Punjabi Antenna
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Randeep Wadehra

Iconic folk-singer Mohammad Sadique, along with his duet-singing partner Sukhjit Kaur in Sohani Saver

Zee Punjabi’s Sunday morning talk show Sohani Saver is one of those cozy feel-good programmes which keep potatoes lolling on the couch, with rose-tinted after-effects lingering for hours thereafter. Jassi’s natural inquisitiveness jells well with Balwinder’s reticent gravitas, thus keeping the discussion entertaining, be it a light t`EAte-`E0-t`EAte or a cerebral give-and-take. On October 25 we had the iconic folk-singer Mohammad Sadique, along with his duet-singing partner Sukhjit Kaur.

Sadique was humility personified and, yet, he made some telling comments on the disappearance of quality lyrics from today’s music. Although unwilling to accept the changing scenario that is inspired by globalisation and new technology, he was quite generous in his praise for younger artistes. He felt uncomfortable with the introduction of frivolity and vulgarity into music in the name of experimentation.

He pointed out that songs from 1950s, or even earlier, are still popular because of their poetic beauty — something that today’s transient compositions cannot match. Technology has almost done away with the need for long periods of riyaaz. A memorable talk show.

Doordarshan’s archives are known for their literary, cultural and creative richness. Its Jalandhar Kendra’s repertoire of plays is one such example. Daily, at 12:35 pm, it telecasts meaningful and entertaining plays. For example, on October 23, it aired Paagal Lok — a trenchant satire on societal hypocrisy and intrinsic cruelty as well as injustice. An honest writer with conscience, and reformist zeal, is locked up in a mental asylum by certain vested interests in connivance with doctors.

There he organises the inmates into a drama troupe of sorts and sends out the message that the world outside the asylum has far more dangerous lunatics than the ones inside it.

Again, on October24 , one watched Gurmukh Singh Musafir’s Baghee Di Beti that highlights contrasting societal attitudes towards freedom fighters even when the fight for India’s independence was going on. The tragic end is like a slap on the face of opportunists.

This makes one wonder at the comparatively ordinary show by DDJ on the TRP front. It has got such a wide range of high quality literary and folk productions that it can easily corner a vast chunk of audiences. A bit of marketing-oriented and viewer-friendly attitude can do the trick. For example, a viewer’s suggestion that titles of the plays (and other programmes) should be displayed constantly/frequently onscreen for the benefit of late tuners was dismissed blithely with a lame excuse that all programmes are announced well in advance.

But what if some of the viewers miss the announcement? If private channels can air promos and reminders at regular intervals, which even Doordarshan’s Hindi channels do, why not the Jalandhar Kendra, too?

October 22, 2009, was neither a Red Letter Day nor a watershed date, but was important enough as on this date election results from three states were announced. For the regional electronic media at least the Haryana results should have been the topic for analytical discussions. Hardly anything of the sort happened.

While Zee Punjabi preferred to air video songs, and DDJ carried on with its scheduled programmes, only PTC news extended its news slots for covering the event, taking care to invite an expert to comment on the emerging scenario and its future impact on political equations in Haryana.

The channel followed it up with news analysis Aisa Pehli Baar Hua Hai anchored by Radha Sahni. This reminds me to eat a dollop or two of humble pie; in this column I had carped against Ritesh Lakhi’s Straight Talk for featuring "have-beens" like the Chautalas and the Bishnois. Well, neither of them has ousted the INC from Haryana but both have emerged as credible players. Even the BJP has captured six seats. Never take the Indian voter for granted, what?