The airwaves have been majorly abuzz this past month...

– Starting with the eager anticipation and announcement of election results in the few states that went to the polls recently, the results were quite a shocker for the ruling party which truly didn’t seem to know what hit them - in Uttar Pradesh they should have expected it. C’mon, for them to think of the still-highly-inexperienced Rahul Gandhi as a miracle worker or messiah who could have turned things around by touring the state for a couple of months every five years is not only a bit much to presume but also terribly unwise. Maybe if he had spent this same kind of time in Punjab, they could have turned things around in their favour there at least.

This excitement followed with the tabling of the Railway Budget in parliament and controversial consequences thereof, for poor chap Mr. Ex-Minister Trivedi… I say poor chap because it was a jolt out of the blue for him - he didn’t know what hit him. He assumed Didi knew and approved of his plans for the year but obviously Mamta Di and her Dadas had other plans for him. Seriously, there’s no point in being sincere to your job, straightforward in your endeavours or truly wanting to serve the people and the nation - in Indian Politics it’s only about how acrobatic you are – all you need to do it practice your forward and backward bends and you might move up a notch on that ladder. If not, at least you get to stay on it.

Next came the Union Budget by Pranab Da. News Channels were ready with live telecasts from outside Parliament even before the dogs arrived to smell the budget copies and they covered it diligently from dawn till the time I fell asleep that night. Well, to a layperson like myself, it was another definitely debateable budget. As far as I can tell, they increased service tax making almost everything more expensive for me. They didn’t give me anything extra to take home or be happy about. And, as far as the big boys of business are concerned, just because the government lost some income tax cases, they very sneakily brought in some laws, effective retroactively from 1962 onwards to try and twist these corporates’ arms and hopefully win a judgement in their favour. Very unfair on their part - such sore losers!

Luckily for Pranab Da, who obviously has luck on his side, the Master Blaster Sachim Tendulkar finally scored his zealously awaited 100th Hundred and that took the required amount of media attention away from his budget and it’s many shortcomings.

Following this was the provocative presence and participation of Salman Rushdie at the India Today Conclave. His scathing attack of Imran Khan and his sarcastic comments about the ruling Congress party left most of Delhi’s socialites, many pseudo-intellectuals and others in the audience bemused. Nobody in the audience there was sure whether to be amused or outraged. It was thoroughly entertaining for those of us at home to watch Mr Rushdie’s tirade and their confused reactions combined.

And, on that happy note, hope you’re enjoying a spring break wherever you are… See you same time, same place, next month… until then, Happy Reading!�

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ANU RANJAN

anu@indiantelevisionacademy.com

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