I have been watching the MTV Roadies 5.0 and it has aroused mixed emotions in me. I agree that it caters primarily to the college going crowd and from the desperation of this particular ‘crowd’ to be a part of the show, I have no doubt of its huge popularity. I suspect that the majority of youngsters in this age-bracket do not find anything to criticize about the show and are completely in love with it.

 

 For ‘adults’ like me, though, who have left college 4 or 5 years back, the show has its irritating moments which crave some mention here. Let me be very frank at the outset and admit that for all my intellectualizing about this reality show, I and a lot of my friends are also glued to the antics of this program.

 

The so-called ulterior motive of Roadies is to tap the sense of adventure within all of us and test how an individual behaves or carries himself under trying circumstances. As they say, it is all about survival. In actuality, however, I feel the program makes money by showing us the potential degradation that we are capable of achieving. All the ‘adventure’ stuff is just a veneer to create a feel-good factor for the show. Seriously, how many of the participants can you really stand while watching the Roadies?

 

Talking of the adventure factor, why is it that in today’s world, being adventurous is such a ‘cool’ word? The manner in which the organizers of Roadies and the participants harp on it makes me feel sick. It is not just MTV but the media in general that finds ‘adventure’ so fascinating. After hearing and reading about it so often, we are conditioned to think of this as an indispensable quality without which life cannot be led.

 

What is worse is that the word is often misconstrued to mean idiotic and silly. Adventure can have so many interpretations. However, the most common definition of the word has dwindled down to indulgence in shocking and dangerous acts, whatever the consequences may be. Yippee! Frankly, at this juncture, I would love to meet some people who do not have an iota of adventure in them and who have no qualms claiming that they like a life that strictly follows routine.

 

Another thing that bothered me a bit on Roadies was the insistence on Hindi during the auditions. During one audition, a guy from Kolkata was curtly asked to leave when he stated his preference for English over Hindi.   I understand that when you audition in places like Delhi, Chandigarh or Jaipur not being fluent in Hindi might seem unnatural, but what about Kolkata? Isn’t it a bit absurd to expect people here to be as comfortable in Hindi as in English?

 

The argument seems to be that since Hindi is our national language, everyone is supposed to acknowledge and respect it. I find this reasoning a bit illogical. I do consider myself a patriotic person and am willing to serve my country in every way possible, but in this particular instance I feel the true act of patriotism would be to understand that our country is made up of many states where knowledge of Hindi is a rarity. Perhaps the premise of selecting Hindi as the national language needs to be examined before we condemn the non-Hindi speakers and question their attitude. I am sure MTV or the organizers of the show have not thought this through but just adopted the stance they considered to be ‘cool’, in which case this issue doesn’t warrant such serious discussion here.

 

More on this post tomorrow…..