Television channels also seek to provide, often timely and useful medical advice to viewers, and in fact this appears to be an increasing trend. And with our resource deficient and poorly managed health sector, generally speaking, the need for this is obvious.
Even Radio Pakistan has done this in the past, and so when television channels do this, it is apparent they do it to find better footing in the family watching the telly.
Initially the focus was on the allopathic system or the Western (read modern?) system of medicine. But now one was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a programme called "Clinic On Line" (Geo) was not just playing doctor on a single track. It was doing so in a rather comprehensive manner, multiple tracks, shall we say?
The panel of experts who were sitting on line, with viewers asking questions that they were paying for, were also drawn from the world of Unani medicine, homeopathic medicine and roohani (spiritual?) medicine in addition to the allopathic system of medicine. So when someone asked about a medical problem the answers came from a panel of four specialists (in his or her own field) It indicates the multiplicity of approaches there are to an illness evidently It would be interesting to know if there are such patients who would get confused by the answers.
This week's programme on Tuesday evening had the following participants" Dr. Abul Ala (allopathic), Dr Abdul Sattar (Homeopathic), Hakim Abdul Ghaffar Agha, and Waqar Yusuf Azeemi (Roohani advice) These are the names picked up from the print media advertisement on Tuesday morning, which had also advertised the medical problems that were to be discussed by the medical specialists.
Programmes like these and shadi on line, or career on-line, or Istekhara, or the kitchen and food related programmes not to mention music and politics, which are available on line reflect the extent and nature of the interaction between an individual and television in Pakistani society. A significant aspect of this is that Pakistanis appear to be more and more open about sharing their problems on line, and shedding off the inhibition and hesitation they have had so far. They are willing to offend, and their concept of what is personal and private is changing? Read this in conjunction with the disintegration of the joint family system that is taking place.
It certainly was an absolutely unique opportunity to be able to get a glimpse of the kind of day that the Pir Sahib Pagara has, when he spends it with a television camera focusing on him, and zooming in and out. This was in that interesting programme called Ek Din Geo Key Saath, a weekly one.
There have been many truly exceptional programmes in this series, and some of the footage has been wonderful, and so have many of the people who have been focused upon. This too was a memorable interview, and it makes one wonder whether a series like this would eventually be available on CDs and diskettes. In the realm of collectors' items, perhaps.
Pir Sahib Pagara's status and significance in national politics and Sindh are well known and so is his refreshing originality when he comments on themes, political, personal, whatever. This candour and individuality were visible and what we saw in the programme was immensely absorbing. All of what he said to the interviewer Sohail Warraich cannot be reproduced here for a want of space. But some of it one cant resist.
For example Pir Sahib Pagara, when asked about his relationship with GHQ (General Headquarters) said that he was not on their payroll, but in fact was with them. He added that even other politicians were with them, but did not admit. to this. He referred to his differences with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and said that they were the result of his (Chaudhry Shujaat"s) lack of good intentions. To another question he said that there was nothing much to be happy about in Pakistan.
Asked about the subject of his ever becoming involved or participating in people's politics he said that he did not believe in it as such because in that kind of politics one had to tell a lot of lies, and he believed in the truth always. On the Kashmir issue the veteran political and spiritual leader said that there "neither was there a solution, nor is there one nor will there be one ever". He said that common sense indicated that the solution will come from the concept of Kashmir for Kashmiris
The interviewer asked Pir Sahib Pagara several questions relating to his personal life and his lifestyle. He said that the first thing that he did after waking up in the morning was to smoke a cigarette, and then have tea. He has never been able to keep count of how many cups of tea or cigarettes he has in a day, though of late his wife has rationed his consumption of this now. On the subject of beauty he underlined that a woman must be tall, graceful and be a charming conversationalist. He said that he was fond of Western classical music, and did not see movies with any particular interest. He has heard of good cinema, and this makes him happy, and one of his favourite actresses is Babra Sharif.
Pir Sahib answered the question of his second marriage which took place after 43 years of his first one. He said that in the first marriage there was "martial law "at home and that there was "democracy" in the home now. Let me concede as I write this column that a full appreciation of the content of the interview, and the style and the relaxed cool manner in which he spoke, cannot be brought out by translating what he said. One assumes that the interview will be one of those that could be considered for a repeat telecast.
There is truly nothing new in the subject of the freedom of information and expression that was discussed in Geo's regular show called Capital Talk which is done by Hamid Mir. This was the theme in the programme that went on air on Tuesday night (21September). The participants were the Federal Minister for Information Shaikh Rashid, distinguished journalist and former editor of Herald Monthly, Sherry, now an MNA from the Pakistan Peoples Party and the columnist Abdul Qadir Hasan of Jang.
