Go Radhika Go, Get out of Hyderabad!

Easy, easy, Radhi, we like you, like you being around. Our Fatwa is just an ode to you!! How long have you been around, in the city & @ NDTV? Have you been told lately by anyone — You have come of age in the profession! In your not so long stint at NDTV you have already handled diverse assignments with aplomb. We have been watching you with delight. Your language and diction are good, but that’s not what sets you apart. In this era of loud mouthed (and big bosomed) college passouts dominating the news channels, yours is a refreshing presence. Besides professional competency, you have an understated presence on the screen, that’s so likeable (distraction too!). TS too is subdued on the screen, but that’s only expected weariness of a veteran!! Unlike him, there is elegance and assurance in your underplayed on-screen presence. That’s a very special talent, you know.

Back to the question, how long have ye been ’round? Get going gal, exit Hyderabad, seek a better position…let your potential blossom. Continuing in Hyderabad is like getting stuck in an organizational silo.. step out else you would allow yourself to be infected with the laziness of the aging seniors… you know what we mean.. remember the shoot at your …? Before any more of those gaffes, free yourself. None would have told you… You have the smoothness of Burka without her feigned earnestness and the casualness of Sonali without her arty-farty silliness. Seek and find opportunity to unlock your potential. You would make it. Here’s wishing you luck.

Guys, you suspect we love Radhika? You bet! Let's hear from you @ apmedia@rediffmail.com.

Media Churn

Quo Vadis Ram? Finally, yes finally, Ram Karan is exiting from the Times Of India. The Super Cop who ruled the Desk at ToI Hyderabad since inception in 2000 and outlasted the narcissist Jyotirmaya Sharma and wily Mukherjee has however been outdone by the slithery Nag, Kingshuk. Well, may be Ram’s just tired of battling the cretins. Ram was always known to have the potential but it was in ToI that he made a scintillating display of it. Shorn of niceties and irascible at times, the tall and lean Ram is undoubtedly peerless in the profession — a cut above the rest. So, whose gaining from ToI’s loss? DC is agog that Ram is coming in! “Our Ram (TVR) has roped him in,” says one DC chap. Some of them are already foreseeing the future, despite past failures at it. “If Ram comes in, who would go out?” they ask. Is that so? Let’s see. Anyone with more info, please write in.

Sources say The Hindu is interested in taking Ram. At least one senior is said to be lobbying for him, undertaking secret missions to Chennai. Maybe, he must have realised the need imrpove editorial standards of the local content.! Anyone in the know, plz tell us.

But wait, Ram may be the second senior scribe to join the corporate at a senior position, after Sudhakar Reddy and at the same Co, i.e. Satyam Comp! Inside info, anyone? write to apmedia@rediffmail.com

Telugu scribes just walk in to DC: When KSR moved from Etv to DC many were surprised. Many jaws dropped cause nobody ever thought the hop from RFC to 36 SD Road was so short and easy. Krishna Prasad moved in next and then everyone knew DC is an easy game. Now, all scribes know that DC is there just for the asking… they just need to walk in. And why not when many are walking out. Ayub Ali did the reverse hop from 36 SD Rd to RFC. Someone, plz double check this and let’s know. Nobody knows if Man Friday Gowri Shankar is taking the jump. For now he is on the wall. Any updates on him? Poor chap Gowri, will he have the heart to return, after that stinker of a mail from the editor he was so pally with!!

Ramoji will be 70

Media mogul Ramoji turns 70 next month. The 'King Scorpion' who enjoys the "king maker" epithet, and currently smarting from the loss of that power, is said to be making plans for a big celebration befitting his (lost?) stature! Eenadu guys please fill us in on what's cooking. The world knows atheist Ramoji loves being idolized by staff (slaves). We also know how you massage his ego (we will discuss your quarterly reports in detail later!) with your submissiveness and sycophancy. The occasion must be right for you to rededicate yourselves to the service of the Master and make a vulgar display of your loyalty to His Highness. The cronies must be looking forward to the day and surely would have aces up their sleeves to be one up over the others in pleasing your Lord. Let's hear it from you people. We would love that stuff!! Write at apmedia@rediffmail.com

Useful tip for DC guyz

Let's say you are a DC reporter and it's 10.15 pm and you are heading home (alone of course), after, as usual, a hard day’s work…. dog tired, upset and frustrated! Suddenly you get a call from DC bosses asking to file list of special stories that you would be working for the next one month. (Yes, it does happen to us! And in what style!!)

Good story ideas are a must, investigative reports are the latest obsession, they tell you. Ensure two special stories per week and two good reports every day. Press conferences are a strict NO NO. Do not crib that you are working alone (For those unlucky ones in the backwaters (districts)).

And no compromise on the rules when you work on a story. Story should be NON-political, NON-administrative (no bureucrats), NON-plug, NON-profile, NON-controversial, NON-featuristic, NON-celebrity, NON-Loksatta, NON-Chiranjeevi & family, NON-Nagarjuna & family, NON-Dasari and other politicians, (Reddy politicians are okay).. and wait the story should be NON-downmarket which means nothing on Tribals, Rickshawallahas, Monkeys and all those LESS MISERBALES who can't read English, DO NOT ever bring them on to the pages, you are warned! Hey, there is a silver-lining, for those who can’t correctly spell journalism without spell check, the story CAN be non-journalistic!. Sigh, is that a relief?

Now Read on.... You suddenly start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to adiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself. HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE AND THAT TOO WHEN IT’S A RESULT OF PRESSURE MOUNTED ON YOU BY THE QUIRKY EDITOR OF DC: Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives!!