Cricket madness: India’s media frenzy

The number of people playing cricket on the streets has increased.

The ICC World Cup 2011 is just around the corner and the hysteria has already kicked in.

Issues of the grounds and change in certain venues haven’t dampened the spirit in a country where cricket is close to being religion. With a Rs1.2 billion insurance cover to an estimated Rs 6.3 billion of betting money riding on this game, this year the mania is a little different from the previous years.

Undoubtedly, India is being counted as one of the hot favourites to win the World Cup. After the 2003 team led by Saurav Ganguly, this team captained by M S Dhoni seems to be in the running to reach the final this year.

Captain Cool (as Dhoni is popularly known) has led the team to many a victory in the recent past but the win in the warm up match against Australia has increased the nation’s confidence in him and his team.

Even in the North-eastern region of India where cricket is not that popular, the ensuing ICC World Cup has aroused an overwhelming interest among sports enthusiasts.

A billion dreams will rest on their shoulders as they seek to become the second Indian team, after the 1983 Kapil Dev team, to win the top prize in one-day cricket.

However, there seems to be a media overdrive of sorts, with every news channel and paper coming up with World Cup centric shows and promotional campaigns of winning the World Cup.

Each one seems to be in a race to outdo the other by getting an experts panel practically every day to talk about the nuances of the game. And if that doesn’t garner enough eyeballs, the Bollywood brigade has also joined the bandwagon. Not only have all major Bollywood film releases been pushed to after the World Cup but stars are also sharing their cricketing knowledge with the world.

There is speculation that the reason behind one of the film industry’s most prestigious awards breaking their 50 year tradition of holding the awards end of February and holding the event early, is due to the World Cup.

Advertisers aren’t far behind, with cricket based advertisements thronging the tube all at once. Even before a ball is bowled, there is a pitched battle among business groups vying for attention.

It is estimated that over one billion viewers will witness the third largest televised event from their homes across the globe. A similar number of viewers are expected to watch the fourth season of the Indian Premier League that follows right after this. It is an unparalleled season of media frenzy, millions in cash changing hands during these three months.

Suddenly, the number of people playing cricket on the streets seems to have risen and TV set sales are also on the rise. This time, it’s not just men who are interested but the women too.

This is not only because India is one of the hosts or a favourite but because it is probably the Master Blaster’s last World Cup. The only thing that has been eluding the record breaking Sachin Tendulkar is a World Cup victory. This time around, not only do we want India to win the World Cup but we want the World Cup to be won for that one man who has managed to unite the entire nation. We want him to bring the World Cup home for us.

However, having said that this team is carrying the pressure of expectations of 1.2 billion people for whom cricket is not just a sport but close to being a fanaticism of sorts.

After the opening ceremony, the entire nation is going to be glued to one sport and will watch with baited breath as Tendulkar will play his last World Cup, hoping that he wins it.

Post the opening ceremony, the entire nation is going to be glued onto one sport and all televisions on one channel, and will watch with baited breath as Sachin Tendulkar will play his last World Cup and will hope that he and the team win the tournament for the country.

(Mis) Representation on television

Indian television has suddenly seen a surge of Indo-Pak bonding in the last month. What started of as a peace building initiative through music by singers Sonu Nigam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in the form of Chotte Ustaad seemed to set a trend of sorts, with Bigg Boss 4getting two Pakistani artists to be a part of the show. However, the first being a novel and a brilliant idea, the second I have a problem with.

Chotte Ustaad as we all know has one Indian singer and one Pakistani singer team up and compete with 11 other such pairs of children. While Sonu Nigam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan played mentor, the special guests on the show ranging from Abida Parveen, Shankar Mahadevan, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Sonam Kapoor, Shaan, Priyanka Chopra, Mahesh Bhatt, the Kapoor khandaan etc too lauded the efforts and the talent.

The show was unique in many ways. Firstly, it made Indians and Pakistanis team up and not compete against each other. Secondly, many Pakistani families managed to accomplish things they just dreamt off, like visiting the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, watching their children share the same platform with biggies like Asha Bhosle and meeting stars like Rishi Kapoor which otherwise they would only see onscreen. Thirdly, it propagated peace and promoted talent and fourthly it was a show which ran on talent and an overwhelming message and not on controversies, drama and sleaze. Yes, it was high on emotions but in the right way.

The show not only gave a great opportunity to the young singers to showcase their talent but also showcased Pakistanis in the right light in India. For a change Pakistani’s weren’t looked down upon but were looked at in a positive light. Finally, most Indians realised that yes, people there are not terrorists or fundamentalists like they are made out to be, they are nice, they too have emotions, they are friendly basically they are the same as us and extremely talented too. Also when the voices of both the countries met in unison the songs just sounded more soulful and melodious.

On the other hand you have Veena Malik and Begum Nawazish Ali entering Bigg Boss. Now, firstly anyways Veena Malik is scandal ridden, and secondly, for your personal interests I hope they realise they are putting an entire country’s reputation at stake. Unlike the other contestants who are just representing themselves, these two have an extra burden of representing their country. Yes, for 2 weeks it’s easy playing Mother Teresa, but putting up a farce for 90 days is kind of difficult. And to top it all one small even genuine mistake of theirs will be lapped up by the media like there is no tomorrow.

Unfortunately, thanks to the relations between both the countries, not many Indian’s get to visit Pakistan and vice-versa; hence the level of misconceptions about both the countries amongst the masses is quite high. And television rather a show like Bigg Boss is catering to the masses, who will believe everything they see. So at the end of the show most will turn around saying that Veena Malika and Begum Nawazish Ali represent the general Pakistani. Well, I don’t know how they or any common Pakistani would take that, but as an Indian, who has friends and relatives there and has visited Pakistan, its so not true.

