There are spectacles and then there’s the spectacular.
Sometimes, they combine. Did you watch 20-year-old Dunith Wellalage of Sri Lanka spin out India’s batting superstars on Tuesday (Star Sports, Hotstar)? What a spectacular spectacle, although Indian cricket fans didn’t relish it in the least.
Fortunately, they were spared any further distress as India managed to beat Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup match to book itself a spot in the final.
As spectacles go, it was far more pulsating than India’s weekend victory over Pakistan but giving Babar Azam’s team a thrashing with the bat and ball is always far, far more satisfying to Indians.
The triumph on the field came on the heels of “India’s G20-win” (India Today) at the multilateral summit in New Delhi. That was very different kind of show, with presidents and prime ministers, from across the world, paraded before us like prized possessions. On Wednesday evening, BJP heaped praise and petals on Prime Minister Narendra Modi—a Times Now anchor told us we should all be proud of the achievement.
From next Sunday, we will witness a very different kind of extravaganza, when the Indian flag will be hoisted outside the new Parliament building — a solemn salute to the nation on the Prime Minister’s birthday — before a special five-day parliamentary session is held from Monday 18 September. The new Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the resplendent interiors signifying a new beginning, will not be lost on viewers.
The special session is slated to discuss “Parliamentary journey of 75 years…’’, but unless our politicians had a transplant of the heart, we know what to expect—a political mela. There will be soaring speeches to the moon, sun and back; there will be richly embroidered purple prose by the PM and chest and table thumping by BJP leaders to celebrate the spectacular successes of naya Bharat — or do we call it Vishva Bharat? The PM will expound, extol, expand on his vision of Bharat that is Bharat.
The Opposition will Adani bol and halla bol, whatever be the agenda—we will hear them but not see them because the Sansad TV cameras will focus on the Chair and the treasury benches. If he’s around, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will get a look in. The Chair will implore, the government will deplore, and the Opposition will ignore all pleas to let the House function.
Press conference versus press conference, TV tamashas and tamachas… All in all, it promises to be a Jawan versus Pathaan, Pathaan versus Jawan political blockbuster.
Also read: Riding India’s G20 wave, Modi’s party sets up for elections
Lots of photos, not enough fun
The ‘massive win for India’ (Republic TV) is all about ‘Modiplomacy’ (India Today) at the G20 summit—not cricket. The media coverage was as elaborate as the event: for three days, television news had almost non-stop coverage and the newspapers lavished up to eight pages on ‘the historic’ meeting and its many achievements, courtesy PM Modi and India’s negotiators.
Now, tell the truth: how much of the Delhi Declaration do you remember? The rare unanimity on the wording of the document? The new ports and railway corridor deal for the Middle East and India? The ‘big Indian ignore’ of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that news channels dwelt on much of Monday? And….
Most of us will be hard-pressed to recall more — the rest was for foreign policy buffs.
We were more interested in the spectacle of it all, touted as the grandest show mounted by India – why, New Delhi had been polished and painted, planted with fresh greens, adorned with bright lights, fountains, animals (replicas), and emptied out of people and stray dogs for the foreign guests.
Not sure it lived up to expectations. How much fun can it be to watch aircraft doors open for ladies and gentlemen—most of them unfamiliar to viewers—trip down the stairs, shake hands with their welcoming committees, stare at a bit of Indian classical dance, and then disappear into black limousines—so what if one of them was The Beast for US President Joe Biden?
Not much more fun than watching each leader take the long walk down the red carpet to be greeted by PM Modi before the summit – it was like a beauty pageant: There were smiles, handshakes, a few hugs and Modi explanations of the Konark Sun Temple Chakra model behind them. The biggest thrill for viewers was to guess who received the strongest, longest handshakes and warmest hugs from the PM — the coldest shoulder was reserved for Canada’s Trudeau.
And then there was the barefoot walk at Rajghat, where PM Modi led leaders to pay homage to MK Gandhi. Moving, certainly, but not much else – I remember thinking there were many wet feet out there as it had been raining in Delhi.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to the Akshardham temple with his wife received fulsome praise on TV news—his ‘proud to be a Hindu’ (India Today) moment made him a star. But again, there wasn’t much for us viewers there—just photographs.
How exciting can that be?
A win for cricket fans
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill hitting Shaheen Shah Afridi all around the park, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul scoring centuries and Kuldeep Yadav bamboozling the Pakistani batsmen was a much more meaningful victory for the Indian public.
Can’t wait for the World Cup…