The media rush

I loved the advertisement for headlines today where they take a dig at other news channels going 'blah blah' all the time. It depicted exactly how one felt watching so many 24/7 news channels sprouting up, with news anchors and journalists blabbering with an extraordinary seriousness about their faces, about nothing in particular.

With all expectations, one turns on to watch Headlines today. Guess what they think is refreshingly 'un-blah'? Reality show gossip, movie gossip and cricket gossip!! As far as I know, this is all they air. Any other news item that they think might be worthy of mentioning is just flashed on the screen space in the bottom.

If one evening, they are discussing the possible implications of Aishwarya Rai's tummy that they had very smartly spotted, half-concealed under her dupatta, and even zoomed into(!) when she walked the ramp for the first time after her marriage to Abhishek Bachchan; another evening they were talking about a celebrity fight in a yet-to-be-aired reality show! Then there was Bajji's famed IPL slap. This of course was what all Indian news channels were discussing on their headlines for 3 whole days, so clearly it was headlines material.

An aimless channel surfer, I can promise that if one followed my transcendental footsteps, chances are nine on ten that one would see the face of at least two celebrities(note the plural) when browsing by the channel.

Hail the Indian celebrities. Hail Headlines today! Hail all who make these channels work! The couch potatoes. The aimless channel surfers (following my footsteps)!

Happy Independence day!