The Goal of Life and Indian Reality Shows

That's a million dollar question. I bet everyone of us has our shares of confusion on the above question. Though some might have figured it out already (I would have said I have figured it out, but as I write confusion creeps in my mind, slowly...). This is that 'one' thing which makes everyone of us uncomfortable when asked/discussed about. After all, everyone of us wants to live in a utopia, but none of us are sure about building one. Sure enough, I may sound philosophical about the issue here, but I am absolutely sure when I say that it takes a humongous effort to figure out an answer to this discomforting question about the goals in our lives...But I have absolutely figured out my priorities, if not my goal, to say the least.

I have set my priorities, and, slowly and steadily striving to achieve whatever I have set for myself in my life. That is what I call a goal for myself. But it utterly displeases me when I see youthful exuberance lost in all activities unproductive and unyielding. The 'bone of contention' here is a bunch of boisterous youth, with whom I share my paying guest accommodation in Gurgaon, touted as the new India's millennium city. With all due respects to everyone's sentiments and "Goals", I am helpless but to discuss about the sheer wastage of time involved in watching boring/loud/disgustful reality shows aired on Indian television. I am not trying to prove a point here as Mr. Perfect or as a messiah reminding people of what to do and what not. But I am absolutely sure of the fact - nothing great can be achieved by just wasting time watching loud mindless shows on the idiot box...especially youth. Young minds and heart, at the zenith of youthful exuberance, watch these reality shows aired during prime time on Indian television (are the youth only to blame...Indian television is also to blame to a lot of extent). 

The plethora of shows just grows on an on, like a juggernaut, and have reached a tipping point(1).  The reality shows are gaining TRPs like a snowball descending down a snowy peak - gaining mass every second, which is supportive of the fact that a lot of people subscribe to such shows, including the young in India. While some shows are knowledgeable an of better taste. But majority of it are mind- and meaning- less. One channel shows a lady (known for all wrong reasons) giving 'insaaf' to the needy. Agreed that the Indian legal system is old and dysfunctional, to say the least, with millions of cases pending (that is a different disscussion altogether...and I will not indulge in that here), but a useless lady providing justice to the needy and against issues such as domestic violence...and what not...I can't take that (I repeat, I also fail to understand how can people watch such shows during prime time). While another, focuses on personal lives of celebrities. Now in India, the celebrity word has a different meaning altogether. Here's an example - the lawyer representing Ajmal Kasab, the most dreaded terrorist and India's most hated person (infamous for the famous 26/11 Mumbai attacks), is a celebrity in his own right and people can go great distance to watch him live on air. Oh my good God! Some of these shows aired on Indian televsion is in a way funny. It is bound to tickle, shake or send chills down your funny bone. Some examples (acquired through over-hearing the loudness with which the shows are heard / viewed by the remorseless audience in my paying guest facility) - the judges fighting with each other, in some cases fighting like street dogs, participants making a mockery of judges or sharing a joke about the judges and the judges laughing at it (I mean this is heights of everything - laughing at a joke based on you! How distasteful can you become to do that?)...In every sense I feel ridiculed as a "peeping / overhearing Tom"...Things get worse on weekends, when the programmes are repeated for the audience who missed it. A weekend wasted on watching reality shows on television. Can't even imagine in my worst of nightmares. At least, I have better things to do in life...like working on my weaknesses and trying to figure out greater things which I wish to accomplish and have already figured it out as a goal for myself. 

Did I just say that I have figured out my goals? Are you lost in the maze of reality shows already?...Wake up or else you will surely lose out...and thats the only plausible reason for me to be happy with the reality shows - strategically, I will be miles ahead in my thought process, free of 'reality' clutter...Long live Indian reality shows...

Note: (1) Tipping Point is a concept and is best explained in the book titled "Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. It's an interesting read.

Wanderlust

I remember Tagore...

“I went to see hills, I went to see rivers...But I could not find them with my eyes wide open...”

My bad to try and translate Tagore...but those fond of the great poet would know these lines in Bengali and the beautiful rhythm the poem have. My wandering soul remembered the lines as I idle around on this day, a lazy Saturday afternoon with the sun scorching outside...and the fan unable to keep me cool. But nevertheless my mind wandered and took me back to the last weekend – a two-day trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh.

