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Defence minister Sitharaman berates DD on Twitter, CEO promises action
The minister slammed the public broadcaster for ‘thoughtless’ and ‘insensitive’ interruption of a musical event to air advertisements
Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman likes her music and does not take kindly to ad breaks.
On Saturday, after a live telecast of the annual Tyagaraja Aradhana , a musical event to pay homage to Telugu saint-composer Tyagaraja – was abruptly cut off to air advertisements, the defence minister took to Twitter to berate public broadcaster Doordarshan.
In a tweet that soon went viral on the micro-blogging site, the minister slammed the broadcaster for ‘thoughtless’ and ‘insensitive’ interruption of the programme, that she was enjoying.
“Yo @DDNational what! You couldn’t wait for a few moments more for the Pancharatna Krithi-s to be completed. Advertisement and more. #Aradhana #Tyagaraja . Thoughtless, insensitive,” she tweeted.
While her tweet was responded to immediately by Shashi Shekhar, CEO of Prasar Bharati of which DD is an arm, promising action, the minister in a series of tweets referred to the live telecast as a musical treat and thanked DD for its live coverage.
“Thanks @DDNational for live telecast of this musical tradition. Such a treat to watch so many young aspiring musicians, as with every year, joining in the #Aradhana . Music lovers look forward to re-energise themselves by linking here.#Tyagaraja”.
“Now live on @DDNational #Aradhana #Tyagaraja in sweet #Telugu, sung by all. Tyagaraja’s bhakti was the longing of an earthly being to unite with his Maker who he saw in Sri Rama. Tyagaraja cared nothing about living in poor financial condition- just kept pouring out his heart,” she tweeted.
An annual event, Tyagaraja Aradhana sees Carnatic musicians congregate to pay homage to the saint at his final resting place on the banks of Cauvery in Tamil Nadu.
