SWITCH ON THE MUMBO-JUMBO

Reporters chasing ghosts, the grandstanding of tantriks and snakes turning into humans8212;television channels are on a diet of the bizarre. The bigger question8212;why are we surfing superstition?

Reporters chasing ghosts, the grandstanding of tantriks and snakes turning into humans8212;television channels are on a diet of the bizarre. The bigger question8212;why are we surfing superstition?

On march 3, Sanal Edamaruku of Rationalist International found himself facing a curious challenge. During a discussion on 8220;Tantrik power versus science8221; on news channel India TV, a tantrik, Pandit Surinder Sharma, declared his intention to kill him.
8220;The tantrik claimed that he could kill anybody he wanted within three minutes by using black magic. A combination of wheat flour, butter oil, paper, mustard seeds and mantras was all he needed, he said,8221; recalls Edamaruku. 8220;To expose him I said 8216;Kill me8217;. He took up the challenge.8221; An hour and many mantras later, on a live telecast, Edamaruku was alive and smiling and the tantrik was desperate. 8220;Though he said he would kill me without having to touch me, he kept touching me. He even waved a knife at me. When nothing worked, he claimed the technique worked only at night. So the channel held a special show at midnight, where the tantrik brought ashes from a cremation ground. After an hour or so, he had failed to kill me. But he said I would die that night. The next day, when he was questioned, he said I should be dead in three days. Since I wasn8217;t dead by then, he said I would die in the next 21 days! That was months ago,8221; says Edamaruku.

The tantrik may not have achieved his objective but India TV had managed to milk the contest between superstition and reason for TRPs Television Rating Points. On most days, the channel does just that. News programmes that feature an Aghori puja where certain sadhus claim to use ashes from the cremation grounds held in Ujjain or ghosts haunting a village is standard fare for the channel.
It8217;s not the only one chasing viewership with ghosts, shadows and superstitions. Hindi news channels excel in the game, often telecasting more mumbo-jumbo than actual news.
Snakes are a big hit with the channels. A few months ago, Star News even produced a woman on their show who claimed to be a serpent in her last life. She and the TV cameras then went in search for her snake-lover from a past life. She then claimed a young man from her village was the lover. The 8220;re-united couple8221; was brought to the studio for a discussion. The occult is another big favourite. Aaj Tak had a show on its prime-time evening news slot in January about ghosts opening and closing a glass almirah and making an appearance for the camera. It also had a regression 8216;expert8217; on a news show who claimed to take people back to their last birth.
There is no denying that the Hindi news channels playing on the superstition and astrology cards are making a lot of money. The Television Audience Measurement TAM figures for month of June8211;July 2008 for Hindi channels shows that India TV and Aaj Tak rule the charts with a 19 per cent channel share, followed by Star News at 15 per cent and IBN 7 and Zee News at 7 per cent each. That means the channels that dabble in predictions, superstitions and bhoot pret get the highest viewership. And ads follow where the viewers are.

Astrology has also been a steady milch cow for the channels. In the mornings, you are spoilt for choice when it comes to predicting the way your day will end.
On India TV8217;s Gurumantra, a sadhu makes predictions for the day. Nothing new you say? Listen intently: he will suggest you feed a cat milk, or maybe keep a peepul leaf with sandalwood paste in your pocket to have a great day ahead. The language, the gesticulations can give magicians a run for their money 8212; the effect is hypnotising.nbsp; And if that doesn8217;t work for you, switch to Star News in the same time slot and you have three women from what looks like a K-soap dishing out predictions on a show called Teen Deviyaan. One is a tarot reader, the other takes her calls from numerology and the third reaches out for the stars. At the end of the show, you will have three different predictions for each zodiac sign!
For the astrologers, it is good publicity. Dr. H. S Rawat, who anchors the Jyothish Shikshya show on the channel Aastha, says, 8220;Television toh ek vigyapaan jaisa hai. Paper pe chapne se zyaada jab log aapko TV pe dekhte hain, toh response alag hota hai. I had made a prediction long back that even news channels will have to run astrology shows. Earlier they used to make fun of astrology. Now, they cannot make it work without astrology.8221;

