REAL(?)ity SHOWS
How far does the ‘Real’ quotient hold good?


Reality shows have perpetually been popular and since the last few years, a number of reality shows have come up, prominent ones being Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, the American idol, etc . New age reality shows bring in staggering amounts of ratings by placing people in intimidating circumstances. Lot of laughs can be generated from installments of comical segments. Interest in the show by the viewers is sustained by showing the behind-the-scenes- activities of the participants. As mentioned afore, how far does the ‘real’ quotient hold good?

Majority of these shows emphatically state that they solely aim at ‘bringing out the best people in the country and unleashing their talent in the respective fields.’ How far is this true? Of late, these shows have been focusing chiefly on bringing up the TRP ratings rather than on their professed aim. This can be elucidated through the popular show Indian idol aired on Sony twice a week, hosted by Hussein and Chang, the latter being a contestant in the previous season of Indian idol and judged by Anu Mallik, Javed Akhtar, Kailash Kher and Sonali Bendre.

The show starts off with the contestants doing their act and the judges either unanimously stating that he or she is the best or fighting tooth and nail with conflicting decisions. Having seen this season of Indian Idol so far, one can note that Sonali Bendre, right from the start of the show has been rooting for a girl winner. At any given point of time, she can be seen openly supporting the female contestants over the males. Well, it isn’t a bad thing. After all, it would definitely do some good for a girl to win the Indian Idol after three seasons of guys winning it. But do they deserve it?? The last episode’s verdict has shocked many keen viewers of the show . The contestants who form the Top 3 are Sourabhee Deb Verma, Torsha Sarkar and Kapil Thapa .The shocking part is that Rajdeep Chatterjee, the ever smiling 17 year old from Kolkatta has been eliminated. On following the show right from the commencement of the season, it is obvious that Rajdeep, despite being the youngest is one of the most competent contestants on the show. Indeed, he can belt out songs from any genre. Be it a melody of Rafi’s or one of the current day numbers, this boy can sing it flawlessly, mellifluously and carry off his performance with great élan. He has neither compromised on his performance nor on his singing. The same can be said of some of the other contestants like Prasenjit , Bhavya and Shini, all of whom have been eliminated from the show. Few can forget the heartfelt rendering of Ajahun Aaye Balamaa by Prasenjit which gained him an entry into the galas with a wild card or 17 year old Bhavya’s beautiful rendering of nigahen milaneko jee chahta hai which warmed the hearts of the audience. Or so it was thought. Alas, both were prematurely eliminated in the same fashion. We are now left with Torsha, Sourabhee and Kapil as the Top 3 contestants. It can very truthfully be said that contestants like Bhavya, Shini, Rajdeep and Prasenjit can sing what Kapil, Torsha and Sourabhee can , however, undeniably, it cannot happen the other way around.

The focus of this article is mainly on Indian idol 4, but, same is the case with other reality shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa where talented Kaushik Deshpande, Naina Saxsena and Debojit Dutta were eliminated and the likes of Asma Mohammad Rafi stayed on.

Promotional events, advertising, behind the scenes activities, the fierce competition combined with the camaraderie between the contestants, their efforts, the reactions of the judges, the talent of the contestants etc have all been shown and yet, at the close of the day, the best doesn’t make it. It is heartbreaking to see the actual talent being underplayed.

Is it the maker’s fault or is it just that the audience is tone deaf? Is it because the less deserving singers make up for their lack of singing by dancing and performance or is it because the really good ones are not liked . Is the voting just messed up or completely rigged up?




One may never know…….

TO CLEAN OR NOT TO CLEAN.....

‘’Impossible is nothing, nothing is impossible.’’ Whoever said that wasn’t really thinking straight or, they weren’t thinking at all. In all probability, the rate of thought process would have been below 0.5% to say the least. If there is one thing that is impossible, it is cleaning my room. Let me make things clearer- it is impossible for ME to clean MY room.
Many moms all over the world , after reading this would probably gnash their teeth and mutter in disgust, cursing me and dubbing me as the Grinch who stole the joys of cleaning. Oh well, the world is after all made up of many Don Quixotes.

