Outlook Magazine, October 20, 2003
Bhakti Button
God rides the ether as his angels, in many flavours, reach
for sofa-bound souls
[by] Harsh Kabra
Preaching was never so lucrative. With salvation outsourced,
the boob tube now wants to be your drawing-room deliverer,
promising armchair enlightenment and remote-controlled
emancipation.
What started with good old Doordarshan‚s pioneering daybreak
discourses was fleetly espoused by almost all satellite channels,
culminating in Maharishi Veda Vision, Sanskar, Aastha and,
most recently, Sadhna, all with an overtly Hindu bent, much
like the Christian agenda of God TV, the Syro-Malabar
Church-promoted Jeevan TV, MiracleNet, Eternal World
Television‚s Global Catholic Network and Human Upliftment
Organisation‚s Golden Age Television. And as Muslims
appropriated specks of Pakistan TV and Arabic channels, the
Sikhs have leaned towards Alpha Punjabi, Lashkara and ETC
Punjabi for their feed of telly spirituality˜the latter prized
by expats for Gurbani beamed from Amritsar‚s Golden temple.
And this plethora hasn't kept more players from sallying into
the fray. ATN International's bilingual Ahimsaa TV debuted
on Gandhi Jayanti this year, and Sanskriti and Sudarshan TV
are in the works.
Eyeball dynamics bear out the enthusiasm. At least 50 per
cent of the 40-plus age group, accounting for over 60 per cent
of the estimated 150 million viewers in the 24 million cable
homes in India, are believed to have taken to spirituality on
the tube. A share that's poised to surge with higher cable and
satellite TV penetration in India, which, reports Media Partners,
stood at 53 per cent in 2002 and will scale up to 65 per cent
by 2015 astride a subscriber base of 96 million. The overall
current share of religious channels may be a scrimpy 1 per
cent, but it still translates into an average weekly reach of
15 million (TAM Media Research) for the five major channels
in July ‚03 (see chart).
Spiritual channels, like the rest of their free-to-air clan, survive
on airtime sales and sponsorships (God TV also receives
donations). Their modest tariff cards have steadily drawn
advertisers looking to improve niche exposure and campaign
frequency. "The advertiser finds that our viewer is patient and
doesn‚t surf channels," asserts Dilip Kabra of Sanskar.
On their part, the Hindu channels are just waking up to the
idea of content being the key differentiator. But as Ashish Bhasin,
director, Integrated Marketing Action Group, Lowe India, avers:
"As of now, all channels look the same. The content begs
improvement." Kabra is more realistic: "A lot needs to be done,
but issues of financial viability stifle costly projects...."
Which is where usps atrophy. Like in real-world spirituality,
those who believe in nothing can be seen lapping up virtually
anything. One sees celebrity speakers like Sudhanshuji Maharaj
trailed by a growing breed of self-appointed masters claiming
to interpret ancient esoteric knowledge, chivvying nebulous
notions of inner peace. Souls materialistic are lambasted for
their ever-growing possessions by ever-more expensive gurus.
One wonders if the speakers and audiences are animated as
much by the ideas at hand as by the presence of a TV camera;
or if cant is a natty shortcut to social acclaim.
It‚s the swelling throngs at gala discourses that inspired
channels like Sanskar in the first place. Says Kabra: "The
country is imbued with spirituality...there existed a ready
audience." Rakesh Gupta, MD, Sadhna TV, was spurred by
the tightening tentacles of the soap culture: "Sadhna was
envisaged as a medium to extricate viewers from the
imaginary world of fiction, where vices are shown in the
name of Indian culture and producers play with the
emotions of viewers."
Passion is all right. But it can't offset tentative production
standards, poor execution. How can content like home
videos of devotional songs and congregations ever poach
upon the audiences of chic soaps and film shows? Kabra
insists it‚s a myth that home videos do not amount to quality
content. "Not only would you find high levels of devotion
in them, they also showcase promising singers," he explains.
The channels are also changing tack, to claim the attentions
of diverse age groups. Some like the Kochi-based
Jeevan TV have become entertainment channels with
spirituality confined to daily slots. Others are zooming in on
younger age groups with programmes on yoga, Art of Living.
A flip through Aastha and Sadhna unleashes a slew of
astrologers and Vaastushastra or Feng Shui experts
bombarding you with contact details and rate cards for
various 'services'. Aren't these channels becoming ready
vehicles of promotion for some? Gupta concedes they
are, but adds: "These subjects are closely related to our
culture, scientifically proven and popular. Even the
government is approving full-fledged courses in astrology
and vaastu."
The political abuse of the medium is another apprehension.
Political analyst A.S. Ojha recently told a news agency:
"These channels may not be party to poll pandering but
our right-wing parties will discover ways to use them to
legitimise their ideologies." TV producer Kiran Mittal trod
a step ahead. "They have a political slant," he declared.
"When they talk of promoting Indian heritage, why do
they only promote Hinduism and no other religion?"
Gupta spars: "We are only spreading the message of
peace and harmony enshrined in Hinduism...to talk
about India without Hinduism is like talking about a
person without a conscience." Iqbal Malhotra, director
of Delhi-based aim Television, concurs: "The channels
are not purveying a militant Hindu line. There is no
evidence of a party or ideological line. They are tapping
into a niche, a lucrative market thirsting for a blend of
eastern spiritualism, western precepts."
Which way do you then look at the likes of God TV?
Reveals Thomas Robinson, channel director for Asia
and Middle East: "Our channel is about spreading the
love of God, helping people find God. It‚s not about a
religion but about the person Jesus who brings joy
and peace into our lives." Are such Christian channels
stabs at countering the Hindu movement? Robinson
denies it: "We respect the varied culture and beliefs
of everyone and have nothing to do with the Hindu
movement."
So is all this marking a waypost in the evolution of a
certain genre, undecided about distinctions between
institutional religion and bona fide spirituality. Says
Santosh Kumar Jain, MD, ATN International: "Ahimsaa
believes in a multi-religious platform, a new market in
the area of social TV aimed at all age groups and faiths.
(But) I don‚t think there‚s anything wrong with
channels focusing on one faith, like MTV focuses on the
youth." Says Suresh Chavanke, COO, Sudarshan TV:
"We want to blend socialism and spiritualism and replace
the political bent of social activities with a philosophical
bent."
All in all, the concepts seem worthy, pronounces Bhasin,
but "they‚ll succeed only through a mix of entertainment
and education.And in the long run, only one or two
players will survive in every genre."
So talk of commercialisation of spirituality be damned, is
it time to give in to the spiel? As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says,
"The mind has become commercial and can only be
captured commercially." Amen.
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