Those incredibly intrepid TV News Reporters and their Camera Crews!

The female characters in TV Soaps have always amazed me.

They are bruised by Fate, they are battered by Fortune, they are stabbed in the back by cold-blooded sisters-in-law, they are crushed beneath the iron heel of feckless men.

But do these women stay crushed

No way.

They keep bouncing irrepressibly back like balls in a McEnroe-Borg Wimbledon Final.

I keep thinking: They can t be for real. This cannot happen in real life.

I was proven wrong this July.

By the people of Mumbai.

Many paeans of praise have been penned to the indomitable spirit of the City, so let me not dwell too long on the subject.

Suffice to say: Mumbai was bruised by rains one week. The very next week, it was battered by bomb blasts. But within less than a day of each incident, the people had bounced back faster than any female Soap character. I join legions of others in toasting the Mumbaikars uncrushable spirit.

I also applaud the fact that they have bounced back harder. The people are angry that the Powers That Be have failed to provide basic infrastructure or security.

This anger could easily have been forgotten as has happened after umpteen previous outrages under bureaucratic bumf. Or it could have found expression in violence a la the film, Rang De Basanti.

It is heartening, however, to note that the Media (notably: The Times Of India Newspaper and CNN-IBN News Channel) are taking the lead in channelizing this anger. So that the ire targets the culprits, and results in action.

Which brings me to some people whose spirits have not been given due acknowledgement.

First, News Channels.

They did an excellent job reporting the news, maintaining a balance between presenting the tragedy of the incidents and the rising ire of the people.

Second, News Reporters, many of who were females.

As I watched them on my TV set, reporting from the spot, I was once again amazed by their courage. And their equanimity in the face of such huge tragedy.

I kept thinking during the monsoon deluge: Aren t they scared Everyone is rushing home because of the heavy rains and floods these guys are right in the middle of the swirling waters!

And, after the blasts: Aren t they queasy at the sight of all that wreckage and blood and death !

Lastly: Sure, it s their job to report, but what nightmares are their folks at home going through, worried sick that a family member was at a flood or at a blast site!!!

The fortitude and professionalism with which the Reporters went about their job was truly awesome.

So, yes, salutations to these unsung heroes and heroines.

Our Cover Story, too, is about fortitude and professionalism, although these are not words that are usually associated with Cover Girl Rakhi Sawant.

Bootilicious , yes. Controversial , yes. Fortitude and Professionalism , no.

But in typical GR8! fashion, we decided to be different. We went behind the mask, to find out what it takes for a normal, everyday girl-next-door to become a sex symbol.

In a long, wide-ranging conversation which was sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, very often with insights that are deeply moving , Mona Vaidya, who met Rakhi, found that, apart from bootiliciousness, it takes courage, fortitude (Rakhi had already bounced back from the Mika kiss-and-yell episode), professionalism (Rakhi is always punctual), intelligence, street smarts, oodles of savviness about publicity and marketing and a whole lot of balls to survive in a man s world.

Someday, sometime, someone will make a Soap about a female character who is a Sex Symbol till then, as the rains susurrus away at the window-panes, we can only wish you glorious wet dreams and happy reading!

B R Sharan