Reality Bites

One of the incredible things about home is that no matter how long you were away, 5 minutes back home will make you feel like you never left! I landed at IGI about a fortnight back and have since spent the most relaxed two weeks ever, making the occasional trip to Delhi from NOIDA(after much procrastination), eagerly lapping up all the soccer and cricket action on TV having missed these like crazy in the US, and meeting up with family and friends.

Needless to say, it feels great to be home. I also think I got back at the right time, else I would have missed all the excitement about Ms Shetty conquering the world and then some(my hearty congratulations to all fellow Indians. We might not win the world cup this year, but we already have Big Brother). I would have missed the furore over Mr President and his Baal Thackeray and the critics universally panning and proclaiming a complete lack of ishq for Nikhil Advani's Salaam. On a more serious note, I would have also missed Manchester United thrashing Spurs 4-0 and Sachin giving a 100 of the best to the hapless West Indians.

Coming back to Big Brother and reality TV, I must say, I really don't get it. Talent hunts seem to have sprouted up exponentially in the six months I was away. Every channel from A to Z(ee) has got one-or more. Every one from Palash Sen to Pooja Bhatt is a judge. Pooja Bhatt judging an acting contest is one of the great ironies of life. Who knows, next we'll probably have Rakhi Sawant playing quiz master(or is it mistress?) on Master Mind India!

This whole business about Big Boss and Big Brother(I know one of them has more g's than the other but I don't bother enough to find out which and how many) left me quite nonplussed as I didn't even know they existed till very recently. The firang version which created a 'rang' controversy that even 3 year olds who can't count know about was apparently intended as a celebrity episode. How Shilpa Shetty could be considered an international celebrity then is also beyond me, not to mention the rest of that motley crowd comprising the Goody, the Bad and the Ugly. The desi version of the same packed in a bunch of dysfuntional(or in some cases, malfunctioning. Right Ms Gracias?) also rans and losers like my favorite 'actress' Ms Sawant(I don't mean Abhijeet), Deepak Tijori and the eventual winner(I am still obstinate in my allusion to him as loser) Rahul Roy. The forced drama, the manipulated results, the crocodile tears are there for all to see, yet there seems to be this perverse streak in a global audience that compels them to not only watch the trials and tribulations of these random people locked in a house, but to also get involved and vote for or against some of them.

I considered adding this whole concept to the list of things I would never understand(Women, Money, Computers...) but i figure this is nowhere near important enough to make it to the list. My only advice to 'Reality TV' people is - Guys, get real.