Ghost in the box

There was a ghost haunting the station, and in its intrepid reportage India TV held out a hope for all of us: if we haven8217;t made it to TV when alive, there8217;s still a chance

At the end of a week that saw television news feasting on stories of crime, punishment, redemption, recall, reservations and riots, when Sanjay, Shibu, Sourav, Sachar and that now famous statue of Dr Ambedkar made news editors8217; the easiest job in the world, I salute India TV for demonstrating journalism can always spring a surprise 8212; or a scare.

India TV filmed Danapur railway station in blue-gray light, the voiceover was hushed and the camera caught shadows moving hither and thither. There was a ghost haunting the station, you see, and in its intrepid reportage India TV held out a hope for all of us: if we haven8217;t made it to TV when alive, there8217;s still a chance. Sadly an interview with the 8220;spirit that is looking for her baby8221; this English translation does no justice to the eerily evocative power of India TV8217;s vernacular wasn8217;t possible. So the question whether an afterlife TV appearance can be seen and heard by our loved ones remains moot. As does this fascinating question about the grammar of TV news: if a ghost agrees to appear only on your channel, would you call it 8220;live and exclusive8221;?

Ghostly of course applies to Sourav Ganguly only vis a vis his chances of turning cricketing fortunes around. Why, then, did the NDTV India reporter appear so emotionally overwrought during the Ganguly 8220;exclusive8221;? He made Ganguly look like the last word in cool contemplation, calm, sage-like and wise. Of all the TV chatter on the ex-captain 8212; this includes the brilliant observation on India TV clearly, my favourite channel this week that it is Ganguly8217;s performance that will determine whether his recall was justified 8212; Navjot Singh Sidhu8217;s was expectedly the only quote that made for easy recall. The tree that8217;s loaded with fruit is the one that gets pelted with stones, he said on CNN-IBN8217;s evening chat show, which also saw a Marxist politician, Mohammad Salim, talking approvingly about job contracts and performance appraisals. I hope TV editors remember this when Salim is invited for a discussion on, say, labour reform and they point out to him that Greg Chappell can8217;t be the only employee in India for whom Marxists support the application of market principles.

Aaj Tak, this week, was the only channel that really gave a chase to that long running story in Indian politics: dodgy politicians. I liked the chase. You could snigger at Aaj Tak8217;s decision to follow the cavalcade that whisked Bharti Yadav away after her date at a Delhi court. The confusing visuals and the so-predictable dramatic narration would have suggested to you that to snigger was right. Wrong. I would happily trade all the TV talk this week on corrupt/criminal politicians for the shot of the Aaj Tak reporter asking a Bharti Yadav escort who employed him, and the gentleman replying why doesn8217;t the reporter meet him later so that he could really answer the question.

That was scary. Some people are scarier 8212; I say this with a heavy heart because I enjoyed the India TV story so much 8212; than ghosts.