The Great Indian Circus!

I still remember the night of 26/11. It was about 10.30 pm and I turned on the TV to have a glimpse of the news at the hour. To my shock, Mumbai was under siege by the Pakistani terrorists.

And then started the race of the news channels across India! As usual, every one wanted to be the first to report, with only one motive - increasing the viewership ratings!

It was nasty. Every channel wanted to be the FIRST. No details were hidden from the public and when I say details, every bit of it. More surprising was the live telecast of the NSG Commandos counter measures. Each channel was in the race, trying to be the FIRST! Each detail was divulged with the viewers.

Well, these so called pro-active news channels should have understood their responsibility more carefully. They were divulging important details like the position of the NSG commandos etc on LIVE TV. How responsible act is that?

But then, amidst criticism that the electronic media has gone overboard during the Mumbai terror coverage, the News Broadcasters' Association (NBA) on Thursday came out with guidelines providing for recommendation for cancellation of license in "extreme" violation of the "code of conduct."

I got a good relief with this act of the NBA. After all, who likes to see the dead bodies torn apart by bombs? Who likes to hurt the dignity of the dead people by showing extreme pictures?

This Indian Circus (TV Channels) is very irresponsible. We have seen these channels making fun of everything they come across. I was really shocked when on 'World Disability Day', our then president (Mr.Kalam) was awarding great individuals who have overcome all the challenges in life to make a difference to the country and the Great India Circus was broadcasting a very important news - that of a Bollywood star's alleged affair! You must be wondering - how do I know about the award function? Well, I still hook to our old love - Doordarshan!

I hope the Indian Circus will now be more bearable with no live pictures of torn bodies and bloodshed on TV. I am also lucky that when I was growing up in this country, this circus was not there. I am really very very lucky!

Baba