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 !