She suffered from T.V.

Manisha (name changed on request) was very excited. She had been invited by NDTV to its show. “Some show called Money Mantra, I guess”, she told me.
“Great!” I said, “Do let me know when I’ll be able to see you on T.V.”
“Of course”, she said, all eager to be seen on T.V.
I wasn’t much excited for I had many a times refused to oblige NDTV people by my presence amongst the audience. But ignorant her, she really was happy to have been given the offer. (I was trying imagining how she must have reacted at the time when she was given the offer. But somehow, I always found myself not imaginative enough to get the exact reaction)
“Three of my friends accompany me to the studios. They’ll send a cab to pick us up and drop us back!”
This was one thing I hadn’t ever known. They send a cab to pick the audiences up! Gosh! There must be too many of my kind who turns down their offers.
“Cool!” I said, “I hope you have a nice time. I’ll be waiting to see you on T.V.”

The lucky day finally arrived.
How was it? Here’s a summary of what she told me.

The cab arrived at 10:15 am to drive four of their precious audiences to their fully Air Conditioned studios (She felt cold there.)
The shooting (something on travel and tourism) began at 11. It continued for about one and a half hour. It was so very boring (with host, Pankaj questioning ‘some’ Ankur, ‘something’ in travel and tourism industry) She took it, anyways, with the broadest of smiles on her face. (She was to be seen on TV!)
Whew! Somehow, it got over and now the cab would drive them to their college, where there’ll probably be some people talking about economics and stuff; But that’ll be more interesting than an episode on Travel and Tourism.
The cab? Where’s the cab gone?
Damn! They took a three-wheeler to their college. They were confused, frustrated and exhausted. But, they still were excited.
5 pm- the telecast on TV!
5 pm- she, with her family, took a seat on the sofa facing the TV and switched on what had been the most ignored channel.
She went the whole (boring) thing again just to get a glimpse of herself. The whole family sat without blinking even once. They waited and watched. It was only Ankur and Pankaj on TV, and a few of the lucky audiences, at times. But no Manisha.
They did not lose patience. They watched continuously.
And there! A little bit of the suit she wore was seen.
The show ended. So did the enthusiasm.

So much for a part of her salwaar-kameez being shown on TV!

I wouldn’t make a guess on whether she’ll accept such offers again.
But she is definitely a positive thinker.

“But I forgot to tell you something”, she said.
What, I wondered.
“One of the boys amongst the audiences was real smart!”

Every cloud has a silver lining (no matter how negligible it may be)