T. S. Eliot had once remarked “Humankind cannot stand very much reality.” How true in today’s time when we are bombarded with reality shows. Big Brother Controversy has rocked not only India but the whole of the Britain so much so that Channel 4 is thinking of taking the most popular reality TV show in Britain off air. The remarks of Jade Goody to Shilpa Shetty have been termed as racist by the latter. Though I have not seen the Big Brother episode but whatever bits and pieces are available on Indian television do not portray a good picture at all. Jade has been finally evicted and the most shameful thing for her must have been that nobody came up to receive her after the show. The mass hatred for her is visible everywhere. After being evicted from the show even she has confessed that some of her remarks to Shilpa were indeed racist. A bid to patch up things I suppose… Hellen Keller had said that “The best result that education can provide to anyone is tolerance.” Going by this notion, the participants are not that well educated. But the fact remains that it is a reality show and things are supposed to go off the mark!
But the real question here is that should this matter be given so much media importance as it is getting now? Even the ministers are commenting on it. The newspapers are full of every minute detail of the happenings of Big Brother show especially keeping a tab on Shilpa. If you come to think of it, the lady should have thought well before taking a plunge in a reality show in which even the loo’s are monitored. She has indeed got the publicity at a time when her career was not doing any wonders for her. Though she might not get new assignments in Bollywood but she might as well take the booty.
If we shift our focus a little to the Indian surroundings, all of us know the type of caste distinctions that Indians have. Though exceptions will always be there, but we all know that the differences between boys and girls are still rampant with more and more couples wanting to have a male heir for their family. Even the educated lot who might not differentiate between boys and girls might prefer a fair girl over a wheatish one when they are getting their son married. The matrimonials are an excellent proof of this. The love marriage between a higher caste boy and a lower caste girl is looked down upon and vice versa. Even in the corporate world, the statistics reveal that the taller and fairer you are, the sooner you climb the corporate ladder as compared to the ones who are on the other side of the coin. People living in Metros look down upon those living in small cities and towns. Our movies have always depicted the differentiation between the fairer and whetish complexions. The heroines in Bollywood have to be ultra fair to get an entry into the industry though they might not have any charm and looks apart from the fair complexion. Even in our eateries, discs and public places, you might come across people being ill treated just because of their skin colour. The south Indian who is not able to speak English correctly is looked down upon as compared to a north Indian.
So the whole of India might be really worried about the treatment meted out to Shilpa at a Reality show where there are too many possibilities of tempers flaring up, we should also look into our own closet to see how are we treating those around us. Is it time to really take stock of the situation? What say…
April 13th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
hi nice site.