It was one of those lazy Sunday afternoons and I was goofing around with the TV remote, when this rather animated discussion on a news channel caught my eye. The topic of the discussion was the show “Sach ka Samna” which has started broadcasting recently and is being hotly debated everywhere. It seems to have infuriated the moral police again and even has incurred the wrath of the government. Though I could not make much sense of the overlapping shrieks coming out of the news channel discussion, I sure felt like adding a bit of fuel from my side into this fire. So here I am, back from my prolonged blogging hiatus and ready with yet another lecture.
Our erstwhile K-serial queen, who was a participant in the TV discussion claimed that the show is pure adult content and is really damaging to our moral, social etc values. On the other hand, Mr. Rajiv, who is the host of the show, argued it gives the participants a chance to redeem themselves. Well, from what I saw in the show, nothing looked even remotely adult in nature, though some questions are definitely provocative and embarrassing. But when the contestant is ready to face the music, fully aware that he/she might be raped/humiliated mentally, why we Tom, Dick and Harry have a problem? Talking about redemption, Mr. Rajiv'c argument is pretty outrageous. With one crore prize money at stake, redemption is obviously the last thing on the contestant's mind. It is pure greed and lust for money, as simple as that. And when they are ready to risk/trade their modesty in front of others for money, why should we cry foul? It aint as if they were kidnapped/forced to appear in the show or just dropped from the skies, without a clue to the show’s nature. And far more vulgar stuff’s moving around all the time, why target this particular show?
Dont get the impression that yours truely's the biggest fan of this show, am just trying to figure out the hoopla over its moral/immoral debate. Nobody’s a saint, and we all made mistakes in our lives. But life goes on. Is there really a point in digging up the ghosts from the past, that too in front of a billion people? If you are ready/willing/brave/stupid enough to do that for an obscene amount of money and risk your own wellbeing, then it’s nobody’s fault. And as a viewer if you are not comfortable, then you always have the freedom to switch off the channel/TV.
However this logic does not imply that one has the license to air anything as per his/her whims and fancies. We must set the limit somewhere. But it should not be biased on a particular show. What about all those contraceptive ads? Aren’t they adult in nature? How come they get slots in prime time and always pop up when you are watching some supposedly family drama? If we are considered mature enough to view them, this show is kid stuff.
That sums up my side of argument. So, should I go ahead and participate, you may ask, since I have done my bit of advertising for it. Well, I am no Mr. perfect. And as per an old jungle saying “bugs are the birthright of all softwares”. Hence even if I reincarnate as a saint, in all probability I will not risk my modesty in the hands or rather the circuitry of a polygraph machine (our esteemed Supreme Court too agrees with me on this point).
But don’t you feel discouraged by my preaching. As Mr. Rajiv says, go ahead and redeem yourself. Tell the truth and earn the “incentive”. Can’t wait to see u dance to his tunes..err..questions :-)
