Reality shows are real life spoilers !!!

Yesterday I watched a super singer program in one popular south India channel....One girl around 12 or 13 started singing ..even she danced too while singing.,she looks over confident..but the judges put her in wait list..She came out from the audition..Her mom started scolding very badly..they both argued ..Finally that girl cried continuously..But the cameras are still following them to raise TRP rating ..what a pathetic situation..Rather today’s fashion gives a flowery name behind CHILD LABOUR AND EXPLOITATION, for as long as it serves the purposes of winning over TRP charts and overall popularity of the show.

India in today’s scenario releases a variety of ‘reality shows’ which offer participants a scope to bring forward their talents, be it singing, dancing, comedy, and what not! But surely our society, in this hunger of glam-sham and popularity, forget to realise how expectations like these from such a tender age can prove to be detrimental.We at the end of the day forget to realise how such concepts of so-called ‘innovative’ reality shows in the name of nurturing and developing a child’s potential, end up putting a full stop to ‘childhood’, when a young kid is expected to play, relax, study and most importantly appreciate the best and most playful time of his/her life!

Imagine this—little girls having parlour appointments, little boys rehearsing tirelessly to songs they probably do not even understand, babies having portfolios shot…does it carry the whiff of normalcy about it? I think not. Reality shows centred on children are making a huge negative dent. Talent scouting is not just about a day’s competition when several children perform individually or in teams and the achievers are announced. This is very different. It is about long periods of rehearsals, multiple shootings, enacting scripted dramas, usually unhealthy interpersonal rivalry, harsh remarks from judges that evoke strong sentiments in audience and keeps them glued. Why would anyone want his or her child to go through this grind? I think children should compete, but a competition that has been twisted out of proportion to make for interesting and arresting viewing should be shunned altogether. I also subscribe to the view that talent needs to be nurtured, but not at the cost of losing childhood.