Well, the IPL-5 fever is still raging wild…

Inspite of it being so stretched, over so many weeks, with almost all matches going down to the wire, the crowds have enjoyed this tournament. At the time of our going to press just the top four teams for the play-off had been finalised so it’s now actually that the thrill commences. In addition to that were all the off-the-field antics that have kept us thoroughly entertained… the India TV sting & spot fixing allegations, the SRK brawl at the Wankhade, the alleged molestation in Delhi, Mr Mallaya Jr.’s highly immature & objectionable tweets, the rave party animals in Mumbai, and of course MP Kirti Azad desperately seeking his moment in the sun (literally too, it was 45 degrees temperature that day) by staging a dharna in Delhi, demanding the IPL tournament be scrapped.

I’m quite looking forward to the next one week of semi finals & the final of this tournament… too bad for Pune, Punjab, Rajasthan and few others that didn’t make it to the top four but as always, my good wishes are with all the top four teams that did make it and may the best team (unrigged, & unfixed) win.

Other than cricket euphoria, there haven’t been any fresh scams unearthed so nothing too exciting happened in the world of TV news this past month.

Aamir Khan’s new show Satyamev Jayate started earlier this month. The TRP’s haven’t been very encouraging but it’s wonderful that socially significant subjects are being brought out in the open vide a celebrity of his status and they’re being discussed in painstaking detail. Non-celebrity activists have over decades been frantically trying to get the media houses and government to pay attention, to get involved and address evils such as female foeticide, child abuse, dowry systems and it’s casualties but such issues have got at a most a fleeting glance, they have been either disregarded as nothing-we-can-do-about-it or shoved under the carpet to be dealt with at another time. It’s nice to see media houses and even Chief Ministers of states sit up and take notice for a change and have them say they’ll look into the matter or have them say they’ll do something about it. What comes out of it eventually is another matter but at least it’s getting a bit of the attention it so deserves. Kudos to Aamir for taking on the project and Uday Shankar (CEO Star Network) for supporting him– I wish him and the channel good luck with it from here on. I also hope they will be seriously following up on all promises made by eminent persons along the way and I hope they will get back to us with details of the good that has come out of it.

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And, on that note, it’s time to say goodbye… See you same time, same place, next month… until then, Happy Reading!

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