SIGHT & SOUND
Ten Sports a la DD
AMITA MALIK

I think viewers are still reeling under the onslaught of a multiplicity of assorted events which dominated the screens last week, not to speak of All India Radio cricket coverage from Pakistan in incomprehensible Hindi by overexcited commentators. The media not only had a field day but also a field week and fell over each other to win the rat race.

Was it politics you wanted? You got a typical dose of it with the fall of a ministry in Karnataka. What could be more speculative for the media than a guessing game about the Cabinet reshuffle? Then came Prannoy Roy’s brave attempt for an Indo-Pak dialogue consisting of a panel of artistes—Rani Mukherjee and Abida Pervez—talking of love; two media people on either side trying hard to be objective; Farooq Abdullah talking of peace; and the Pakistan Information Minister talking of “freedom fighters and not terrorists” and than walking out in an undiplomatic huff. Well, it is hard to be a peace-maker.

Meanwhile, Rajdeep Sardesai’s channel (as everyone calls it) did give us some interesting glimpses into the state of the nation by surveying everyone, from Muslims to cricket lovers and coming up with some fascinating findings. No matter that everyone got chilled to death arguing in the open air at Humayun’s Tomb. Barkha Dutt, on the other hand, chose a basilica in Chennai for its citizens to refute the claim that it was the most conservative city. Most such talking shops end in a draw, but it was interesting to hear the people of Chennai, including the much-persecuted Khushboo, defend their city fiercely and convincingly.

If you ask me what I enjoyed most on a higher level, it was the thorough and varied coverage of the economic summit at Davos by NDTV. Its Indian interviewees, led by the elegant and knowledgeable Finance Minister, spoke with sophistication and assurance. Vikram Chandra was in his element and even did a session of The Big Fight on the main theme of Davos, which was mostly India versus China.

He got two Chinese experts—one from the Bank of China and the other a Chinese professor in the US—and two Indian experts in a spirited but remarkably unbiased and documented discussion on the subject. There was nothing in the same class on Indian TV, not even on Rajdeep Sardesai’s me-too channel. And even if the CM of Kerala slipped on the snow and broke his hip, everyone there seemed to enjoy the snow as much as the trendy Indian parties.

Then there was Republic Day, all pomp and ceremony; the King of Saudi Arabia and his vast entourage adding to the colour of the parade. I also liked the President’s interaction with children on Sardesai’s channel. But to tell you the truth, I took childish delight in the amazing feats of the motorcycle riders. .Especially incredible were the human pyramid on one motorcycle, and the rider who sat with his back to the driver’s seat and kept on reading a newspaper.

Did you want sport? Well, there was the Australian Open tennis from Melbourne, with quite an Indian contingent in addition to Roger Federer and the precocious brat from Cyprus Marcos, Baghdatis. But clashing tantalisingly with the cricket test from Karachi, I got two channels lined side by side and kept on darting from one to the other and nearly dislocated my neck in the process. But while on cricket, DD’s bad habits have percolated even to Ten Sports. On the second day of the Karachi Test, when Sachin Tendulkar was injured and lay writhing on the ground as doctors rushed to him, instead of anxious viewers being allowed to watch him from all over the world, Ten Sports switched over to a long session of advertisements. How money-mad and insensitive can you get? Shame on you, Ten Sports.