Reality shows are not alien to our culture

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There is a huge hue and cry about the impact that reality shows are having on our society. Turn back the pages, realty shows have been a part of our culture from days immemorial.

Remember how Ram won Sita. In fact fixing of realty shows is also a part of our culture. Remember how Ram intervened in the contest between Vali and Sughreev. Participant taunting is also not new to our culture, remember how Karna was insulted for reasons of birth by Dronacharya. Arjun winning Draupadi was also a part of a reality show. Pandavas losing Draupadi again was a part of the realty show or for that matter the condition that the last year has to be spent in disguise was similar to “Big Brother”. Also you could recall the great contest between Lord Subramanya and Ganesh for the divine fruit and how Lord Ganesh won it the smart way.

Our legend is full of stories on prince’s displaying their talents in a public contest to win over the princess or rescuing her from a magician after crossing various hurdles. So let’s not dub the realty shows as Western and pretend that its pitfalls as alien to our culture. The fact is that realty shows a great platform for ordinary people to display their talents. Some extraordinary talent has emerged due to the realty shows. There might be stray cases of fixing but that does not mean an absurd talent has won. There is a certain amount of drama built into it to make it viewable. The comments of the judges are a part of this drama. Participation in a reality show is not a compulsion. Chicken hearted are free not to participate and those who have the stomach can continue to win accolades.