India News | Decency is Not Incentivised in India: Writer Neelesh Misra
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Writer-storyteller Neelesh Misra, who recently released his 'Slow' imprint of books, said on Friday that making decent and clean content is akin to walking on fire as "decency is not incentivised in India".
New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) Writer-storyteller Neelesh Misra, who recently released his 'Slow' imprint of books, said on Friday that making decent and clean content is akin to walking on fire as "decency is not incentivised in India".
Misra, who was speaking at the ongoing Sahitya Aaj Tak at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, said that algorithm only understands "divisive and excitable content".
"It is not easy to make decent content because the algorithm only understands excitable and divisive content. The audiences are looking at such content on Reels. If you are talking about health, history or politics and you decide I will do only meaningful content, then it is like walking on fire," the 51-year-old said in a session.
Talking about the gamut of work he has been doing under his brand 'Slow', Misra said that he and his team decided to "walk on fire" and write clean stories.
"We will make stories but we will not put even a little pornography in the name of romance. We will not put expletives in our stories. Those are shortcuts," Misra added.
The journalist-turned-storyteller also shared anecdotes from his life.
He recalled not sitting for the final paper in his mass communication course, as it was more important for him to go after experience in form of internship.
"The last day of exam was also the first day of my internship. People were shocked and thought I was mad to not write the paper. But I evaluated what was more important to me, that piece of paper or the actual experience of journalism," he said.
At the peak of his journalistic career, Misra quit the profession to start Gaon Connection, a rural media platform, that also forced him to sell his house.
"Then it occurred to me how bogus it was to run Gaon Connection from Goregaon, instead of an actual village. So I left the city and came back home to Lucknow," Misra said.
Giving the example of a government official, who, according to Misra, had immense knowledge of design, history and music records, he said that most people in India end up doing something they are not meant to do.
"I was looking at his face and I realised most people in India are doing something they were not born to do. They are in their respective professions and continuing without a thought. But I feel if even five people look at my story and feel they can get down from this train, then be it," he said.
The two-day Sahitya Aaj Tak saw sessions on a wide range of topics, including cinema, history, politics, music and literature by the likes of historian S Irfan Habib, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, singer Shilpa Rao, author Shailja Pathak, singers Badshah, Rekha and Vishal Bhardwaj on day one. PTI MAH
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