INDIA'S INTELLIGENT, SECULAR FACE OF THE IDIOT BOX: RAJDEEP SARDESAI
From Frederick Noronha
Rajdeep Sardesai is the face millions watch on little screen each evening, and much of India's TV-watching classes would almost believe he's the man next door who was an intimate part of your life. But do we really know the many faces of this multi-faceted personality?
Trawl the Net, and you can find some 17,000 references to the man called Rajdeep Sardesai. As he races round the country, keeping track of the big-and-breaking story, Rajdeep has also often come along to Goa. Whether it is a BJP national meet in this state -- these have become increasing frequent during the Parrikar years -- or other news-breaks, the trail has brought one of Indian television's most known faces to Goa.
Googlism puts it best, when it says "Rajdeep Sardesai is a seasoned TV journalist who thrives on hotspots". (Googlism was created as a fun tool to see what the Internet's mega search-engine Google.com 'thinks' of certain topics and people.)
In times when the ethics of journalism is increasingly getting clouded, Rajdeep's writings come across as a voice of conscience. Take his 2001 essay published in the 'Seminar' magazine published from New Delhi, titled 'From Watchdog to Lapdog'.
In it, Rajdeep bluntly states: "In the years since being a cub reporter, I have realised that a mithai box is only loose change in the institutionalised corruption that is part of the journalistic profession.
From the Maharashtra politician who plies you with a basket of grapes every
season, to the airlines boss who upgrades you from economy to business class, to the restaurateur who offers you a free meal for two - the side benefits which come with being a pen-pusher or a recognised television anchor can take various forms."
To those of our journalist colleagues who argue take-the-gift-and-then-write-independently, Rajdeep points out that the system operates on a clear quid pro quo. Writes Rajdeep: "Indeed, much of the matter in the colour supplements that have now become essential accompaniments to mainstream broadsheets thrives on the principle that there is no publicity like free publicity. So, whether it is fashion shows or the opening of a restaurant or a film premiere, there is a pool of journalists who will be more than happy to play along with the party."
That's the harsh reality. As he points out, the lines between reportage and public realitions are slowly getting blurred, specially in fields like celebrity journalism. Slowly? That was in the 'nineties; today it's happening at a speedy pace. Not just on the celebrity pages, as media houses believe increasing in taking the side of those who call the shots, and tend to forget that their first job is serving public interest.
Needless to say, a high-profile figure like Rajdeep also has his fair share of detractors and critics. Some see him as being responsible for driving the news to the "stratospheric levels of hysteria whenever anything happens". If pre-poll surveys go drastically wrong, Rajdeep Sardesai's name cannot but figure in the ensuing debate.
Obviously stung by the stand -- anti-communal -- that Rajdeep takes, an editor from Mysore criticised him and a few other Indian TV personalities for asking questions that are "sometimes silly, sometimes irritating and many times prejudiced" or asking "leading questions like criminal lawyers to provoke and confuse". He asked: "What kind of journalism is that? Investigative or instigative?"
But an indiatelevision.com review termed Sardesai 'not only one of the most familiar faces, but also considered one of the more intelligent ones on the idiot box". It also pointed out that his "rise to fame" wasn't overnight, but Rajdeep has worked hard right from the days "when news and current affairs on Indian television had only started developing into a serious genre of programming".
But as the managing editor of the most widely-watched English-language news channel in the land, Rajdeep has his big professional burdens. After a story drags on, day after day, the fatigue often shows on Rajdeep's face, as he's on the scene at all odd hours of the day or night. "After 1 pm, one's life is in somebody else's control as one hops from one deadline to another and from one official meeting to another," as he told an interviewer in August 2004.
After 15 months on the air, he described NDTV and its sister Hindi channel as doing well, at that tiime. Said he: "The English channel, NDTV 24x7, has emerged as the No.1 channel amongst the English news channels with a 45 per cent market share, while the Hindi one, NDTV India, has a share of 21 per cent at most places. The point to be noted is that (market leader) Aaj Tak's share has come down to about 27 per cent and these are all TAM figures that I am quoting. By these yardsticks, one can say it hasn't been a bad time."
But besides being a competitive journalist, Rajdeep is also one with a social conscience. Volume IV, chapter 4 of the Srikrishna Commission Report -- one of those inquiry commission that looked at a sordid chapter in Indian history, the manipulation of religious sentiments in riots for political purposes -- focuses entirely on Rajdeep Sardesai.
He was then the metropolitan editor of the Times of India, who started off as a law graduate and branched off into journalism. On Janjuary 15, 1993, Rajdeep published an article titled 'Shiv Sena admits role in Bombay riots'.
Around the time when Indian was increasingly going into a phase of extremely communalised politics -- and majority communalism was being equated with nationalism -- Rajdeep Sardesai stood out. The Srikrishna panel says: "Sardesai admitted that he disliked Shiv Sena for its non-secular approach and, according to him, no secular minded politician should associate with it. Though there were aspects of Shiv Sena which were good initially, the good has been obscured in recent years."
Said the probe panel: "Though an attempt was made by the Shiv Sena to discredit this witness on the ground that he was biased against the Hindus and only articulated views in his articles which were pro-Muslims and anti-Hindus, the Commission is not impressed with the suggestion made, nor is the Commission prepared to discard his evidence which appears to be very much relevant."
After trawling through cyberspace, you think you have a fair idea of Rajdeep. Just then, yet another dimension emerges. Born on May 24, 1965, with a famous cricketeer for a father, Rajdeep Dilip Sardesai has also been a right-handed batsman and off-break bowler who played for Oxford University.
CricketArchive Oracles tells you that his gives his first-class cricketing statistics for 1987 (in terms of M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct) thus: Overall 7 9 1 222 63* 27.75 0 1 2. Howwat? Probably it's just another side to the man who someone describe in a blog as having a smark which is "nothing short of a national sentiment". (ENDS) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) Nr Convent Saligao 403511 GoaIndia Freelance Journalist P: 832-2409490 M: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://fn-floss.notlong.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://goabooks.swiki.net * Reviews of books on Goa... and more
