Nikon presents Nat Geo Moment Awards powered by Dell Xps

Nikon presents Nat Geo Moment Awards powered by Dell Xps

Am I the only one confused??

Hindustan Times's Quote misquote section is a great reflection of populist views. They've apparently got a readership "in excess of 10 million", so I'm presuming many of us do read it.

Check out the Quote misquote section in one of the inner pages last week. Finally, our opinion makers (many journos would like to believe that's the role they play in society) have woken up. Finally, some obvious verbal carping on Ms. Sania Mirza. The lady's won just one tennis tournament of international reckoning - and yet she was awarded an Arjuna Award in 2005 and a Padma Shri, within 5 months, in 2006. I didn't hear any carping then. What I did hear was encomiums like "teenage sensation" , "contribution to tennis", "one of the 61 distinguished persons."

I'm sorry, was I the only one confused?

We awarded a person with one of our highest civilians awards for losing in the 4th round of the US Open? Since when were the Padma Awards given out for mediocrity? Ah yes! Since the media decided to play the sports evangelist. They built her up, the lavished her with fulsome praise and now...they beat her up when she's down. I'm not sure whether I should congratulate the media for finally waking up to Ms Mirza's mediocre career graph, or admonish them for misleading an ill-informed country and consequently the Padma Awards committee? For the sake of fair play and probity - I'll go with the former.

So Sony and STAR One are at it again. Sony's obviously given up trying to catch up with the number one player (STAR Plus) and is focusing on the sub-brand (STAR One) instead. Come September, and we'll be witness to the war of the dance(r)s. There's the front runner - Nach Baliye, with a successful track record. And then we've got Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa - Dance With The Stars on Sony. Caught parts of the latter last week. It's good. pretty good. Shilpa Shetty wrong choice for judge though. When will TV channels learn that besides having a pretty face, you need to be able to communicate as well? Waiting for Nach Baliye now...this is a battle worth watching!

While we're on STAR One, has anyone seen their latest offering Resham Dankh? - When the channel was launched we were told - and I quote "STAR One fare would be of a different milieu - outside the ambit of the family.." They stood by their word with shows like Remix, Great Indian Comedy Show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Nach Baliye. Now, check out one of the official photographs of Resham Dankh the channel has released. I rest my case.

Oh Come on! Who are we kidding! Am I the only one confused? Or has STAR One realised that shows "outside the ambit of the family" don't seem to get an inside road into advertiser revenues??