The beginning though was not all that great. I, along with one of my colleagues, started for Haridwar-Rishikesh on Thursday night, after working in office for 10 long hours. The reason to choose Haridwar-Rishikesh was spontaneous and until one o’ clock in the night we were not sure whether we would ultimately reach Haridwar or end up somewhere else either in Jaipur or Ajmer or Amritsar. It was a long weekend and everyone wanted to go out. Knowing well in advance that Delhi-ites always love to show-off, we assumed most of the people in Delhi would travel by their own cars and we can easily get seats if we travel by bus. However, when we reached the inter-state bus terminus, we were a bit surprised. Throngs of people jostling around in a mad frenzy...some trying to bribe the man manning the ticket counter, some trying to grab a quick bite...and some went ahead and started to connect with friends on Facebook (wait, not through Blackberry or a smartphone, but through a laptop connected to the internet via a wireless USB modem...God bless them...Can’t stop myself...I mean how can someone be such a dumb ass to open a laptop at such places, leave alone Facebook...mad, mad world). Such was the scramble for seats that people literally fought for them. I was not very sure that I would be able to catch the mad ‘seat-rush’ and ultimately grab a seat (I am a true peace-loving Bong!!). So I grabbed my colleagues back-pack and his camera bag with a Canon 60D inside worth around INR80,000 (I wish I had one!). And finally, it was due to him that finally we got two seats and were off to Haridwar at one in the night.

Last time when I had a trip to Rajasthan (it was a lovely trip and memoirs of it will be hard to pen, however I would try it later), I never had to worry about anything. But this time around, I was a bit sceptical (after all we did not have a great start to the trip). Taking things into perspective, we decided that when we would reach Haridwar, we would first take a hotel room and then book the bus tickets for the return trip. However, we reached Haridwar around six in the morning and there was nothing that we could do other than looking for a decent hotel. So we took a room in a decent enough hotel and had a nice sleep for the next couple of hours. Haridwar during this time of the year is terribly hot and we never had the idea that it would be so hot...there was no chance that we could go out and enjoy during the noon once we got up from our sleep. But heat or cold, we had to enjoy...and take a dip, like million other fellow Hindus, in the holy waters...So we got up in the noon, had lunch and went out to discover Haridwar...

Haridwar, in Sanskrit ‘Hari ka Dwar’ or Gateway to God and one of the seven holiest places for the Hindus, is an idyllic place with the economy centred on the river Ganges. The Ganges, ‘Ganga’ to the Indians, descends to the plains at Haridwar, after flowing for 200 odd kilometres from her source in the Himalayas. It is the place where the Hindus congregate for the famous ‘Kumbh Mela’. So taking a dip in the holy waters of ‘Ganga’ in Haridwar is considered an ablution of sorts to wash away the sins one has committed. Albeit, we too purified ourselves, but never took a dip...The ‘ghat’ (a place to congregate on a river bank) in Haridwar is known as ‘Har ki Pauri’ and everyday very nice ‘puja’ and ‘aarti’ is performed at ‘Har ki Pauri’. During our stay in Haridwar, we spent the evenings at the ‘ghat’ with our legs dipped in the water, overlooking the ‘aarti’ and the holy waters of the Ganges. The atmosphere was just so mystical (but there was never a hint of silence, with everything around us making noise...the ‘bhajans’, the people, the bells...everything), as if all the gods have descended from their heavenly abode (and we humans were busy making our presence felt through a cacophony of sounds). But I wished that there was at least a little bit of silence...imagine the sound of the river flowing and you are praying, with legs dipped in water, hands folded in reverence and eyes closed...I sometimes wonder, that, why do we Hindus create so much noise while worshipping our Gods?...it can be a silent peaceful process...isn’t it? I cannot imagine myself as God and people worshipping me by creating so much noise.

We went to Rishikesh on the next day. We started early in the morning and took a three-wheeler to travel a distance of approx. 25 kilometres. In this part of India, everything is so reasonable (or may be unreasonably simple)...I was surprised, that the fare for the 25 kilometre ride to Rishikesh was worth just INR25 (and I never bargained with the driver for the fare). Rishikesh, known for its famous yoga exponents, gets travellers (especially foreigners) all round the year. It is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and provides nice panoramic views. The place has also got an assortment of ‘ashramas’ (places where yoga exponents of India practice yoga) with sprawling campuses. We decided to reach ‘Lakshman Jhula’ (a miniature cable bridge over the Ganges) first and then walk our way back to the point from we could travel back to Haridwar. Once we reached ‘Lakshman Jhula’ we had breakfast at a German bakery on the river banks and captured some panoramic views in the Canon 60D which we were carrying. Unlike Haridwar, it was serene and peaceful...On our way back we did some shopping (Rishikesh, of all places), which included a large back-pack (enough to carry stuff for an entire week. A very good buy I would say) and some other stuffs here and there. Post-shopping we realised that we were just left with enough cash to reach Haridwar (and were almost de-hydrated as we could not afford to buy some drinking water!).

The trip was nearing end and good times were soon to be over...that evening we spent a blissful time at the ghat. My colleague experimented with his camera (he did manage to record a bit of ‘aarti’) and I was praying my hearts out for some solace, and many more things in life!!!

Very soon it was Sunday morning, and we had to start again for our return journey...my heart was heavy with the thought of office the very next day...but it was ‘rejuvenation unlimited’...