TELEVISTA
Quiet MPs a lovely sight
Amita Malik

AFTER politics, sports and cinema, the media biggies are quiz programmes and music contests. The attractions of both are derived from the eminence of the chief anchor or judges and then, of course, audience participation. Panchvi Quiz, like most others, is derived from a foreign one and is slowly adapting to Indian conditions. I say slowly because I still find it a little scattered, what with the whizkids running all over the place and the adults necessarily acting stupid.

I still rate highest in the way of quiz programmes Kaun Banega Crorepati (also derived from a foreign quiz, How To Be A Millionaire), which was in its heyday when Big B was at the helm. His towering dignity, which could also bend to pick up a nervous woman’s handkerchief, gave KBC an aura which has not been surpassed. Of course, Shah Rukh Khan has his own unique informal and amiable personality, but Big B still remains the biggest.

The music competitions are following a little behind and the present couple of family participants have somewhat domesticated the contests, but they remain great fun and unfailing audience pullers.

On the news front, I cannot think of anything as eye-catching as the normally rowdy MPs, shouting their loudest and dashing to the well of the House, resorting to Gandhigiri. There they were, sitting quietly on their seats, with their fingers on their lips and refusing to say a word.

A wonderful sight and I wish they would resort to it more often. Because the only relief one gets is when the Lok Sabha channel puts on a feature film, which is usually of the award-winning and not the box office bonanza class.

The action has been on the sports front with the IPL providing two matches a day with all the analyses, interviews and cheer leaders thrown in. Personally, I find the cheerleaders a pain in the neck (I am not sure that neck is the part of their anatomy which matters), and having thanked one’s stars that Mandira Bedi is not around this time to give us her comments on cricket, one did notice that when she made a guest appearance in the commentators’ box, she was described as "a cricket commentator and TV personality". The funny part is that both the skimpily dressed cheer leaders and Mandira Bedi are supposed to be there to attract women into watching cricket. Tell me another.

My loyalties are still divided with foreign players mixed up with Indians in our cricket teams and quite often two South Africans on opposite sides of the team. Not to speak of Zaheer Khan bowling to Irfan Pathan. What will they do next? It is the season of disasters and one had barely got over the sight of terrible forest fires in the western world when the Myanmar cyclone burst upon us. Even the unfriendly, arrogant military rulers had to ask the world for help.

Casualties ran into five figures and the sight of towns with building collapses and the news that entire villages remained cut off made our neighbourly concern rise. Two Indian naval ships were rushing help to that unfortunate country where it is being slowly learnt that cutting oneself off from the rest of the world and spurning friendship does not pay in the long run.

Burma, as we knew it, was once a part of India, and my uncle, who was an Army doctor, was often posted to Burma. Let us hope that although this is a sad way of getting Myanmar’s rulers to realise that they are a part of the world community and that they have to live with it, at least a beginning has been made.