Shinijini - Peer Pressure

If it was Scarlet and Arushi sometime back, it is the turn of Shinjini Sengupta now. For those who could not figure out, let me give an introduction. Shinjini Sengupta is one of the millions of aspirers who hunt numerous channels of Indian Satellite Television to take part in the so-called reality shows. Unfortunately, Shinjini is not as strong as others to take the comments hurled on her, she fell into coma at this tender age. News channels as usual without getting into details have started blaming the judges and the harsh comments they use!

Reality Show is the name coined for “talent” show. However, the fact is neither there is reality nor there is a display of talent in these shows. All of us are aware that the events are stage-managed and a repeat of rehearsals. The irony is, the winners of such shows have no relation to talent. The winners are chosen not by judges but by the common public who lack total knowledge on the subjects. I can’t assure you that the judges are right choices. The public with the weapon of voting in hand always goes against the judges. Emotion wins (as we are famous for allowing our heart to rule our brains) and crying is a part & parcel of the show!

A singer does not need to be a sureela but X factor is a must. Or else, you lose! As per this rule, even Lata would fail in these talent contests! The failure of these winners to make it big in any field is a proof to this. The involvement of public serves multi-purpose to the channel owners. Some of them are:.

¨ By means of involvement, they guarantee the viewer-ship and boast of their TRP ratings.
¨ By way of SMS, they ensure revenue (33% from Service providers)
¨ They gage the market on whom to count for the release of future albums!

We need money & fame but without hard-work. We want it faster too! Such shows help us to achieve such goals. Obviously, the future generation, pounces on such opportunities. In olden days, any tussle between judges & the participants or any opinion differences of judges were edited considering decency. Nowadays, only these incidents are repeatedly shown as promotional trailers. As to hog the limelight, they hurl the comments in harsh manner. Audience needs masala so provide it!

The contestants, when they are ready to enjoy privileges of winning should be ready to withstand the abuse hurled on them in the form of comments. One may not know the comments of public may be harsher! Wining and losing are part of the game. It seems the contestants have not realized it. These contests are not their careers. Opinion differs and winning a contest does not measure your talent or success! The history says so! None of the winners of such shows have made it so big barring a few (Shreya, Kunal but those days people did not judge the winners).

These should be explained to contestants and their parents as well! I have already written 3 blogs on the peer pressure applied on Indian Kids and I do not want to repeat them here again. I am not a medical expert but I don’t think one can fall in coma just by a single harsh comment. The girl might be suffering from depression for quite long which the parents would have not observed. More than the fear of failure, the fear of parents does drive the kids to depression. Will the parents realize this? I do agree that the competition is severe. I do have a kid and I am worried when he behaves carelessly. As matured personnel, we need to handle the issue gently.

Though unfortunate, this incident is a lesson to parenting, conducting a contest with right judges, responsible journalism in reporting the facts and not sensationalism. Alas! We failed in all the three. It is the high time we learnt from this.