I was home for a vacation for almost two months,and hence had the luxury to watch television at free will.I should say it was a luxury because in my hostel in JNU,we just have one television set ! And if you have one tv in a girl's hostel, i think i dont need to elaborate much ! Cant become a part of the deadly battle that goes on to grab the remote and tune into those saas-bahu sagas which my hostel mates enjoy so much.So at home i was happy to see tv whenever and whatever i wanted.But i was deeply dissappointed when i got the pulse of what was actually being aired on tv these days.When we grew up ( i am sure most of you will agree with me)satellite television just started its course.But even then the leading family entertainment channels aired atleast one quiz programme.Be it 'The Bournvita Quiz contest',or 'Kab,kyun,kahan' or 'Get set Go',we were atleast abreast of the latest general knowledge.Even till recently we had KBC to give us some feed of general awareness.Siddharth Basu was in our times a household name (for me he was a genius ).I grew up watching Crossfire,Parliamentary Quiz,BBC Mastermind.It was chiefly because of him that i developed my interest in current affairs and general knowledge since childhood.But now i wonder and regret what today's generation is growing up upon ? They are so unlucky in this respect ! What do they get to see on tv these days ? - Kyun ki...,Balika Vadhu etc..(i dont remember any other soap operah's name !) and the countless Reality Shows which are by no stretch of imagination real ! Some of you might argue that if you want a taste of current affairs then u have the option to watch the innumerable news channels.But then which news channel today airs a quiz prog ? Surprisingly none ! (Correct me if i am wrong)They are all busy getting sound bites to increase their TRPs and solve Murder Mysteries ! Sad irony ! I think today's generation doesnot even know who is Siddharth Basu,but they know who is 'Tulsi'!
Television is such an important medium for creating awareness but i am saddened to see its deplorable slide into sub standard progs which donot have any functional value.I think its imperative that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry formulate a minimum guideline for the types of informative prog that a tv channel should air.Atleast one Quiz show should be made mandatory.