Sunita Williams came as a breath of fresh air for the Gujarati media, tired of reporting the changing political equations in the state ahead of the assembly polls.
Sunita Williams came as a breath of fresh air for the Gujarati media, tired of reporting the changing political equations in the state ahead of the assembly polls in December. Local dailies went to town celebrating the Indian-American astronaut, carrying her life-size pix in traditional gear and settings.
The countdown began almost a week before her arrival, with most dailies printing her detailed schedule three days before she landed. September 19, the day before she arrived, was her 42nd birthday and celebrations by schoolchildren with her father Deepak Pandya and other relatives in attendance occupied maximum space on the front pages of almost all papers. Interviews of her father were printed umpteenth time and her rise chronicled once again.
Controversies surrounding the Congress' attempts to hijack the astronaut's visit and the ruling BJP's indifference to the events because of her family's close ties with slain home minister Haren Pandya also consumed a lot of newsprint.
Like most national newspapers, the lead slot in local dailies on Friday morning was Sunita's Day 1 in Ahmedabad. Every newspaper without exception splashed her as Gujarati pride, with her presence at a prayer meeting in Gandhi ashram providing for an interesting photo-op.
The front-page splash was kept up on Day 2 as well with Sunita making an appearance in her NASA uniform at an awards ceremony. Another exciting photo-op came when she visited her father's village, Jhulasan (Mehsana), and was made to wear a crown!
Gujarati dailies devoted more print space to the many moods of Sunita in traditional Indian garbs than to her speeches and presentations.
The media coverage, however, saw a sudden dip after she categorically refused to make political statements and spoke only about her NASA experiences.
After Jhulasan, Sunita interacted with schoolchildren on several occasions, gave detailed presentations on NASA at various gatherings, including one at Swaminarayan school, but Gujarati dailies gave them a miss. The only other time Sunita made headlines was when she got emotional remembering Kalpana Chawla at a lecture.
Significantly, Sunita consumed more print space before her arrival than during her six-day stay! From full-page spreads in Gujarati dailies Divya Bhaskar, Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh before she arrived, the astronaut's activities received nominal coverage in the six days.
Jumana Shah
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