what does it take to become a successful tv pundit a bagful of assorted opinions a wardrobe to match them and mild contempt for the medium writes vinod mehta in his new book i woke up one morning and found i was a mini tv celebrity i had done nothing to deserve the honour i had not sought the prize i had done no homework nobody gave me any tips i had absolutely no idea of what i was getting into it is a distinction which came to me by pure chance in fact i was slightly ashamed of being a mini tv celebrity because oldfashioned print journalists like me hold news television in mild contempt we printwalas so goes our script do the serious stuff the tvwalas do the sex and sensationalism i will not waste much space detailing how and why i became a minor tv celebrity except to record the dubious factbe that as it may for me to pretend that appearing on arnab goswamis newshour is a big chore would be disingenuous it is nice as long as you do it in small doses and that is where i face my first hurdle tv channels may employ rude and ignorant correspondents but the hospitality girls who call up to book the guest for a particular programme are so unfailingly courteous tactful and diplomatic hinting sometimes that their job depends on the guest agreeing to accept the invite that you do not have the heart to say noon many occasions i have said yes when i wanted to say no how do you define a mini tv celebrity who appears on news shows if he is anything like me he is a feku an intelligent feku perhaps but a feku neverthelesshe or she has a full bag of assorted opinions and generalizations most of them not fully thought out or deliberated the trick is to make sure they sound plausible and spontaneous by spontaneous i mean your words must sound as if you have framed them as you speak in the discussion itself i make it a point to stay in the radical middle notwithstanding my numerous biases and preferences i ensure these are always consistent with ground reality in january 2014 for instance it would have been virtually impossible to defend the congress party manmohan singh or sonia gandhi i may have biases or blind spots but i have neither sold my soul to 10 janpath nor entered into any faustian bargain if you are doing a live programme as i usually am it is difficult to tell a lie on air when for instance karan thapar demands menacingly is prime minister manmohan singhs credibility zero now it is intellectually impossible for me to avoid a direct unambiguous answer and indulge in circumlocution or platitudes besides if you lie on television it immediately shows you appear shifty start scratching your nose avoid eye contact with the anchor it is easier to lie