To begin with, I'm very, very, very lazy (read indolent, lackadaisical, apathetic, don‘t-carish,)when it comes to cleaning. I really don’t care if I’m submerged by my books or clothes. In fact, only in this messy state does my room ever give me the feeling of being ’my room.’ Most normal kids would clean their room everyday or once in awhile because of that driving force called MOM . Some others, strange weirdos that they are, are clean freaks themselves and cannot sleep a wink if their room resembles a tornado-cum-earthquake hit area.

Mom indefatigably goes on about how I should tidy up messes as and when I make them and as far as possible, try not to make them at all. Alas and alack, that piece of counsel mulishly refuses to stay put in my head. However, miracles never cease, and once in a blue moon, I find myself surrendering to my mom’s entreaties (or are they coercions camouflaged as patient entreaties ? :P ) and decide very virtuously to clean my room. I assume the air of a warrior bravely approaching the deadly battlefield as I enter my room.

Cleaning my room is a Herculean task to me, which explicates why, I so wisely dedicated my life to not cleaning it in all these 18 years. Cleaning my room would mean tidying every nook and corner and no-leaving-the-corners-unclean crap. This means I have to follow the adage ‘ A place for everything and everything in its place.‘ Sounds easy?? IT IS NOT. When you have a zillion things out of place, you don't really know what or where that right place is!!!!


Now, the task entails me picking up an arbitrary article in my room and finding its correct place. Then I realize that it is not going to work, so, I embark on my mission of torture by cleaning out my clothes and book cupboards. I throw all the clothes carelessly onto the floor and place my precious books on the bed. Half heartedly, I start folding the clothes when I unearth a book that I haven’t read in ages. I steal a quick glance at the clock. I’ve been working hard at folding my clothes for the last five minutes and allow myself a well deserved (?) break. I pick up the book and promise myself that after the first chapter I shall resume folding my wretched clothes. Before I realize it, one and a half hours have passed and I have officially cleaned my room for five minutes consistently. I hastily push all the other things into place haphazardly and get to making the room look fallaciously tidy to save myself from further admonitions . Over the years however, I have come to realize, that this is not the best of ideas , especially considering the fact that my mom (like every other mom in this world) has a pair of eyes that could put a hawk to shame.


"Why is this book lying here?"

"Make space for your college books here and put the other books elsewhere.’’

"You missed a spot - not that spot, this one here.’’

‘’ Clean your room on a daily basis and do both of us a favor.’’

‘’Don’t forget to clean under the bed …………………………….......’’


For the first time in my life, I stare at mom dumbfounded and no words come out as she fires
ahead. I fumble, mumble and curse under my breath. Then, I assure her that the room will be clean, just as she wants it to be, and hurriedly clean the room, while casting surreptitious peeks from the corner of my eye to see if she's left the room. When i'm completely certain that she has, I rush to the door and slam it shut. Now I'm back to my book. When over five hours have passed, my room is eventually clean, and I look worn-out, exhausted, beat, pooped, done in, etc. I'm also sneezing incessantly , as a result of the truckloads of dust that have been uncovered in the process of cleaning. Eyes watering, befuddled, peeved, annoyed, teed off, irritated and terribly sleepy, i flop onto my now clean bed pull the blanket over my head as if to shut out everything and anything even remotely connected to cleaning in particular.


I wake up from my nap and go for supper. Mom comes into my room, nods approvingly and says ‘’ see, now you’ll be able to breathe easy and be more organized,’’ as I look at her in a resigned manner. I wake up the next day and am late for college. I am unable to find a dupatta to match my churidhar. I am unable to find my project file. One sweep of the things on my table, a good tensed forty minutes and a profusely sweating me later, I find my file. I sigh in relief and look up My eyes widen in shock and disbelief.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
MY ROOM IS BACK TO ITS MESSY STATE!!!!!!!