Opinion Tele scope: Once again
Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal rolled back the years with a return to protests, and TVs.
One person who seems unmoved by the passage of time is the vice president of the Congress party.
It’s yesterday once more. Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, together again on a stage in New Delhi, recalled that lyric from the Carpenters’ song. It took us back to 2012, when they also indulged in their favourite pastime — protests. Then, Kejriwal the pupil had a lean and hungry look about him next to his phlegmatic mentor in front of tumultuous crowds. Then, TV news could not get enough of them, beaming their vigil live through the day. There was no other news.
On Tuesday, the new chief minister of Delhi arrived at Jantar Mantar after 3 pm. Before a sparse crowd, he was hauled onto the podium like a conquering hero, surrounded by people who obscured the man from Ralegan Siddhi. Kejriwal sat beside a subdued Hazare, a smug smile on his lips. When he spoke, the TV cameras beamed him into our homes; once he was done, we returned to the TV studios and the rest of the news. Two and a half years is a lifetime in politics.
One person who seems unmoved by the passage of time is the vice president of the Congress party. Two years ago, we seldom caught a glimpse of Rahul Gandhi in Parliament or on TV; now he’s taken leave — not of his senses we hope — and won’t be seen in the House for several weeks. “Where is Rahul?” asked Times Now, “Sulking or quitting?”Parliament functioned quite well without him, thanks very much. On Tuesday, there was a lively debate in the Rajya Sabha on the government’s plan to withdraw three bills. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clashed with the CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and a livid Anand Sharma (Congress), who objected to Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal’s aspersions about the Opposition (RSTV). Great TV — far superior to the meaningless clashes during studio debates.
“It’s fantastic!”, “It’s zabardast!”, “It’s fabulous!” It’s a Birdman who waltzed off with the top honours at the Academy Awards, Monday (Star Movies), in one of the most lacklustre Oscars ever, Neil Patrick Harris in underpants notwithstanding.
What was “fantastic” for V.V.S. Laxman (NDTV 24×7), “zabardast” for ABP News and “fabulous” for Ravi Shastri (Star Sports) is “India beat South Africa by 130 runs”. “I never thought we could win by 130 runs,” cooed cricket czarina Mandira Bedi to cricketer Virender Sehwag, who wore an expressionless face. She, by the by, was wearing a chunky necklace, a signature sleeveless blouse and a saree with a blue, gold and orange border — along with her winsome smile, it was calculated to distract anyone from that game called cricket.
So was the pink shirt and pink bowtie of Danish(?) when he mingled with Indian supporters at the Melbourne cricket ground (Star Sports). “A hundred per cent chances India gonna win,” said one Indian to him. “India, India, India,” echoed others. Navjot Singh Sidhu (Zee News) expected an Indian victory too: “Dil bhi kehta hai, dimaag bhi kehta hai (India will win)”, and he was obviously listening to both intently. “Jeet pakki,” proclaimed Aaj Tak after India had scored 307 runs. And so to Sourav Ganguly who, according to Boria Majumdar, had said that if India crossed 250, South Africa would lose (Headlines Today).
While many former cricketers, including Nikhil Chopra (Headlines Today) and Ian Chappell (NDTV 24×7), thought Ajinkya Rahane deserved the man of the match award, reporter Vikrant Gupta had another little master in mind: “Before the Melbourne match, the (Indian) players in the dressing room said, ‘Sachin paaji said this, Sachin paaji said that on Headlines Today’.” Clearly Gupta believed that whatever Sachin Tendulkar had said left a winning impression on them. Tendulkar, when told of this, looked disbelieving before he burst into laughter. In cricket parlance that is what we call “a fitting reply”.
Nothing could be funnier, however, than Sabyasachi Tripathi on Doosra (NDTV 24×7) imitating Ian Chappell and Ravi Shastri — not how they played but how they spoke on TV. Harsha Bhogle too. Chappell was offended by the mimicry and said he didn’t sound like “that” at all, but then, we never hear ourselves speak, do we?
Fun and games in the Star Sports TV promos for different encounters. The latest one after South Africa lost to India sees the despondent South African fan peel off his country’s T-shirt in disgust. Doorbell rings. Outside, a man wearing UAE colours offers him a UAE T-shirt — India plays the UAE on Saturday. Such sweet timing.
shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com
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