VIEW FULL VERSION: Link
Title: Its all about Fairness- Indian Idle--Idol
Category: Other
Blog Entry: Indian Idle… I confess, “Indian Idol” is one of the few shows that I watch and follow quite regularly on television. Blame it on the dearth of innovative ideas on television or the overdose of ‘soapy’ melodramatic filth that’s being shown on primetime television, one is left with hardly any choice besides travel shows and news/ debates. (Which often make you wonder if they’re really worth it? But that’s a different issue altogether, I’ll cover it in some other blog) Like any regular viewer of the show, I too have my favorites though I never ever send in any ‘votes’ (Oh I hope Annuji is not reading this! Or else he’ll make me feel like a worm- such an ignorant citizen I am of this democracy!!!!) I felt a little sad to see Parleen Gill of Ambala get voted out the last Saturday as I felt he deserved to stay a little longer on the show. I was really surprised to see the reaction of the panel of distinguished renowned omniscient judges (Alisha, Udit, Anu and Javed Akhtar) show some regret to see a ‘male’ contestant get voted out- yes, I’ve deliberately laid emphasis on the word male because of late I’ve been getting an impression that the panel of judges are keener to see a girl win the competition rather than the best singer among the lot. This absurd obsession reached its heights when the last to last week (the episode when Charu Semwal of Dehradun was ousted) the only apparent intellectual on the show Javed Akhtar literally chided the audience and went to the extent of commenting on the Indian psyche of being discriminative against the ‘fairer’ sex, showed in the trends of voting! I couldn’t control my laughter when he further went on to bring in the ethos of democracy in the picture, while discussing a music talent reality show!!!! I suggest that if they are so very keen to see a female win the talent hunt (no matter how worthy or unworthy!) then why not have a separate hunt exclusive for females!!!!!! When I raise this issue, it’s not restricted to the question of a talent hunt show where so far girls have never been fortunate enough to win the title, but I would like to question the entire mindset of every Indian when it comes to the issue of gender. The nation was more than happy to know that Pratibha Patil won the presidential race and became the first woman President of India. A relatively unknown and obscure politician has suddenly metamorphosed into the face of women’s emancipation in India! But as we are too busy rejoicing over this fact how many of us actually ponder over the reality that our first female President was the ex-governor of a state which is one of worst sex ratio regions of the nation with other social evils like child marriage and indiscriminate gender bias prevalent in the very roots of the culture of that society??? Moving on to the more recent instance, the other record holder Kiran Bedi (first female IPS officer) has been crying foul and has got into an impasse with the Home Ministry over the appointment of the Delhi Police Commissioner- the issue- very much the same. I believe that if women are really to succeed in India first and foremost get rid of the ‘fairer sex’ tag! This issue is pretty much same as the issue of caste based reservation. I being a girl don’t favor this sort of an attitude. If women claim their freedom on one hand demanding equal status as men; and on the other expect concessional treatment from the society because of the fact that they are women, I don’t see an argument as fallacious as this and the stance is nothing more than hypocritical. To sum up, let a girl win a reality show if she really deserves it and is hands down the best among the other contestants. Let us have a female president if she’s really astute, diplomatic and has the suitable qualifications needed for the post and not simply because we want to create some record by having the first female president!