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I have often found that the content of India 360 is accentuated by a sense of over righteousness. As I tuned in to CNN-IBN on Monday evening, I realized that continuum makes tobacco debate enraged the usual panelists. Ever so often you heard the word ‘Children’ being dropped. The word, I am convinced, is perhaps the last and only effective weapon left in the anti-smoking lobby’s arsenal. The argument is simple-film and TV personalities should not be seen with a stick of nicotine dangling from their lips because they are role models who our infants are just waiting to emulate. The ‘cool’ factor forces me to concede some credence to that point of view but the proposition that all sale of tobacco should be banned because the country’s future will blow itself out through the proverbial chimney, has left me baffled. Any sane adult is aware of the risk that comes with cigarettes but if he chooses to challenge fate, that surely should be an option given to him or her, in or off screen. If the impressionable child still buys himself a pack, the buck needs to stop with the parents. I mull over this point because the debate is symptomatic of a larger sanitized utopia, imagined repetitively by the right, Cable operators in Bombay are refused permission to broadcast because some of the movie channels aired disregard the ‘A’ certificate. As a collective society, we seem to have given up all hope in responsible parenting that would ensure domestic censoring. Or in an extort to ensure votes, governmental agencies went to present themselves as being excessively sympathetic toward parent, thereby helping them bypass that uncomfortable stage of strict refusal. The repressed sadist in me was rather pleased to see Fashion TV throw caution to the wind. Their raunchy Midnight hot segment has been moved from the obvious midnight slot to 9.30 pm. Dressed in a tantalizing negligee, a seemingly French model extolled the virtues of the derriere, which the insisted was far more appealing than the bosom. I was half-expecting to see pictures of the FTV India office being burnt the next day or the channel being pulled down but I am still wondering why neither happened. They were, after all, broad-casting ‘pornography’, which would obviously entice our offspring to rape. If this argument is considered laughable, then only feminism can explain the furor over the lack of slip and excess of hip. But if we are to advocate the feminist a proach, common sense dictates that the first casualty should be the K brand of family dramas, where the length of the blouse-sleeve dictates how good or bad a female character really is. After a week of trying my best ot forsake my addiction to ‘Western’ channels such as Star World and Movies’ I have come to the conclusion that in an effort to appeal to the lowest common age denominator, Indian television can best cater to imbeciles or adults with infantile intelligence. Indian comedy has not moved beyond the slapstick and the nation‘s movies channels get rights to times that just about make the B category. l And talking about film, bolywood seems to have entrenched its tentacles across Indian television. The awful tradition of melodramatic and multiple zooming that defined 60s Hindi cinema have recently been discovered by the spas, while the wardrobe of our television ‘stars’ continues to be inspired by Karan Johar’s candy-flossed dreams. The only difference being that K.JO can affored that Manhattan designed, while Ektaa Kapoor has to settle for Andheri dari. India pop alos seems to have given up the flight and surrendered coveted air space on music channals to the likes of Himesh Reshammaiya and Co. The only consolation that Chanel (V) has to offer is the rise of its outrageously funny ‘beauty on duty’ Loal kutty, the only original Indian’ offering in my mind. The one blessing or Indian television comes in the disguise of an exhausted national cricket tem The more naked their schedule, more the chance of us being collectively entertained of equally disheartened. Undeniable proof of the fact television is truly a medium for all.