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.
i guess for me the only watchable things on TV come on espnstar!!! what has changed over the years is the people's tastes...i mean the household craps that these present day serials depict, how can any sane person be addicted to these!!!! TV has become a means of earning money now, its no longer a medium of awareness...hence, like magazine covers, whatever sells needs to be shown for the sake of the business and sadly, presently,this is what India wants...
ReplyDeletePersonally i have no idea, and i dont care, as long as i have my good old espn and star sports, discovery and animal planet and national geography...with cartoon network.. there are sports quizes on espn and star...customised quizes on discovery and national geographic and animal p.... but i guess putting in quiz shows in every news channel is a good idea...
good work...it was definitely worth the wait...
Even i have grown up following the Charisma of Siddharta Basu and the way he presented BQC.I strongly agree how the people's taste have changed over the years. Even if you make a Quiz Contest show a mandatary programme...does that mean people are going to watch it and you can change their taste - and the Answer is a BIG NO !If you watch Doordarshan even these days, you will see how informative programmes they broadcast. But our so called modern generation children consider DD same as our grandfathers who don't understand the need of today's.People who air these MASALA programmes have to forget their dreams of swelling bank balances and TRPs and their personal benefit if something good can be given to the society. It's the kind of environment you are born and brought up in which inspires you to do something out of common league(No personal Offense).If you want to see people changing then you have to change yourself.
ReplyDeleteBut yes what the best we can do is to promote good cup bad cup theory like we do for Alcohol,Smoking, driving and many more.
But yes it was nice to see someone at least trying in this direction with patience which i don't have...Good Work!!!
I agree with this view.It was being asked as a question in Chokila iyyar madam's board in my civil service interview.Yes I answered " in the
ReplyDeletename of freedom of expression we are allowing freely the commercial interest of few to spoil the intellect of future generation! In a democracy, we cant go for banning anything, but we can regulate the media content to safeguard the young minds".It is too early for the school student below 18 years to exercise the right to freedom.But it is the Govt that should ensure that young minds are not being corrupted without the knowledge of themselves!