In this point-counterpoint session, the portrayal of women in serials, no representation of the disabled community on the small screen, violence, influences on children were among the other issues discussed.

An organised platform of television watchers, the Viewer's Forum rounded up the year with a three-hour interaction between audience groups and representatives of the media industry. The aim was to look at both the positive and negative trends in terms of treatment of a programme.

Audience groups from Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Delhi argued with Neena Gupta, producer-director of Tere Mere Sapne Ashok Pandit and script writer B.M. Vyas about what television has to offer. Representatives of the forum from Lucknow raised the question of ``a responsible medium''. ``While talking to young girls in Lucknow, we realised that television does have an impact,'' said a member. ``Women in villages around Lucknow have told us to inform producers that they should not show women in a negative light because it affects their lives also.''

Promoting materialism on screen was the other issue debated. Viewers wanted to know why serials had to be shot only in big bungalows and not in flats. ``It is difficult to move cameras and lights in a small flat,'' laughed Neena Gupta. On a more serious note, Pandit explained: ``What we show has to look good on the screen. Moreover, audiences want it.''

Speaking about the constraints of serial-making, Pandit added that revenue and TRPs influenced the final product. ``A forum like this is required because as of now, channels believe what the TRPs say,'' said Pandit. ``If TRPs for a programme dip, it is taken off the air. The competition is fierce and within the limitations, everybody is trying to make something different and be creative.''

Basti Manch members talked about making choices, the subject Sushma Seth emphasised in the inaugural session. ``Parents have to set the example and if they don't want their child to see a particular kind of programming they have to not see it themselves,''

Gupta says. ``But that is not happening. The monitoring has to come from within.'' The other point raised by the audience was that people identify with certain characters in a serial and tend to look for solutions to their own problems in the programme. The television people countered this by saying that opinions are welcome but a serial finally shows what the producer, director and writer believe in.

Agreeing with them, a Basti Manch member summed it up: ``The viewer has to decide whether the solution in a serial is the right one for them or not. The choices made on television may suit some of us and in case of the others, well they have to look for their answers.''