Opinion Storm tossed

On Saturday evening in Behrampur,Headlines Today’s Jugal Purohit found the torrential rainfall and high wind-speed ominous: “Things will get worse,” he feared — and they did. CNN-IBN’s Karma Paljor got a rain-lashing across his face as it poured down — he was keeping his fingers crossed. Aaj Tak/ Headlines Today had editor-at-large Rahul Kanwal in the eye of the storm in Gopalpur. Children were wailing and the sound of window panes breaking reminded him of “Diwali crackers”,a somewhat infelicitous comparison for a cyclone that was destroying thousands of homes and flooding the land. Blame Cyclone Phailin for it.

NDTV’s female reporter in Behrampur found it difficult to move but she wasn’t going to allow a little thing like “India’s Katrina”,with wind gusts up to 200 kmph,separate her from her microphone. She and others like her from ABP,Times Now,CNN-IBN,Aaj Tak in Bhadrak,Balasore,Puri and Srikakulam brought us “minute by minute updates” on the gathering storm and the developing story.

CNN was duly impressed by India’s coping mechanisms: “India riding out potentially catastrophic storm,” said its reporter Lonzo Cook in Bhubaneswar. Some news channels,however,remained unimpressed. So much so that News 24 preferred to report on Asaram Bapu’s shenanigans (why must they show videos of him prancing about in an insane dance,all the time?). And India News featured a “genius” quiz for young children at 11.45 pm on Saturday,an odd choice for a news channel when there was genuine breaking news. Then,just after midnight,it ran an advertorial,while News 24 went teleshopping.

Sunday morning saw the lull after the storm and you heard the relief in the correspondents’ voices,despite the devastation they witnessed. We were equally relieved: such had been the intensity of coverage on news TV throughout Saturday,with visuals of ferocious waves,bludgeoned trees and ghost villages,that we had been led to believe it would be much,much worse.

On to entertainment TV. It’s interesting to see how many mythological/ historical dramas are currently on air with more than glancing references to issues of governance and statehood: Mahabharat (Star Plus),Buddha (DD National and Zee),Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap (Sony),Devon ke Dev Mahadev (Life OK),Jodha Akbar (Zee). The last time Mahabharat was on air (1988-90),it coincided with the rise of the BJP,so there’s something to think about.

New serial Deshi ki Beti Nandini (Sony) concerns politics: the Raghuvanshis are an established political family in Mumbai. Enter son Rajbir,who is being thrust into the limelight by his widowed mother. But he is a reluctant recruit — sound familiar? Nandini is a middle-class girl with an active social conscience. The twain has already met,and the story is heading towards the girl’s initiation into politics. Nandini and 24 (Colors) are the first signs of politics and entertainment melding with each other on Indian TV,that too in an election year. Hmmmn.

Speaking of politics,acclaimed American political drama The West Wing (FX) began recently,and by a curious twist of fate,the American president had been contemplating the bombing of Syria.

An effort to be more topical and contemporary is also being seen in Kehta Hai Dil Jee Le Zara (Sony). Here,the lead character,Saachi,is the breadwinner for her family of grandmothers and siblings. More importantly,she is single and in her mid-30s. Enter Dhruv,single and in his late 20s. Love is blossoming between them,and last seen,they were about to exchange their first embrace. Monday’s episode saw the two of them on a bus and Saachi being harassed by two men — shades of December 16? Dhruv beats the pulp out of them only to fall prey to the police — one of the reasons why people are reluctant to step forward in these kinds of cases. By dealing with such incidents,TV shows like Kehta Hai Dil Jee Le Zara will hopefully raise awareness and become more meaningful.

shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com