Views that matter

How often do hear yourself crib about the ills in our system, but what exactly do we do to voice our worries? Don’t our concerns often end up only as cribs and discussions? But 24-year-old Shiv Bhaskar Dravid thought of voicing his disquiet over a podium, which he created for himself and others like him.
What served as an impetus for this Shriram College of Commerce alumnus four years ago was a strike by buses that left this Gurgaon resident so agitated that he got on to the Internet to launch his website www.theviewspaper.net [1], that brings about views and concerns articulated by young voices.
“I would change three buses to reach my college at 6:30 am for cricket practice, but that strike brought my passion for the game to a halt. There were hundreds of commuters who like me were badly hit. I was baffled that I had no way to make myself heard. I realised that a platform is missing,” says Shiv. That was four years back. Today, The Viewspaper has an admirable readership, and for Shiv it’s as a full-time venture. “Our office works seven days a week and I generally work for 12 to 14 hours a day. I have started travelling quite a bit on work,” says Shiv, who’s already planning to go global with his endeavour.
Based on the citizen journalism concept, The Viewspaper has been adjudged the winner in “Pursue Truth” category at the World Summit Youth Award Contest 2011 recently, from amid 700 submissions from 99 countries.
“The Indian youth are concerned and involved with governance and social issues, and we have seen the proof of that in the massive involvement in the recent anti-corruption campaign. They are very well informed and are constantly trying to acquire more knowledge,” he says. His venture was shortlisted for the Tata Nen Hottest Start-up Awards 2011. Shiv was a finalist in the Staples YSE competition in 2010.
But isn’t The Viewspaper targetting only the English-speaking, Internet-using brigade? “Yes, when we started off we were targeting that particular group, but now, we have piloted a Hindi citizen journalism paper and have plans to launch regional language papers soon. One of our objectives is to get voices of youth from rural areas and small towns to be heard. This is to bridge the urban-rural divide and bring stories from rural areas to the the urban audience,” says Shiv.