P3P: a ticking bomb

The purveyors of Page 3 argue that they are only catering to popular demand. The argument is as specious as it is preposterous. Who then are the thousands who dashed off impassioned letters protesting the murder of Satyendra Dubey? Are they not people because they are not P3P (Page Three People)? Whatever perennial party-goers say, the majority of readers still want quality news. They still value stories of substance. Sometime ago a colleague wrote a 250-word piece on a concert of Allama Iqbal’s poetry by Seema Sehgal in Mumbai. The singer got 18 inquiries from connoisseurs. Clearly, newspaper readers still want good stuff. But they can do this only if it is given to them. No one denies the revolution in global media and the importance of the “soft” story. What one objects to are the attempts to dumb down. If it is porn one wants, one can easily pick up a copy of Playboy or log on to a porn site. Why should my daily newspaper tell me the bra brand Bo Derek favours?

Mallika Sherawat (of the 17 kisses in Khwahish fame), in a recent TV show, confronted her critics by arguing that “if Hindi films need to be banned on grounds of nudity, Naga sadhus at the Kumbh mela should be banned first.” Come on, Mallika, don’t confuse obscenity with spirituality. The “nudity” of these sadhus is part of their search for nirvana. “Backless babes”, in contrast, are designed only to stoke the fires of voyeurism.

It’s high time the P3P are told where they get off. Give them a free rein and there will be no way a story like the one on the Dubey murder will get a look in. And our 19-year-olds will continue believing that P3P are the real stars of our times.