If one were to do a cross channel run, not a single one topped the Children?s Day celebrations. News channels like CNN IBN did their Citizen Journalist rounds with children, which was laudable. Albeit it was confined to urban children. GEC channels had shows like Udaan weave in the celebrations into the plot, CID had episodes which dealt with a missing young dancer i.e. Faisal Khan and then a hostage situation in a school. All the focus has been on children in the metros. Has anyone spared a thought for children in the villages? Bet no one reached out to them. I tried very hard to check if the national broadcaster had something on show, but drew a blank. But maybe their timings and mine didn?t match.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wasn?t known to discriminate with children ? village children and city children. To him a child was a child; there have been photographs of him with children from the rural areas. Why then the discrimination by the channels and their programming? All revenue linked!

Years ago, during an assignment with the Children?s Film Society, India (CFSI), I saw how starved children in the interiors were for entertainment and films. The Society had scheduled a series of weekend 9 am shows at a cinema hall in Pune; the tickets were priced at Rs 5! The local press and the Society?s marketing person had ensured that schools in villages around Pune were also informed about the show. The first show was already sold out, and then a trailer filled with excited children sitting on top of bales of hay drove up. The man in charge of the kids was pleaded with the manager to let the children sit on the floor for the full price of the ticket!

The reverse side of the coin was the Sunday morning show the Society had in a South Bombay government run auditorium, where again the tickets were really low priced. There would be no more than a dozen people adults and children and that too from the neighbouring dwellings; now there are at least six high rise buildings nearby. In fact, when there was invitee only show at the same venue by the Society, children and parents from the high rise was angling for entry!

A software acquisition scout visited the CFSI office to enquire about films and for any ready children?s programmes with which his company would then curate a children?s hour for various channels. The enthusiasm fizzled out very soon. Although one must credit Sahara TV for telecasting CFSI films regularly and Star Network at one time did so on Saturday afternoons.

Somewhere in this market driven society and media, we forget that most of our country?s children reside in remote villages and tribal areas, than they do in urban centres. Sure the village school teacher would have talked about Pandit Nehru to the students. Imagine if through the channels and media they were made more aware of November 14 - Children?s Day, its significance and what makes it their special day. What joy it would bring to their otherwise mundane lives!

Shouldn?t channels, corporations and the entertainment industry produce a set of shorts which would project a story of empowerment for children in the villages, narrated by a screen idol? That could be run in all languages across channels and take Children?s Day to the villages where India?s real children live. Who knows, CNN IBN could soon have a CJ activity in the rural areas next November 14.

The media, especially television needs to be sensitive to authentic entertainment for children. There are indigenous shows and films which could be shown regularly on channels accessible to the rural areas. Some satellite channels like Colors have a reach in villages in Maharashtra, for instance and Hindi is a common language. Who are we to deprive a child of her/his right to entertainment?