TELEVISTA
Trivial items steal the show
Amita Malik

ONE cannot recall so many domestic crimes taking place in one week in recent times. By a remarkable coincidence, in two of the main crimes of the week, the same pattern was followed. In Noida, a teenager is murdered for no rhyme or reason. A domestic servant is the prime suspect but is found murdered. In Chandigarh, a housewife is found murdered. Again the domestic servant is the prime suspect. According to initial reports, the servant was found murdered. In both cases, the police look pretty foolish. In one case it is a retired police officer, calling to offer condolences, who thinks of going up to the terrace of the flat and getting the locked door opened. The body of one of the suspects is found, the police having overlooked this obvious place, although it seems there were bloodstains all over the place, including the staircase leading up to the terrace.

In Chandigarh the husband is alleged to have arranged a contract killer to murder his wife. Very strange things, indeed, are happening in the way of domestic violence. Is it that such incidents were taking place all the time and the world did not get to know? Or is it that the media is taking more interest in the subject? One channel offered three alternative theories about a murder while the police seemed totally flummoxed. The police did not seem to have bought any of them, let alone finding theories of its own.

Mercifully, human interest stories are also happening. Take the case of a Chinese man who was extracted from the rubble nine days after he got trapped under it. Quite surprisingly, he came out smiling, although battered and bruised by the earthquake. But with all these awesome international happenings, the small screen at home still seemed obsessed with trivia — whether Shah Rukh Khan should be allowed in the dug-out or not. All this confusion has started ever since people not in any way connected with sport find they get wonderful publicity on the media if they get involved in it. It seems ridiculous that Shahrukh Khan should buy a team and then stand tall in Eden Gardens asking the crowds to cheer, thus getting more publicity than Kolkata's own captain, their beloved Dada.

Then Sharad Pawar heading a sports body while farmers are committing suicide in his constituency. Most of these netas probably did not play even gili-danda in their school days. But they love putting on suits and ties so as to be caught full length on the news cameras. Some politicians get double publicity on the screen, for both politics and sport. Which is why they dabble in sport.

Something one notices while watching the many exciting sports events, particularly tennis and cricket, is how poor our commentators are. The foreign commentators speak in soft tones, almost whispers. They analyse and hardly report what the viewer can see anyway. Our commentators, who have obviously come from radio, talk loudly, talk continuously and irritate us by not allowing us to concentrate on the game. I would take as a prime example one Mr Bhattacharya (sorry, I missed his first name), who was commenting on the Davis Cup tennis. Obviously he loves the game but spoilt our love by talking loudly, continuously and stating what was visible.

Our commentators, still functioning as if they are on radio, from where they came, need to adapt themselves to TV by observing some simple rules. Listen to your tape afterwards and adjust your mike to your volume next time. Talk with silences in between and mostly to analyse and not report. Also, please learn to pronounce some common words and get their stresses right. Most of them pronounce event as ‘ee-vent’, when the stress should be more on ‘vent’.

I would like to suggest again that Doordarshan and other Indian channels get Vijay Amrithraj to give some professional lessons to our commentators. He remains the only Indian commentator much in demand on the international circuit. The other Indians, alas, remain at the bottom, even by national standards.