Wordalicious

This post is a direct consequence of the ridiculous drama that has been going on in the Parliament regarding a not so innocuous TV show which has taken the country by storm. The show in question here is called “Sach Ka Samna”, an Indian version of the American reality show, A Moment Of Truth. The Show is unique in its format, as it tests neither your intelligence nor your physical prowess, but your mental fabric and the ability to speak the truth, come what may. The game poses a series of questions ranging from personal to highly intimate, some of which might actually end up breaking relationships, for these questions are asked in  front of the very people you love, and the truth has to be spoken right on their faces, irrespective of the consequence. So, the format is simple, you answer 21 difficult questions, and if you speak the truth (the answers are verified by a Polygraph test), you win a handsome amount (1 crore Indian rupees in this case).

Now, rarely has a TV show generated as much interest among the common mass, as this one. And this is because people get to see someone from among them, come up on stage and blurt out their feelings on various topics which are considered taboo in our highly-vexed society.  Since few of the questions were a little uncomfortable, keeping in mind that even kids might watch it, the show was given a late-night slot by Star, so that only the adults in the house could watch it, without having to worry  about their kids, who would be in their dreamlands by that time.  Now the entire furore started when a moron, whom we hand-picked to represent us in the Parliament, raised his eye-brows regarding this non-controversial show. According to him, the show was destroying the moral fibre of the society. Strike one. He pointed out that since, there was a big difference in the cultures of India and United States of America, something that works in America might not work here. Strike two. He also went on to suggest that there should regulation of the content that goes up on the television. Strike three.

Before beginning my refutations, I would like to point out that I am not a big fan of the TV show either, but our revered MP was suggesting was absurd, bordering more on the ridiculous than anything  else.  Let me first provide a snapshot of some of the questions that were asked on the show.

• This was asked to a woman. “Would you like to sleep with another man, if you knew that your husband wouldn’t ever find out about it?”
• Urvashi Dholakia, a popular TV-artist, was asked, “Were you asked to drop out from college because of you became pregnant while still in college?”
• Another popular TV artist, who apparently had 3 wives, was asked, “Have you ever visited a prostitute?”

Now these are few of the more personal questions that were asked on the show. Now going back to the refutations.

1. The producers of the TV show or the Channel itself has not forced anyone to watch the show. They have not used any sort of the vulgar tactics that the politicians use to win seats in elections, like paying money in order to buy seats, in order to increase the TRP ratings of the show.  The show is not aired at the prime time slot (it is aired at 10:30 in the night). Now it is but common sense to avoid watching things that might not suit your palate, like a lot of people do not watch horror movies because they get scared after watching it and cannot even visit the loo to answer their nature’s call at night. But if you still insist on watching it, nobody is responsible for the consequences. So where does the question of destroying the culture come in here. If people are watching what they want to, and are mature enough to digest it, where is the bloody problem? And exactly what is it about the show that is destroying the fragile culture, which came into being much before you or I even existed. Is it the question regarding cheating on your partner, or is it about teen-pregnancy or something as basic an emotion as greed.  All this is very common in our day-to-day society, so why approach it with a closed mind still? And even if you do insist on approaching it with a pea-sized brain (as one of my friends would say) why emphasize and force your judgements on others, or worse an entire culture itself. This is all so relative for something which might disgust me, might actually appear interesting to someone else. So how does anyone decide, that this particular thing is vulgar and is breaking the moral code of the society. I say, blatant irrationalism.
2. Agreed, that there is a big difference in the cultures of India and America. But are we trying to say that infidelity, teen-pregnancy, adultery exist only in America and not in India, and that they are not a part of our day-to-day society. I would only be kidding myself if I said yes to this superficial question. With changing times, the trends and patterns in our society have changed.  Adultery was looked down upon long back, but now a section of the society indulges in it. I’m not saying that it is the right thing to do, but then it is something that we have to learn to deal with and not shy away from.  Frequenting sex workers is something that is in a way Omni-present, for the Zamindars made it so famous and generations have continued it. So why raise a hue and cry if a person reveals that he did indeed visit a prostitute.  What is the big deal about satisfying your carnal needs (ironically the person in question already had enough resources to satiate his needs, but who am I to question). Without nit-picking too much, what I am trying to say here, is that there a lot of things that happen in today’s society that did not happen back in lets say the 60s or the 50s. So why cringe if people come out and talk about it. What is exactly the harm in talking about it? If talking about such things, breaks relationships, then it is the person
3. Why should there be a regulation on anything that is not under the control of the Babus. Regulate content of Television, Media, and Films. Why?? Why regulate? Why not give the freedom to the masses to watch what they want to watch, to read what they want to read, to listen to what they want to listen. Why not ensure that the common masses have the means to these ends so that they can grow with the rest of the world, rather than being an end to these means itself. If someone needs regulations, it is these babus who make a mockery of our culture, who make a joke of our governing systems and who make a joke of the country itself. Every year, we see at least one video making it to BBC where they show the members of the House going on rampage, hitting each other with chappals, tearing each other apart, in short, making a fool of themselves and the people they represent. We need regulations for the self-anointed Moral Police which beat up women just because they dared to venture some god-forsaken pub. We should have regulations for these stupid political bodies that incite people to fight against their own kin only to fatten their vote-base.  Even if I were to be pragmatic here, how can there ever be regulations on TV, when there are already 400 channels that air shows 24*7. And even if there were a body to regulate all this still, it would have to be autonomous, for corruption has its roots spread out far and wide, which means an additional expense on the government again.

This debate can go on and on and even then there would be a lot of people who blessed with gift of the gab and the pen would write out suitable arguments to each of my points. But that is not my intention. What I intend to say here is, that the Parliament has bigger issues facing it than fighting over a stupid TV show.  Politicians have bigger tasks on their hands, like solving the drought and rain-crisis and deflation and what not than deciding what destroys our indestructible culture.  How can culture be destroyed, if it is we who form the basis of the culture?  As far as I know, I haven’t come across a book where-in the rules and various interpretations of Indian culture have been laid down, and as long as I am in my senses, I wouldn’t come across one in the future too.  So let us all urge our revered Babus to stop fretting over something which changes as we change(Read: Culture) and focus on important, difficult tasks on hand which might change the face of the nation in the years to come.