Why is this kind of news content a big hit with the people? Santosh Desai, Managing Director, Future Brands tries to explain the phenomenon. 8220;News channels have decided to show what they think what people want. They hold a magnifying mirror of sorts to the people and not a window to the outside world. It is like a mirror that just magnifies the people8217;s innermost desires. It shows Rakhi Sawant, it shows cricket, it shows news and then there is also astrology. It is like a wishing well, whatever you wish for is there for you to view. From ghost shows to shows on re-birth it is all there for you to choose from. And if it is on a news channel, it8217;s legitimate viewing.8221;
In his defence, Rajat Sharma, chairman and editor-in-chief, India TV, says, 8220;The remarks everywhere on 8216;superstition8217; are elitist, unfair and inaccurate. Advice on astrology is prominently carried in all newspapers, magazines, 24-hour national news channels. What8217;s wrong with that? Please also note that all astrology shows on news channels in India have passed muster with extant guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, applicable on all licensed channels beaming out of our country.8221;
Susan Vishwanathan, professor of sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, fears the channels are playing on people8217;s fears. 8220;Times of uncertainty create their own demons. People feel comforted when they watch things happening to other people8212;it pushes them in to a comfort zone knowing that this is not happening to them. It also gives space for gossip and rumours. This is harmful as it takes away from rationality. It creates a sense of entertainment that picks on fears of people.8221; The channels, one might add, are also tapping into a culture of belief in the unknown that holds sway over many Indians, even the ones who think they are rational. From wearing gemstones for good health to offering pujas on fixed days of the week, these are habits that reassure India8217;s millions. Not that this lets channels off the hook.
As Edamaruku says, 8220;They are pushing the belief in superstition. A person sitting in the villages who cannot read the tickers or the reconstruction tag, may just end up believing what his eyes show him.8221;

For the channels, it is just ratings that matter. Zee News pulled out of the hokum-pokum race earlier this year. If you search the Internet, you will find videos of old Zee shows like Kaal Kapal Mahakaal with clips of a woman drinking wine and then making predictions for her followers who are also drenched in alcohol. Satish K Singh, channel editor, Zee News, says, 8220;We have moved away from all that. We changed our stance. We got out of the rat race. We just give news priority.8221; The result: their ratings have taken a hit.
Nalin Mehta, author of the recent book, India on Television: How Satellite News Channels Have Changed the Way We Think and Act, points out, 8220;It is just ratings. Most people who work for these news channels themselves are in despair and want to quit. But the managers say that it is good for the ratings. Aaj Tak followed India TV8217;s path and even Star News treads the same line. They have realised that beyond normal news when you have this stuff it gives viewers enough to remain glued to the screen.8221;
So for how long will the channels go on with this? The answer is that there is no clear end in sight. Mehta says, 8220;We don8217;t have a strong regulatory authority in this country. TRAI is only technical in its approach. There is no law that governs the structure of TV. The television industry has grown drastically in the last five years and there is no code to follow. The ministry handles only a few affairs. It is all about self-regulation in this medium. There will be no change in the short term. It is all just a business for most.8221;
Sharma explains further, he says, 8220;To a TV channel, the formula for its ratings is like the formula for a newspaper regarding its circulation, or the formula for a corporate regarding its shareholder value.8221;

Even before the news channels can mutate any further, the entertainment channels have already done their bit, by moving heavily into mythology, where extraordinary feats and supernatural events are the star attractions. The epics reinforce our belief in other worldly forces in control of our lives. There8217;s been resurgence in myth and epics: NDTV Imagine launched itself, early this year with Ramayana as its flagship. Last week, it added Mahima Shaani Maharaj Ki to its evening schedule. The new channel, Colours, has Jai Shri Krishna as its trump card, and Ekta Kapoor8217;s Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki premiered this month on 9X. 8220;Traditional beliefs are being brightened and reinstated. Though mythology is good as an art form and should be appreciated as great literature, the combination of mythology and superstition is creating a disease,8221; says Edamaruku.
He should know. It tried to kill him.