Know who heads our ‘must see’ wish list? None other than Dr Manmohan Singh. Yes, developed a deep yearning to see him, hear him—just to be reassured that we do, indeed, have a Prime Minister. He’s been in office for a month and if you count on your fingertips the number of times you’ve heard him give a TV sound byte since, bet you’d still have a few tips awaiting their turn. We’re accustomed to seeing President Bush, Prime Minister Blair on CNN or BBC three times a day. During the tenure of the NDA government, we heard from Vajpayee or else Advani at least once a day. Okay, once in two days. As for the likes of Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitely, Pramod Mahajan—why, they were on as often as you switched on the TV set. The contrast couldn’t have been more stark or ironical than last week. While we heard and saw former prime minister Vajpayee on vacation almost every day, the Prime Minister, at work, was missing in action. Reports that the PM would address the nation on TV were unconfirmed until Friday. In fact, the entire battle over Gujarat within the Sangh Parivar is being fought on TV with each side eager to go public with its position. Almost as if it has been staged for the public’s benefit. We don’t know whether so much media is wise but the fact is, the BJP—and Laloo Yadav—has always had greater respect for the power of the media than the Congress. Except for a brief period in the mid-’80s when Rajiv Gandhi was a telegenic PM, Congress leaders have been far more reluctant to approach the microphone—as though it might jump up and bite them. Maybe all those years in government have made them and the media natural adversaries. We do see ministers such as P. Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Mani Shankar Aiyar, or Arjun Singh, and plenty of the Left, but curiously little of Dr Singh. A Prime Minister ought to be seen and heard by the people, occasionally, otherwise they might forget they have one. Perhaps he believes silence or brevity is the better part of discretion. So would you if you had Natwar Singh create a controversy each time he opens his mouth. Also, when you have Mrs Sonia Gandhi one step ahead of you, you might want to hang back. Still, the media is rather like the sun: too little or too much exposure is equally bad for you. Footballer Bhaichung Bhutia is using his media moment to make a fashion statement (ESPN). Twice an evening he changes his clothes and his hairstyle—before each Euro 2004 match. He’s so well-coordinated it’s making his hair stand up; but it doesn’t appear to have helped his expert comments. Indeed, the ESPN preview and review shows during the matches have been like most of the matches: uninspiring. Bhutia ought to let his boots do his talking for him because his tongue is tripping over his words, causing them to tumble out in a muddle. You cannot always understand what he says and when you do, he is often simply confirming what he has been asked. So, the French defence had an off day, would you say? Yes, I would say the French defence was not on the ball. With his expert colleagues speaking Irish, Welsh, Scottish or cockney, it’s a lot of poppycock. The protests against Karan Razdan’s Girlfriend gave TV news channels an excuse to indulge in a sex romp. Every single sexual encounter of the controversial kind ever filmed was strung together and telecast in stories about Girlfriend. And, the most explicit scenes of the film—when one actress licks the other’s thigh like it was an ice lolly—were broadcast repeatedly so that all of us who didn’t want to see it or want our children to see what good Indian girls do when they turn bad—had to keep one eye permanently shut. TV news channels are not alone. AXN, Star World and Discovery, yes Discovery, were flaunting bikini babes on their channels, Thursday night, like the screen was a Californian beach.
