, now I can say, ‘Hosni Mubarak!’”

The opposition was not short on ammunition either, with Vikrant Srivastava raising the issue of how the media only shows the positive side of many things while hiding others and asking who should be held accountable for its mistakes. On occasion, even the judges and audience members chipped in with a question or two.

At the end of it all, it was Anuja Siraj who won the hard fought battle of words and perceptions, winning Rs. 2000 and vouchers from Fun City, Mcdonalds and more. Niranjan R. took second place and helped himself to a set of vouchers as well.

The judges for the event were Ms. Nisha Ashokan, who has been a member of the School of Management Studies at SRM University and even did a Ph.D in entrepreneurship from here and Ms. Revati Balakrishnan from the School of Management. The Chief Guest was reputed lawyer and publisher Gandhi Kannandasan, who gave a humourous account on how women are the real judges in life while referring to the two female judges who evaluated the finalists.

 This proved to be another feather in the Literati cap, and with the Milan carnival moving into its final day, there’s a lot more excitement to come before the end.