Indian reality TV show: The Business of Education

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I was going to take off today from writing being a Sunday, however, when I stumbled upon this video on CNN today morning, could not help but to share the video and my thoughts with you.

The Indian reality TV shows have soared in popularity over last few years . Obviously, we all know about Indian Idols and Antakshari and SaReGaMa, but this new reality show on Indian TV has perplexed me. I am not in India, so I am not really in touch with what is happening on Indian TV and reality shows. My understanding is purely based on this video, so correct me if I am wrong.

In shows like these, there are thousands of participants, and I must say a lot of them have talents, but there is only one winner. In the finals when there are 5 to 10 contestants remaining, it is mostly decided by their luck, more than knowledge and skill. If you get something that you know, you are in luck otherwise you have put your head down in disappointment and walk away.

Have you ever thought about what must be happening to tens and hundreds participants who have lost, especially in a reality show like this (I don’t know the name) about education. All the contestants are vying for a slot for scholarship at a renowned UK University. The 5 who get the coveted prize will be touching the sky, but what about others ?

Have you thought about what happens to their confidence, their morale? How badly this is going to affect the way they look at their life. Yes, some of them might not get affected, but for majority of them are shattered and more often than not it affects them adversely. The pains of this one show is carried by them all their life.

Ask the psychological doctors in Mumbai. They now get hundreds of cases of young adults who have gone into depression because they either lost, or could not make a cut in these reality TV shows.

However, for Television channels, this has trend been a boon. The reality TV shows get highest TRP ratings and thereby huge advertising revenue. They get their pockets full, but what about the thousands of young people who are shattered and have got altered and not so positive perspective of life !

What is your take- Do you agree with me, or do you think this is good for young Indians, this kind of competitions make them work hard and get the best out of them ?

The Indian Education Reality TV Show – video powered by Metacafe

Interesting fact from video: US has 3000 universities for a population of 300 million, whereas India has 350 universities for a population of 1 Billion !

8 Comments
  1. sudarshna says

    Reality Shows display the reality of life because same as life it can change a whole person .we know our first indian idol abhijeet sawant he was a simple person now he is a faous super star .antakchhari is the first reality show in india . but now a days there are so many reality shows like sa re ga ma pa, 10 ka dum ,k,b,c indian idol etc.

  2. Priya.SB says

    I believe that the reality shows r destructing d INDIAn culture and adopting or simply xeroxing the western stupidity.At first d Indian govt. shud wake up and close such unhealthy programs in t.v. otherwise india is gonna lose the values of tradition n culture and m sure that the innoscent audience r gng 2 spoil their life by implying the bad appearance in their day 2 day life.And i trust that the only effective media i.e.,television is responcible 4 it.

  3. Pooja says

    well here’s POOJA AGRAWAT ( 12th grade) .
    well i dont think that i have attained the age by which i can comment on such serious topic observed by bunch of erudite and paragon personalities but still based on my understanding i can jst say that i accede with the writer of the piece . These reality shows really shatters the dreams of the young participants and lead them to the state depression as at this stage we are loved n appreciated by our peers or acquaintances and we guys really cant face any negation specially on such a large scale, as it proves a person futile n good for nothing which is the most hidious thing done to the youngsters and thus leads to the rise of feeling of despise against everyone known .
    I too accede that one must be strong enough to face the negation if the person has participated but i must also add that it all just due to young achieves or the easy fame that imbibe in every teen the feeling of avidnes in order to achieve the same …….or we can say the envious feeling .

    Thus lastly I want to conclude that government must ban these reality shows and prevent its glorious future which is really in the hands of these teens who are enduring .

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  5. Neha says

    I agree that these shows have an effect on the young contestants. However, they may be affected only after being rejected after a few rounds – closer to the finals. The children in who feel demoralized on being eliminated in the first 2 rounds itslef may already have some excess baggage.
    It is appalling how these shows film broken contestants and embarrass them even more. Maybe this could add to their trauma hence deepening the wound.
    But with time, you can see a slow but gradual change in the way the hosts an judges tackle contestants who do not make it to the next round. They are more sensitive while telling them they have not made it. They also give them some sort of encouragement message.

  6. Jolsna says

    The platform is definitely a closer step to acheive the proximity to their dreams and ambitions but to think of the process in the show. There is an open discrimination against the contestants in presence of a large public where their efforts are totally ignored and their negativity is pointed out which will affect them. Everyone attends the competition to win hence there will be a chance of break down if they loose it.
    The more surprising fact is the media utilising these shows to increase there TRP by stressing the embarrassing situations. It definitely attracts a lot of viewers and the result is shown to the telecom industry. But we fail as Human beings to realize that the other person is also humane and he would be hurt the same way we are. I am against that point and not the reality shows in particular.

  7. trakin says

    I’d say the same thing, if the case was of an adult in his twenties or later.
    However, most of the contestants, in this show or others are teenagers of age 16 to 19. I do not think that at that stage they are yet prepared for a fiercely competitive and widely covered programme. I guess at this age a failure at such a grand stage as this, may dent their pyschology to large extent.
    Sure these shows provide a platform for people to showcase their skillsets, but it is for people who are mature enough and can take the failure in their stride.
    However, young teenagers have a brittle psychology and once broken is difficult to repair.

  8. Jim Norton says

    Well I’d say that it’s not the reality TV program that is to blame for the “shattered” losers. Yes I can see that people on those contest programs would be dissapointed at losing a great chance for a scholarship but honestly if a person is so traumatized by losing a TV game then something about that persons pyschological makeup was already damaged before taking part in the show.

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