The Idiot Box?

I come back home at 8:00 from my coaching classes, hoping fervently that the TV will be free for me as I gobble up the delicious dinner that my Granny has made for me. Well, the TV is free and I rejoice; but only for a second. Soon, I am to discover that what you find on the idiot box is a few soap operas where people seem to fall in love, marry and divorce several times in their lifetime (just like Hollywood couples), a comatose patient who was out of the soap for two years has just woken up to discover himself old, his children married and his wife snuggling up another man or a house full of conspiring saas-bahus (mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws).

Next you see King Khan of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, testing a few dim-witted contestants whether they can answer 5th standard questions while he advertises his films by dancing to their songs on the quiz floor quite ridiculously with the participant.

Playing with the remote control a little more, you might witness a handful of well-dressed young talents trying to be the most popular and The BEST on the Indian version of American idol or the several other similar kinds of talent search shows. Actually some of them aren’t even fit for bathroom singing.

Before long, you hear the news of a blast or a stock-market crash being aired on every other channel (Seriously, I fail to understand why you need three dozen news channels, when half a dozen can do the same job). The only thing watchable seems to be the sports channels, but even they don’t entertain as much when you have limited time and watch only 20 minutes of a 90 minute football match, that too in the slot when nobody even gets the ball near the goal posts.

What you end up seeing very so often is undressed actresses enticing you from foam-filled bathtubs promoting the latest of the fragrant soaps or the latest shampoo that will make your hair ‘sleek and shine’. So with a flick of the remote, I switch off the TV and wonder, what’s next?

pragathi