For once I would say Colors please listen to Shiv Sena and get those 2 out of there soon. Okay maybe that’s going a bit to far, no I don’t support Shiv Sena, but the reason I want them out of there is not because they are Pakistani but because Colors, with your editing skills, and want to catch eyeballs and TRPs you may just end up straining relations, not at a diplomatic level but on a people to people level. I agree the two are there for their personal gains, like maybe getting into the Indian television industry and so on but hello, you are kind of maligning the image of your country in return.

On one hand you have people like Wasim Akram, Ali Zafar, Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and so much so Pakistani kids creating a positive image and on the other hand the two of you in Bigg Boss which is known for sleaze and controversies. Till now no one has exited the show with a positive image, not even the winner, so what makes them think they will.

So, kudos to shows like Chotte Ustaad and hope many more such shows are introduced to build people to people relations.

When my newspaper spoke to me

Tuesday morning begun like, well, every Tuesday morning. I woke up as usual after putting my alarm on snooze at least thrice. Then half in my sleep picked the newspaper from outside the door and threw it on the sofa. Made my cup of coffee and sat down to read the paper. I picked the paper unfolded it and began to read. However, as soon as I unfolded the paper I heard someone croaking in the background, giving some gyaan on Volkswagen and I was like “What the hell?” My newspaper was talking, and like many others I too was caught off guard with The Times of India’s latest innovation the “Speaking Newspaper”.

True to its image of always bringing about changes in the print media, TOI in association with Volkswagen released their latest innovation – The Speaking Newspaper. The speaking chip inserted in the paper on September 21st was a “blockbuster” of a kind as claimed by the publication ensuring that Tuesdays will never be the same. Supposedly, the world’s first speaking newspaper had a pre-recorded message on the new Volkswagen Vento, which played the moment an unsuspecting reader opened the four page special supplement. This innovation startled most of the readers. Some found it interesting while some irritating and in some cases it led to funny situations.

Reactions:

• “My paper is haunted”: Watching too many late night horror flicks? Well, if you were one of those maybe that was your reaction. People in some parts of the city thought their paper was possessed or haunted and immediately threw it away after which some people went ahead and conducted puja’s and havans to rid their place of all evils.
• Bomb alert: Many places witnessed calls being made to the police as some suspected the device to be a bomb. In Mumbai, someone heard a beeping sound and alerted the police. The bomb squad reached promptly and cordoned off the area only to find an audio-ad. Soon the commissioner of police in Mumbai and Delhi alerted the people not to get stressed. Well, at least something kept our pot bellied cops busy and on their toes.
• Collector’s Item: No sooner did the word go around, that many people wanted to lay their hands on the first speaking newspaper. Beg, borrow, steal or buy the Times Group did witness a surge of sales and interest amongst the people. Everyone seemed to want one copy for themselves. Maybe a few years from now someone will find it in their khazana and probably tell their grandchildren tales on the first speaking newspaper.
• Prank paper: Many people used the paper as Tuesday morning pranks, wherein they startled or scared unsuspecting readers.

Pros:

• Innovative: The concept is not only interesting but quite innovative. Though this was an ad, for the future for those running late for work or are too sleepy and are unable to scan the news, it would be helpful to have someone read it out to you instead. After all you can’t carry your TV along with you and not everyone has net on the go.
• Generate interest: What the speaking newspaper did do was create a buzz around town. Not only was it a great promotional tactic for Volkswagen as I am sure everyone took notice of their new vehicle but also for the paper. People who never read papers actually made it a point to read the paper that day, even if it was just that supplement.
• Smart move: The smart move was made from the Times Groups point of view. This 4 page supplement shared the same masthead with different stories as the front page of the main paper and The Bombay Times was enclosed within these 4 pages, thus, making it look like the main paper and many regular readers mistook it to be the main paper too till they heard the voice.
• Marketing strategy: However, irritating it may have seemed to some, one had to admit it was a novel and a great marketing strategy for both the paper and Volkswagen. People actually took notice of both the brands, and this led to an increase in circulation in the paper as well.
• New age media: In today’s day and age when newspaper readers are declining as they are switching to newer forms of media, this if developed on further can bring about a respite to the declining readership. A newspaper you can read and hear does sound like an interesting concept.

Cons:

• Intrusive: Yes, it is a good concept and a great idea but couldn’t we be forewarned instead of being taken by surprise. Honestly, when a person wakes up in the morning, they do like that “alone morning time” which is filled with some form of serenity and being caught off guard with a man croaking in the background seems a bit intrusive. And imagine the quest of the person who has a habit of reading their daily morning dosage of news in the loo.
• Instructions please: Okay you wanted to surprise us, point taken. However, couldn’t the Times Group be generous enough to donate some edit space to instructions on how to stop the speaking chip from speaking? Though all one had to do was cover the speaker to stop the sound, not everyone realised that. This led to people breaking the device and throwing them out of the streets.
• Better voice quality: Any which ways you ended up spending I am sure quite a bit on the speaking chip, so why couldn’t you do us a favour and get an instrument whose voice quality was better. I would have really appreciated it if I heard a person talking instead of croaking early in the morning.
• Newspaper or Ad-paper: Volkswagen got a four page supplement, plus an ad in the main paper, so why did the speaking chip only have to talk about Volkswagen. The Times of India is a newspaper not an ad-paper and if they wanted this to be called the speaking “news”paper then maybe they should have had someone narrate the headlines followed by “this was brought to you by Volkswagen”. Alas! Money talks.