On Thursday Aaj Tak, which apparently ran out of news, tried to grab eyeballs by its 'special programme' Mahanagar ke Mard.
A girl in micro-mini was sent out on the roads as bait and the expressions of youths and men who turned to look at her, were captured by camera. The aim was to show that the most Indian men are characterless and ogle at women.
But it was a disaster from the beginning. Firstly, the woman was deliberately made to wear such a provocative dress, was in itself an unethical thing. Anybody wearing such a dress in chilly Delhi winter will invite stares.
The dress was not only short (I am not saying vulgar) but also grotesque. Eve teasing is bad. But if a man stares at a beautiful woman, it's not a crime. But the channel gave an impression as if all Indian male are such (deprived of the sight of females) and the anchor was too judgemental.
The camera captured the behaviour of many persons but probably found just one or two persons that was a bit objectionable. But the aim was sensationalizing the issue and thus it was turned an All Male Vs All Female thing.
The anchor was clearly opinionated: all Metro (urban) Men are like That. Frankly, it's human nature. If men won't look at a beautiful woman, where they will. Due to social reasons Women may not stare at men openly, but its irrational and un-biological to expect that married men won't look at other women.
Then the channel was invited reaction through opinion poll and it was again a big disaster. The first flash said 'Vote A if you blame Men' but the Second line said 'Send SMS to A if you think her short dress is to be blamed'. This flustered the viewers and strangely the Aajtak-walas noticed this blunder only after half an hour, which was then corrected.
We are neither male chauvinists nor feminists. But such cheap tricks, just for the sake of TRPs and making news out of nothing, shows the channel in poor light. After all, it is the channel's own Prabhu Chawla who salivates the most when he interviews a model or an actress from Rakhi Sawant to Mallika Sherawat.
