India On TV

In particular Zee TV. I have that addition to the my cable TV subscription plan for $8.56 a month. It's a Hindi channel that one new bulletin a day, a guy who does yoga, a guy who does a cooking show, some movies on the weekends, Sikh sermons on Sunday morning and the rest of the precious on air time is chock-a-block with dramas.

There is a variety of dramas to entertain viewers. Most are set in modern times but not many are in cities, lots of suburban and rural locales. There is a tragic one about a girl from a lower caste who's got to survive being married off to odd village headman's family far away. Lots of women in all the shows. There was one about five daughters-in-law. One that ended recently was about a lady who had twins and gave one away to her sister because her sis couldn't have kids and later there was drama about family fortunes and luck linked to the little girl given away. Goodness.

The reason why I am bringing all this up is so that I can make sweeping generalization about life in India and how it has come to be portrayed on TV.

1. Women are at the mercy of men. My mother that's what happens in villages. Most of the Indian women I know are vocal, no chance of getting them to keep those lips pursed when the sun is up. In a lot of these dramas, women accused of a wrongdoing often keep slient and don't stand up for themselves. Kinda dumb. They also make very good 'bad guys' in these dramas. There will be a lead evil lady and her accomplice. They will plot and plan to destroy another woman in the household.

2. Somehow all the characters in Zee TV dramas are Hindu. There was one Sikh family somewhere. There are no Muslims anywhere. I find that disturbing since TV is best form of promoting harmony. Kinds sad.

3. I don't get all the wearing of shoes into the house thing. It happens on TV, not in real life. Not when one could step into the poo of many roaming cows that swarm India.

4. Facts don't matter to a mob, only the opinion of the richest or most powerful man. What the man says, goes. Even if it's not quite right. Or is it that people get conned easily.

5. People are embarassed easily. Whether it's about the amount of food on a plate, the offerings at a temple or the size of one's car/bicycle, size-based comparisons riddle these soap operas. Also, there is great potential for misunderstandings with almost no recourse or chance to explain e.g. a lady talking to a man is accused of adultery very quickly and punished.

6. The caste system is alive and well on TV even though the Indian gahmen banned any practices related to caste in the 70s. Sad that TV perpetuates this crap.

7. When dramatic situations erupt, the TV camera manages to capture the aptly contorted faces of all the actors in a shot. It lasts 1 minute and there used to be a lot of zooming in and out. Drove me nuts. Let's not forget the music.

8. Young Indian people say 'Mom' funny.

I don't really follow these dramas. I come home from work and there they are, my mum's evening routine. Come the weekend, I'm gonna get another India channel to watch - Sony Entertainment Television. A SET for the set. I think that's more current - they have a version of Moment of Truth on that channel. Indians being probed in public, now that's a first. I'll report more.