Swaraj uses DD nite for another culture lecture

‘‘Karz ke gaddhe ko bhara ja sakta hai, lekin desh ki sanskriti mein gaddha ho gaya to kabhi nahin bhara ja sakta (Monetary loss can be made good but any loss to the country’s culture can never be filled),’’ she said.

As if to mock her words, young dancers, in flowing skirts, shorts and other skimpy outfits, set the stage afire. They were dancing to the tune of popular numbers being sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy, Udit Narayan, Leslie Lewis and Hariharan.

Jaipur Doordarshan Kendra walked away with maximum awards, including the one for best programme on agriculture — producer K.K. Bohra’s Ujjas Batan Gaon Gaon Ri. Jaipur DD also won awards for the best programmes on wildlife and environment, best serial (Bhor), best science and technology programme and best editing.

Mumbai Doordarshan won awards for its spot on anti-smoking, programme on women (Kavadse) and dance (Sadntujhi Saath) of Peruiz Cooper. Delhi got two awards — live event (President Musharraf’s visit to the Taj Mahal) and news report (Ek Bachpan Aisi Bhi). Jalandhar was declared the best DD Kendra while Rajkot walked away with the best Tele-film (Dharmayoddha) award.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal gave away some of the prizes. Other awards were given away by Smita Thackeray, Nitish Bhardwaj and Anupam Kher. Mukesh Khanna deplored DD’s near absence in the list of awardees on several TV awards he has attended lately. Kabir Bedi, who started his career with Doordarshan, thanked some DD officials, both alive and dead.