TELEVISTA
The media did Sam proud
Amita Malik

THERE has been some well-deserved criticism of the top defence brass for showing disrespect to the late Field Marshal Manekshaw by not sending senior enough representatives to his funeral. The ordinary people who lined the streets of Conoor when his cortege went by put them to shame. To its credit, the media did Sam Bahadur proud. From digging up footage of the Bangladesh campaign to intimate portraits of his professional and family life, the visual media went all out to do justice to this great icon of our armed forces.

They brought out in detail what he meant to the men he commanded, not to forget him as a loving father and grandfather. Fortunately, Sam Bahadur was an articulate and witty speaker and what one enjoyed most were the vintage interviews which were screened in his memory. First there was Karan Thapar, respectful and almost subdued for a change. Every channel had something interesting to offer. But the interview I enjoyed most was a long conversation he had with a young man called Henan, I think his grandson, although he called him Sam with great affection, who trekked all over the compound of, I think Sam’s house, in Conoor.

It was an interview, the longest with him, which Doordarshan had recorded earlier and in some ways it was the best. Its length allowed the interviewer to go into every facet of his life, from his birth in a Parsi family of several children, which had settled in Amritsar, to his schooling, his training as a soldier, to his great achievements in the field and his patriotism and integrity, blended with an unfailing sense of humour, which endeared him to family, friends and professional colleagues.

There was that unique moment when he addressed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as ‘Sweetie’, apparently without causing any offence. I remembered the delight of a young colleague of mine who went to interview Sam in South Block. As she entered nervously, he smiled and said: "What can I do for you, Sweetie?" That relaxed her and she got a wonderful, quotable interview.

One of the programmes I have always enjoyed for some time now is Jai Jawan on NDTV. A celebrity is taken to some remote area to talk to the troops, which proves to be entertaining as well as educative to both. Last week, I watched one of the best, which is saying a good deal because everyone, beginning with Rani Mukherji, who cooked Bengali food for the troops, did something different.

Last week it was the turn of Aamir Khan. Accompanied by the ever-jabbering Barkha Dutt, Aamir went to Kargil and he was at his amiable best and put the troops completely at ease. He complimented the Army cook from Tamil Nadu for his excellent north Indian food, and when one jawan put a choice morsel in his mouth, he returned the compliment by picking something tasty from his own plate and popping it into the soldier’s mouth.

But the most enjoyable moment came when one of the soldiers asked him if he could really wield a bat as he seemed to in Lagaan. Promptly, someone produced a cricket bat, and a bit of batting, bowling and very difficult fielding took place on the rocky slopes of Kargil.

Aamir did hit a ball or two, but the jawans showed some real skill at cricket, and one wondered if the Pakistanis on the other side enjoyed it too. Every episode of Jai Jawan has been a hit. Perhaps the moments one has enjoyed most is when a jawan is given a surprise and is told that he can speak to his family live, on the spot. From the east, west and south and, of course, north, one sees the joy in the modest, usually rural, homes of the jawans, as mothers, wives and children speak to them. Tears are brushed away by the brave jawans as the surprise comes to an end. Jai Jawan.