[IMC-Editorial] [India Thinkers Net] Bhakti Button

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Bhakti Button

God rides the ether as his angels, in many flavours, reach 
for sofa-bound souls

Harsh Kabra
Outlook mag. issue dt. Oct 20, 2003
 


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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