Opinion Jaswant,Jaswant
And I hear everything twice....
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I see everything twice thus Yossarian at a military hospital,in Catch-22. Why Catch-22,though? In this column? Because,sometimes,I see everything twice. Also,sometimes,I hear everything twice.
Back-to-BJP Jaswant Singh,shelves packed with books in the background,on NDTV 24×7,an exclusive interview. The same evening,Back-to-BJP Jaswant Singh,shelves packed with books in the background,on CNN-IBN,an exclusive interview. Me,in modern civilisations classic TV-viewing pose,that is,semi-prone on a comfy living room recliner,mind and brain slowly adjusting to the blatting from the box,watching the same guy,the same background twice. Okay,maybe the bookshelf seen on NDTV was not the same as the bookshelf seen on CNN-IBN. Maybe. I am not sure. But even if it was,it made no difference. I was seeing everything twice.
Scary,no? Made worse by the fact,as I said earlier,that perhaps I was hearing everything twice,too. Its a closed chapter,I heard Jaswant say to NDTV,to a question on whether the Jinnah thing is all done and dusted with. Its a closed chapter,I heard Jaswant say to CNN-IBN,to a question on whether the Jinnah thing is all done and dusted with. The hurt and humiliation,I heard Jaswant say to NDTV. The hurt and humiliation,I heard Jaswant say to CNN-IBN. The grace and generosity of Lalji Advani,I heard Jaswant tell NDTV. The grace and generosity of Lalji Advani,I heard Jaswant tell CNN-IBN.
Not just scary,but eerie. And if I felt this I can only imagine how NDTV and CNN-IBN must have felt. I mean,as competitors they must be checking up on each other,right? So,NDTV gets an exclusive with Jaswant where he says closed chapter,hurt and humiliation,grace and generosity,NDTV is so happy,and then it checks out CNN-IBN,which says it has an exclusive with Jaswant,where he says closed chapter,hurt and humiliation,grace and generosity,and how does NDTV feel? Or reverse the process,how does CNN-IBN feel? Scary? Eerie?
Guys,theres a way out. Of course,both of you,and others,can have exclusives with the same interviewee on the same day (note to readers: I have explained how this is possible in an earlier edition of this column). But let the two (or more) mutually coexisting exclusives sound less inclusive,if you know what I mean. So and taking the Jaswant interview as the demonstration case,heres what you need to do.
Let Jaswant say hurt to NDTV and humiliation to CNN-IBN; Laljis grace to NDTV and Laljis graciousness to CNN-IBN; closed chapter to NDTV and closed book to CNN-IBN. Or the other way around. Done this way,and by the strict rules of Indian broadcast journalism,the two Jaswant interviews will have to be deemed strikingly different. NDTV will be happy; it can say,exclusive,Jaswant to NDTV,I am touched by Laljis grace. CNN-IBN will be happy; it can say,exclusive,Jaswant to CNN-IBN,I am touched by Laljis graciousness.
I will be happy; at least I wont hear everything twice. And going forward into the future,to borrow a terrific tautology NDTV 24×7 deployed while interviewing Jaswant,maybe,one day,I wont see everything twice either.
saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com
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