News channels release more water in already deluged Delhi

There was a time when the MET office predictions used to be of great importance to farmers eagerly waiting for monsoons during the sowing season and wished that there were no rains during the harvesting period. However now our over-excited jurnos seem to be affected more with these predictions. Twenty-four hour channels seem to be gathering early in the morning at conference halls not to discuss the stories that are likely to unfold that particular day, but whether there will be more rains in Delhi. If the MET department has predicted rains, then one headline and one hour of prime time is booked for endless discussions on rains, waterlogging, traffic jams, etc. These sessions are a good way to test your patience.

The traffic snarls caused by a broken down old Maruti 800 car or an even more dilapidated DTC bus is given a new twist and combined with the story on rain…that’s the power of news I suppose! And overexcited anchors, who put words in the mouths of the panelists and jump to assumptions at the drop of the hat, giggles and cracks jokes that evokes more ire than laughter proclaim that the whole of Delhi is under water and people are living in their cars on highways.

But we must admit that they have competition and they have to show their mettle. If Chinese journalists are reporting 9-day long traffic snarls, their producers will obviously expect their correspondents to report waterlogging and traffic jams lasting 5 hours!

The decisions of the management of these so-called NATIONAL CHANNELS can make good entries in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge. I think it’s a joke that a person sitting in far Chennai or in the North-east is wasting his time watching the rains in Delhi – correspondent standing on flyovers (adding to the chaos) giving piece to camera (PTC) and answering to questions from an anchor who wished the correspondent was neck deep in water to prove a point. You will not believe me, but in a couple of cases an over-excited Sagiraka Gosh almost came out of the screen to prove that she was right. God! these channels should ban all anchors from consuming sugary stuff before they go on air!
Hindi channels? Well they have seen bigger floods in Bihar. Most of the journalists in Hindi channels hailing from that part of India (which part…no clue! check the map) had actually survived a week of the great flood clinching to wooden doors and bloated cattle reaching the Gangas then on to Yamuna and then straight to their respective studios in Delhi. Their perspective of the deluge in Delhi is different. They want to see rich Delhiites in Mercs sinking in underpasses (they will give the last push if they have too) and South Delhi totally submerged in water with the residents standing on the roof-tops and crying for help.

More than the authorities who have been at the receiving end of all news channels for the last couple of weeks, I will be more happy to see the blue sky and golden sunshine. And while these comedy channels (oops! news channels) will move on to find other victims, I will have more issue to write on. Till then beware of these patrakars who are on the prowl to make headlines, for they will leave to stone unturned to drown you or keep you stranded on the Delhi streets.

Now my funda of life is:
My hay while the sun shines seems irrelevant now. It should go: Make headlines while the clouds stay