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.
