Tag: VVS Laxman

By Anil Thakraney

Haha. Press Council Chairman Justice Shri Markandey Katju has bowled another deadly googly. He now demands that journalists must have certain qualifications before they are hired, and he wants that to be mandated by law. Here’s the link to the story in mxm india: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/03/mxm-mondays-do-journalists-need-to-be-qualified/

I have a bad feeling Justice Katju thinks of Indian journalists exactly what he thinks of the rest of India; perhaps he believes that 90 percent of us are fools, and that might be the reason for the latest diktat. Be that as it may, one question immediately comes to mind: What sort of a qualification would Justice Katju deem as being appropriate for journalists? Is he happy with the Diploma in Mass Communications sort of a thing? Or does he have something else in mind? Doctorate in social sciences? Master’s degree in law? PhD in qualitative research? Graduate degree in English Literature? Would be interesting to know what would satisfy the boss.

Incidentally, does Justice Katju know that Carl Bernstein, the celebrated American journalist who broke the sensational Watergate scandal, wasn’t even a graduate, that he dropped out of college at the age of 16 to be a journalist? There are plenty of such shining examples. This is not to say the media should hire only school and college drop-outs. Every degree brings value to an individual’s skills, that’s common sense stuff, so there’s no point arguing with that. And it works for all walks of life. But I am not really sure where Justice Katju is going with this, where is he going to draw the line in terms of mandatory education levels.

However, I have a larger point to make: My own experience in journalism has taught me that aside from obvious skills like writing, articulation, research-gathering, etc, the Number One talent every journalist must possess is Curiosity, with a capital C. Minus that, a journalist is pretty much useless. And this is true whether he/she works for a mass TV channel or a niche industry portal. All the degrees collected by the individual are junk if he/she isn’t inquisitive by nature.

So then, dear Justice Katju, how do you teach someone to be a nosy parker? That single most important journalistic attribute. I would really like to know, I am curious! 🙂

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PS: Good TV campaign by END7, an international NGO. The ads show how celebs react when faced with a ghastly tropical disease. Apart from other big names, it features our very own Ms Priyanka Chopra. Ready to squirm? Er, at the disease, not her acting skills.

By Anil Thakraney

It’s now a given; the moment a cricketer retires, by default he walks into the commentary box. When, ideally, his first priority ought to be coaching young teams and/or joining/starting a sports academy. This is because commentating is far more lucrative, and it carries zero responsibilities and headaches. I am quite certain Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sachin Tendulkar has already begun work on his diction.

But this instant migration from the pitch to the box isn’t easy, and most of the cricketers struggle very badly, at the cost of the viewers. The latest entrant, VVS Laxman, is painful to hear. He speaks poorly, provides zero insights, and has a voice that makes a sixer sound like a boring thingy. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has been tormenting us with his clichés for years, and the less said about motor mouth Sidhu the better. Sanjay Manjrekar communicates like a novice, and Ravi Shastri has been hired purely to generate senseless hysteria. Sunil Gavaskar and Saurav Ganguly are the notable exceptions, the saving grace. I am also reminded of Lala Amarnath from back in the seventies. He used to come up with sharp observations; we would, as kids, eagerly await his gems at the end of each match day.

And of course, Imran Khan, the late Tony Grieg, Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell have always been a delight to listen to. What this tells you is that having been a cricketer may help to commentate better, but it does not necessarily make you an interesting communicator. Either you have the gift of the gab or you don’t. Therefore, the sports networks have to exercise quality control, they simply can’t hire every cricketer who calls it a day. And I haven’t even begun speaking about the nonsense that goes on inside the Hindi commentary box. These days I mostly watch the Indian cricket telecast minus the sound.

Just as a good movie director won’t necessarily make a good film critic, just as a great painter won’t necessarily become a reliable curator, just as a kickass CEO won’t necessarily be a good dad, the same theory applies to sports commentary. I am quite certain there is enough talent out there for cricket commentary (after all, this nation is flushed with ‘experts’), and all that the television networks have to do is to find them. It’s their laziness to conduct this search that has ended up saddling us viewers with rank bad commentators.

Get some fresh blood in the box, dear Sony Max, ESPN/Star Sports, Neo, etc. In fact, the IPL is a good place to start, unless you’ve already signed up Sidhu, VVS and Sivaramakrishnan. In which case it’s now left to the sexy cheerleaders to save the day.

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PS: Nice IKEA commercial. Notice how the inter-play of need for storage room and need for room in relationships lifts an otherwise ordinary promise: Total furniture solutions. Wonderful!