I did not recognise him at the first sight. But he did. Black brackets were set deep round his eyes where a flicker of past shine was still floating. The black brackets gradually blend into the growing unnatural whiteness that had covered his face. This is the face of the grim reality that is upon us, black and white.
He was once my student studying media and mass communication. Malnourished, he encountered me at a grocery store in PWD Market. He now works as a domestic help and cook in a posh housing society.
Trying to encourage him, I asked him why did he not apply for job at new media channels? Knowing well that it is of no use, I asked him if I can be of any use and offered him to make some calls for him. But he had already learnt his lessons the hard way.
“No sir. I have had my fill of job applications. Now I am happy with my life,” he replied to all my questions and offers.
He is not alone. Another of media graduates is running a colourful restaurant and his specialty is cooking Parathas. Another is working at a famous bakery in the same PWD Market.
Whenever, I go to Supper Market near the National Press Club, I must go to Istanbul Restaurant. It is run by a media graduate. After failing to get a reasonable job in media market, Rauf Khan decided to set up this restaurant and he is happy about it. However, whatever he says about being happy with the restaurant business, I always find him eager to come to the press club, move around with reporters and carry a camera to attend media functions.
Next to him is Khaber Dhoday, another restaurant set up by a media graduate, Zeeshan. He is a businessman and sometimes come to deliver lectures at the media department where he had graduated from.
I do not say that our media graduates are not getting jobs altogether. They are. But it does not match the number of those our universities are turning out twice a year every year.
Departments of media are crowd pullers on the campuses. But the graduates from these departments are not making themselves relevant with the job market.
The students are not to blame fully. Unfortunately, we have lack of competent media teachers in our universities. Our media departments are hijacked by the elements who are interested in anything but media.
Precious time of students is wasted in unhealthy discussions on different sort of phobias instead of learning media mechanisms and the techniques they need to be relevant in the market. Majority of teachers have never had a chance to work in media and no authority has ever tried to explore why. The theories that popped up in the US and some European countries after the Second World War are still being fed to our media graduates regardless of the fact that the world has gone far beyond these them.
Only in Islamabad, there are over 3000 journalists. The number is thriving in other big cities. It is about time for the HEC to focus on faculty development so that our media graduates are able to serve the media market and the process of dissemination of information is carried forward in a professional way in the society. Otherwise God knows how many more restaurants are on our way forward.
