During the recent debate related to the MLA T V Rama Rao's arrest that was televised in a Telugu TV channel, there were many interesting and concerning observations noted by the unfortunate viewers.
The reporter who was coordinating the debate between PRP's Shobha Rani, TDP's
Nannapaneni Rajakumari and Congress's Ambati Rambabu, not surprisingly, used more number of English words than Telugu words. It has become a habit or a belief amongst several reporters that they gain good popularity and publicity, if they use English as a means of communication. Mind you, these are Telugu TV channels and we as Telugu people are more responsible than reporters themselves for treating our beloved Mother Tongue in a disrespectful manner. Having said that, reporters also have a social & ethical responsibility to ensure that they are respecting the language of the channel, which is obviously Telugu. A great Telugu poet said in the past
-- "we do not respect or love our Mothers, if we do not respect and talk in our Mother Tongue or Native Language".
Ram Gopal Varma has aptly criticized the Telugu media recently that the media is using improper Telugu Language. Instead of taking his comment in their stride and working towards rectifying their mistakes, some sections of the media seems to be upset with his comment and waiting for an opportunity.
This is the sorry state of affairs as far as Telugu media is concerned. They seem to have forgotten the fact that these English words do not have any meaning in Telugu and are subjecting people to forcefully know English, even if they want to watch just Telugu programs. Don't these Telugu TV channels have knowledgeable reporters who can complete a sentence using only Telugu words?
Throughout the debate, there were acrimonious tones, particularly, from Ms. Shobha Rani and Ms. Rajakumari. Although Mr. Rambabu also reacted strongly at times, he was at least respectful towards other participants in ensuring that he does not interrupt them unless absolutely warranted. These kind of loud screaming and talking or shouting at the same time have become a regular phenomenon on any programs that involves politicians, much to the discomfort of viewers. Several viewers must have had headache, if they watched this program for its entire duration. Unless the viewer has 3 heads, one each to pay attention to Ms. Shobha Rani, Ms. Rajakumari and for the combination of Mr. Rambabu & the reporter herself, they wouldn't have been able to understand what is being discussed. It is high time politicians realize, any debate will yield the desired result, if only one person is talking at a given time and others are waiting for their opportunity to respond. They perhaps should learn from people like YSR or Chiranjeevi or Jayaprakash Narayan.
