The Power of the Idiot Box

I’d turned on the telly a few days ago to watch the news and what do I see? “BREAKING NEWS: Anandi in critical condition!!” now quite obviously, I began wondering who’s Anandi. I watch the news everyday so I should have been aware of a person named thus but I hadn’t the slightest clue. So who is Anandi? Anandi is the protagonist in the daily soap Balika Vadhu.
So there you go, a fictional character in a soap about child marriage in the present day merits a place in the headlines. Not only that there are shots of the general public offering pujas for the speedy recovery and constant updates on public sentiment. That made me wonder, just how much has Indian television affected the public??
Television has been around in India since the 70s, but telly soaps started around 1984-85 with Hum Log. When Hum Log was aired for the first time, people sat glued to their televisions sharing the life of the characters. Hum Log was the first serial which discussed issues like family planning and the role of women in society. This was followed by Buniyaad which was based on the Partition. Both these soaps dealt with issues relevant to their times and I certainly recommend them to people who haven’t heard about them. This was followed by the mythological series of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and that’s where the craziness begins. I’m not talking about the series but its affect on the people. Such was the psychological impact on the Indian public that people would hurry up with their chores to land in front of the telly on time. Not only that, they’d also keep the aarti thalis and flowers ready because, according to them, they weren’t just watching a serial, they truly believed that their God was paying them a “Darshan”. Such was the gullibility of the Indian public. The actors in the serials were considered gods and treated as such by the public.
Fast forward to more recent times, to the advent of the K-serials and those of its ilk. A population of 400 million viewers were then offered a seemingly incessant list of formula tested soaps of holier-than-thou women with huge red bindis, vermilion smeared heads, the ever present mangalsutras and the entire get up. On the other hand we have the vamps, characterised with the typical over the top make up and a perpetual evil gleam in their eyes. Don't you ever wonder?? We can make out at one glance that she’s a vamp but can the protagonist??? Oh no! She’s a naive, innocent bahu who would trust every Tom, Dick and Harry.
The makers of such soaps know very well how to play with the mind of the Indian public. Don't you ever wonder, the women dress up as if for a wedding just to go cook breakfast in the kitchen in spite of all the servants around. Who dress up to slog in a kitchen???? It’s irrational!!!
Oh and just for the record, according to Indian television, Indian medical science is sooo advanced that it leaves the rest of the world behind. Seriously, no kidding. People come out of comas at just the right time to save the day for the innocent victim, incurable diseases can be cured and who can forget the plastic surgery. The marvels of Indian medicine, not only do people get a new face, they also get a new height, weight and build, in short, the entire package. And last but not the least, yes people can come back from the dead.
The effect of the soaps is clearly seen by the example of “Tulsi” of Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. If you take a look at the martimonials in the news papers, everybody wants a bahu like Tulsi. In short what we’re told id that everyone wants a daughter in law who’s totally traditional and will uphold the family “izzat”. Someone who will patiently bear all suffering and never speak out.
But moving on to a more serious issue, I feel Indian soaps are actually pushing us down the social ladder instead of up. They encourage the image of an aadarsh bahu and pativrata patni who believes her biggest purpose in life is to serve her family. I don't say it’s wrong but the image of the modern Indian woman is seriously tarnished because the modern woman is shown as someone who puts her career before her family and is thus in the wrong. The patriarchal society still seems to have an upper hand. So while soaps are all about women power, it still seems unable to accept the modern tag.
Unfortunately, Indian soaps are created to cater to the larger audience, so until they evolve, I think I’ll stick to American television [yea, yea I know what you’re thinking, ruddy NRI]