Reality... Really?

I gagged on my milk a few days back when I saw apni Rakhi sans make up, with mushroom for a hairstyle, all bloated and shapeless(not that she had any earlier, but still), clutching her stomach as though she was suffering from stomach ringworms. And, she was excitedly calling her 'baby' Elesh, to feel the baby moving inside her. I was like !!!!!!!!!! So fast?? Just 2 months back, (or is it 4?) she was engaged to Elesh, or rather committed to engage to marry later (with its ifs and buts) to Elesh... and pregnant already??!! This was exactly why I gagged... I was thinking it takes 9 months... my knowledge is definitely outdated, I surmised.

Eventually, I came to know it was a wonder caused by "empathy belly". Whatever! Seems that the mothers-to-be-or-not-to-be were not really sporting, and complained of claustrophobia, back aches and many other "inconveniences" of "carrying". From the snippets that I was watching, Shilpa (of Ganga fame, KSBKBT), simply passed on the pregnancto her husband, Apurva(back ache, was it?) If only life was that easy, I thought! Siggh!!

The next episode floored me! Totally! Ladies were now unpregnant (I cannot say they had undergone successful delivery, can i?) and were trying to handle the real babies (in flesh and blood), literally. Babies were clueless and so were the psuedo-parents. The scene was hardly entertaining. It was down right cruel! I do empathize with the pseudo-parents for not having the know-how of being around a baby. I mean, how would anyone without being a parent?

Agreed, kids cry... but, it was a torture to see the babies cry their lungs out. Were they crying out of hunger? of not finding familiar faces of their parents? or what? Whatever it was, it was a gruesome scene. I was more awestruck by the fact that the kids' parents had willfully handed over their kids to be toyed around with. Of course, parents' dutiful tears followed when the human toys had exhausted themselves.

Ever wondered how, in the name of entertainment, there is an exploitation of humanity? of basic sense? of culture? and society in general? Let me not get into a debate by adding stuff like tradition and culture. For, it has been evolving since ages and it sounds too hypocritical and one sided to launch a parole on that. Moreover, defending what is right or wrong seems to have taken a back seat in today's world, where entertainment solely rules the roost.

An influx of desi version of reality shows like Big Brother, The Moment Of Truth, Fear Factor and even Baby Borrowers, have unceremoniously pulled the throne from underneath our reigning "K" queen. Who wants to waste their time watching the glycerine flow when odds are against labelling a virtual stranger on screen a serial liar on Sach ka Saamna?

Coming back to the episode that I watched the other day.... I had tears in my eyes seeing the children suffer. They are too delicate to be manhandled in such a way. Maybe it was unintentional... but why do they have to suffer? These kids were not more than, I guess, 6-7 months old. Aren't they wholly, solely and totally dependent on their parents for every big/ small needs?

Thankfully, there have been complaints regarding this show and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights have (supposedly) issued notice to the channel to discontinue airing it. The channel however clears its stand saying that PPaW is a foolproof show, where they have ensured that children are in "good hands" and "taken good care of". The channel's claim, whether genuine or not, is still hard to believe. I personally, did not like this concept of manhandling the babies, even if it is for four days. I find these shows ridiculously absurd and unfitting to Indian minds and mentalities.

And, if you are wondering, why inspite of all these arguments I was watching it... I was plain curious, like everyone is.