Reality Bytes

The movie Matrix got it partially right. I was a believer. But now, I am more into Realization. Its fundamentally about reality shows. And here is why it is so, and what it will become.

My basic habit is to flip channels. Years of preferring and watching advertisements instead of actual programs has successfully reduced my attention span to a 10-15 second granularity. So much so that if an ad is a 60 seconder, it seems like a TV show on its own. But thats not the point. The point is flipping channels, and the point is reality shows. Earlier, there was the era of songs. Primarily you would come across hindi-movie songs no matter which channel you went to. This was further spurred by the actress who epitomized the female equivalent of the chest-thumping alpha-male... madhuri dixit and her chest heaving bosom movements, which masqueraded under the garb of a song. Anyways, so now ... its reality shows.

Lead India is one such reality show. The way the Times Group has taken this on makes me feel quite trapped. First off, the complete multi-media dominance of this - be it TV or print. But thats not the irksome part - its the oh-so-high-and-mighty attitude that Times is throwing. Its behaving like the modern day Punjab Kesri. I have never read any Punjab Kesri of the past, all I know is that my history textbooks and the Amar Chitra Katha on Tilak mentioned the Kesri as the newspaper that ignited the spirits and minds of a nation. There was a clear cause then. When newspapers such as the Times attempt to hike their readership and TV ratings thru these inexistent causes, noble as the overall intent is, my cynicism kicks in. And then I liken it to the glut of reality shows.

Another one was one where Cyrus was watching participants pull gags. This was quite truly the eye opener for me. I now wait with bated breath for more such reality shows. Will Harpic sponsor the reality show of people taking a dump or a leak in the public loos in railway stations? Will Johnson & Johnson sponsor the reality show of people cleaning their ears with stuff that aint a Johnsons bud? Will Kamasutra sponsor a reality show where.... hmmm... maybe this website is PG13.

But overall, here's the point. We will move from primitive concepts like work-life balance to Life-Reality balance. This comes from my experience on a recent flight to Delhi. Here is exactly what happened - and it seems remarkably like a prison experience - first, I was frisked at the entry. Then, with a bus full of similar accused, I was heralded to an isolation chamber (the plane). Therein, I walked thru a narrow passage (yes, I've put on 8 kilos) and reached a seat where I was strapped in. Then I was plugged into the Matrix, so to speak, with the headphones and was fed a concentrated dose of artificial laughter in an elimination format version of the laughter challenge III. Yes, the programs are now anthropomorphic, they have generations and each subsequent generation is titled. So we have Ptolemy II, Octavian Ceaser and the Laughter Challenge III. 3 hours of travel aided further by fog, and yes - I am seized with Reality Shows.

And thus the current state of affairs. Reality shows are now soon going to become the birth place of philosophical thought and we should not undermine them. The questions : Who am I, What am I doing, What is my purpose in life... these are the questions that these shows will bring to the minds of the participants and the viewers. For there will be the three classes of society - those that participate in reality shows as contestants, those that participate by casting their vote, and the rest of us... those meaningless nothingness who lead their miserable lives unaffected by all the above, lost in our own reality.

For truly it is the era of the observer, be it the quantum physics version or the Upanishadic version... Reality is in the mind of the be(e)holder

Time to buzz off
The Monk