It was one of those current affairs panel discussions where the credibility of the participants was not the issue with the viewers. But it certainly was a discussion which made viewers wonder about the degree of freedom being exercised by the three participants when they spoke to each other. But all in all, it was a conversation, which maintained a decorum, and which reflected the fact that freedom of expression in such programmes has also come a long way., There was a time when such issues could not be argued so openly. The bitterness of the panelists and their conflicting points of view would spill over into the programme. Credibility was high and I am certain its authenticity was appreciated by the viewers.
A word about the presence of Sherry Rehman MNA. Having been a tough journalist reflected in her attitude and the idealism of her vision of yore was more than evident, especially when she responded to the Federal Information Minister.
During the week one of the programmes that I was able to reach as a result of channel surfing was ARY One's 9 p.m. current affairs programme called Aamna Samna. It is handled by journalist Talat Hussain, who has moved from the print media to Pakistan TV, and now works for ARY One, which reminds me that whenever I see him in a Heads and Shoulders commercial shot in London, I get confused! I guess that is one of my failings.
Talking of commercials I am unable to resist the temptation of referring a TV commercial (and how these commercials seek to lure the viewer which deals with what is called an energy drink, Blue Ox. I have a feeling that this commercial has been changed or modified to meet the requirements of societal values here. It originally showed a girl feeling the need to have an energy drink and singing (!!!!) her desire for a power charger. A young man asks her what she is looking for and refers to a few power chargers for gadgets like phones and other chargers. She laughs in despair, sort of, to say that she wants a power charger for herself....and which is when that particular energy drink comes into the "sales act".
What has changed is that the young man has been replaced by a young girl now and it makes one wonder how was this process undergone. What actually happened?
On the subject of commercials I also cannot help observing, with a degree of surprise, that during the recent cricket telecast from one of the overseas channels, one of the few TV commercials during the match was pedalling contraceptives. That is some change in our attitudes, perception and the way in which advertisers and their clients are now operating. Which takes me very merrily to the HIV/Aids commercials that came from the Ministry of Health, Islamabad. By the way in today's newspapers (22 September) the Federal Health Minister is on record as saying that the problem of HIV/Aids was not serious in Pakistan, because of the values that this society has. It makes one really contemplate, and seriously. He was speaking at a press conference which he addressed in Islamabad with the visiting Saudi Health Minister, as reported in this daily.
Having digressed from Aamna Samna let me return to it. The participants in that programme were two political leaders from the Tribal areas, both members of the National Assembly. One of them was the forthright and upright Maulana Mairajuddin.
The subject the two leaders were focusing on was the government's action and attitude in the Wana context. Both gentlemen kept arguing and vehemently saying that the situation in that part of Pakistan was serious and grim, and that there were Pakistanis who had been killed in the action and confrontation there. That it was wrong to say that those killed were foreigners., they argued. Talat Hussain kept reminding them that they had not been able to provide any evidence to the nation of whatever they had been claiming. On the other hand the two MNAs kept on saying that neither had the Pakistan government been able to provide proof that those who were killed were foreigners.
The Wana issue and that of President General Pervez Musharraf's uniform are amongst two of the themes that have been in the mainstream of much of the TV that we have been exposed to.
Staying up late on Saturday night, and channel surfing at that I saw a large part of the long programme on CNN about the 'Nuclear Terror' that the world, in particular the United States faces at this point in time and that this threat is likely to grow in the days to come. As someone said it is always interesting to see how the media, the world over, handles the big issues that societies and nations across the globe face.
One of the participants in this CNN special on nuclear threat said that were the terrorists to strike the United States in the days to follow, the 9/11 strike would appear like a "toothache".
This programme showed that one of the ways in which terrorists could get nuclear material into the United States is through the container trade, and that California was one entry point. Of course there were serious areas of deep concern in the CNN investigation and it made one wonder in anxiety about the world we live in.
Interestingly in countries like Pakistan, when you see channels like STN or hear some of the naïve talk in our morning current affairs and chat shows it makes you feel that the world has no threat at all.
That's the way developing countries media feed their audiences, targeting promises and selling rhetoric!! Or live in the imagined glory of the past. Or enable foreigners to glorify the poverty of the masses and describe it as "culture".!!!
Channel surfing that I did on Sunday morning enabled me to see two channels, B4U and ZEE TV. Both channels, at about the same time, around 11am were telecasting old Indian film songs, in programmes called Best of Love Ballads (B4U) and Star Geet Mala (ZEE TV) It was a difficult choice and I hope to focus on what I saw next week. I hope to see more of this old fashioned romance on celluloid, where the beauty of the beloved eyes is what and only what matters.
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