MAKING ROBOTS OUT OF CHILDREN

The latest quiz show to come up in India after Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) is Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tej Hain? Its savvy, well marketed, has the desirable Shah Rukh Khan at the helm as host and a bunch of smart kids. The entertainment factor is undoubtedly strong; Khan is doing a good job, adding warmth and fun to the show. His charm is unmistakable: the Don act, the Om Shanti Om references. It seems all in place. Five crores is the winner’s booty, and though most loose, they at least get to take home a few thousands or lakhs, which is commendable. The show poses as an effort to increase general knowledge and encourage children to study. Many are hooked to their TV sets like couch potatoes and in return they get entertained by Khan and learn a few things like Brihaspati is the largest planet in our solar system. But is the show really about learning and education? Doesn’t it seem to be doing more harm to the viewer than good, especially to children?
The questions asked in the show seem meaningless general knowledge; more than that it seems to encourage rote learning by placing five children who seem to have mugged up their whole syllabus in school like good parrots. It is known that TV programs and the elitist position it holds in Indian society is worshipped by most middle class Indians. Children seem to be the worst affected. Advertisements only add to their greed and consumerist urges. What this new game show seems to be doing is encouraging children to be walking memory boxes, replete with unnecessary information like who was the ruler of England when the Capital of India was shifted from Delhi to Calcutta. Is it necessary for children to know this kind of meaningless information, or is it more important to inculcate in them from grade one itself the ability to think independently, originally and ask questions. Shouldn’t creativity be given more importance over empty GK? This show will spark off many encyclopedias in our country, many wannabe quiz masters without a mind of their own. The young ones will mug and memorize because it will be cool to know more, and not because of an urge to know more. Children will want to ape the role models- the five kids on the show- placed before them. What more, it will give more reason to old-fashion teachers and educational institutions to impose rote learning, to cram more for exams, fatiguing and killing the inquiring mind of the child. Indian parents who seem endlessly after their kids to excel academically will also get a chance to push their children further, at times with dire consequences.
By bringing in five fifth graders, the show seems to be committing one more faux pas. The children on the show are perceptibly grown-up, far beyond their age. Their behavior seems artificial, a construct of the self. They are not themselves- natural, spontaneous, innocent children. They speak like grown ups, their actions and body language is that of an adult. One has to just watch their hand movements and their answers to their hobbies to be shocked and pitiful towards them. The children have lost their innocence and childhood. It is true that in all reality shows, the self is always constructed. It is natural to build an image of oneself when in front of the camera. Everyone does it from stars to actors to politicians. Very few are free from the trappings of projecting the other rather than the self to the world. Why blame these children then? The reason is that again, the children who are watching the show will be under the illusion that this is the way to be. They will take artificiality to be the order of the day. Their role models will be children who have been taught to act grown up, to give smart answers, to reject spontaneity. A normal child uncorrupted by the crooked ways of the adult world will enjoy her/his play, her/his creative pursuits and her /his mischief. She/he will not think of impressing others by dancing Dard-E-Disco like Shah Rukh Khan. We might be adversely affecting a whole generation of children through this construction of the desirable Indian Child.
What Taare Zameen Par strove to do for children and education is continuously being undone by this game show and by most advertisements featuring children. The culture of superficial success and behavior is hegemonic. It is infiltrating slowly, almost unperceived through mass culture. Now, it has become so natural that anything other than that seems queer, weird, out of place. Resistance to this hegemony is weakened because of the worship of the elite in India. A critical approach to all mass culture products has now become necessary. Resistance from the yet uncorrupted is required, without which mindless superficial robots will rule.

DROWNED

Two leaves marooned at sea,
Old, jaundiced, crispy,
Cradled by waves, and with
Lullabies by gulls and sea birds.
Awoke.

“Hey you, how did you get here?”
“Huh?!”
“Silly old fool, right in the middle of the ocean
What do you think of yourself?”
“???”
“I say…”
Words swallowed by oil spill, fishing net.

One leaf marooned at sea,
Alone, old, jaundiced, crispy,
Silent.
Lullabies by gulls and sea birds,
Slept.