TELEVISTA
Where TV scored over press
AMITA MALIK

Every headline called it an emotional homecoming and so do we. And rightly so. Because for weeks media watchers and the rest of India have watched Seema Goyal, the wife of the captain of the Stolt Valor, coming down from her quiet retreat in Dehradun and moving heaven and earth in the Capital to get help for the rescue of her husband and his crew from the pirates who had kidnapped them. Writers have tended to romanticise pirates such as the mythical Long John Silver. But these pirates had nothing romantic about them. The only reason they did not kill Capt Prabhat Goyal and his crew was because no one would have paid ransom for dead men. But that did not prevent them from inflicting physical and mental torture on them. Capt Goyal described on TV how he was hung over the side of the ship while shots were fired all around him. At one stage his blood pressure had risen to alarming heights. But he kept cool and tried every stratagem to get himself and his crew released.

After thanking the media for its support, he was mildly thankful to the government. It was apparent to everyone that the government had dragged its feet all along. As Capt Goyal said, he and his crew were proud Indians for coming through this unimaginable ordeal. The crew, after release, came back to India via Muscat in instalments. True to tradition, the captain came with the last lot. All of us who watched the happenings on the screen were as concerned as the families of the victims, and our relief was just as great.

Viewers were touched to see the poignant scenes of reunion of Indian sailors with their families Photo: Reuters

The final shots of the captain being reunited with his wife and two children were as moving as the one showing a relieved father hugging his released son at the airport. Other images of families being united after the ordeal were equally touching. This was not politics but sheer human interest pictures that made wonderful visuals. That is why at such moments TV scores over both radio and the press because of its visibility and its immediacy.

Meanwhile, nearer home, the small screen is exposing the efforts of some MBA students to kidnap a child from school in Delhi to get ransom to pay off their losses in the stock exchange. Luckily, they were thwarted in time. But it goes to show that even the most highly educated can become common criminals. One always appreciates something off-beat on the small screen if presented professionally.

I must confess I am enjoying thoroughly the programme of great speeches presented by Kabir Bedi. I have known Kabir since he was a little boy and have been watching his amazing career with more than usual interest. The highlight of his career was when he became a hero in Italy for playing the role of popular hero Sandokan. I was actually in Rome where the famous Rolling Stones troupe was staying in one hotel and Kabir in another. There were more crowds waiting outside for Kabir than for the famous artistes. But through it all, Kabir has remained totally unspoilt, courteous and modest, as you can see for yourself from the way he introduces the speeches and those who made them, not to forget our own Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Tryst With Destiny,’ which takes its place beside Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s ‘Give me your blood and I will give you freedom’. This programme rises to great heights and lifts us up with it because it has no political or other twists, and just recognises greatness. This is why Kabir was the best person to present it.