The change agent Hey people, I m back. I have finally managed to get some wireless internet in my laptop and that enables me to write this today.

I have been thinking about this for some time - when did political satire actually begin on TV? What prompted us to abandon the sad old "andhaa kanoon" and "rishwatkhor mantri" dialogues for some, admittedly loud, political jokes and satire. My thoughts were primarily directed towards trying to find the source, the "change agent" of all this. And having recently read "Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, I was looking for some unconventional answers.

And I stumbled upon a name - hold your breath - "Shekhar Suman". Yup, the same, loud, degenerative Shekhar Suman that we usually see in late night shows. Do I hear you ask Why? Thankfully, I've given some thought to that as well. It all started with the late night Shekhar Suman show "Mover and Shakers", where Shekhar Suman, horrors of horrors, rather than sticking to the script and only interviewing stars and starlets about their private lives, started making fun of some of our politicians as well!!! And, it was not one of those no-names basis fun, it was clearly aimed at a few, admittedly jocular, figures of the public administration.

The consequence took some time in coming, and it was not the standard 'shut-down-the-program-or-I-will-get-the-taxman-on-you' kinds. Initially, people watched in trepidation, half expecting Shekhar Suman to be out of his job in a couple of months. Then people watched in amazement as nothing of the sort happened. And, finally, inevitably, people joined in. Countless copy-cat programs sprung up, and no one was spared from the general comic mayhem, not even the generally serious T N Seshan.

Whether Shekhar Suman was a conscious contributor or not, I don't know, but his is surely a visible contribution. And I think Indian media is richer because of that.  ¶ 5:18 PM