Here we go again...

Most of you have read the previous post on Kushboo and the current state of "freedom of speech" in India.

Was watching the TV serial "Kolangal" with my wife yesterday. I am not a regular Tamil Mega Serial watcher, but a few glances at the screen are enough to tell me what is going on ...

Two things instantly caught my attention.

Have you ever noticed how easily the leading ladies in these TV serials get pregnant. One night stands always end up in pregnancy. I think at this rate, people in Tamil Nadu will start praying to god along these lines "please make me pregant as fast as Radhika got pregnant in Selvi" or "as Usha got pregnant in Kolangal".

The second thing that came to my mind was that the supporting actress in "Kolangal" is not married, has "premarital sex" (one night stand) and is PREGNANT and is talking about raising her child alone. What is really interesting is that this same TV channel (SUN TV), made such a hoopla about a rival TV channel's lead anchor's statements on the same topic. The claim was that Tamil Women have been defamed by such acts!!

Here is what is happening in the second most watched prime time TV serial (SELVI). The supporting actress is accused of being "barren" or terms to that effect. Her husband is the one with the reproductive issue, so she goes and gets pregnant with another guy and tells the world that the husband is the father !!

Tamil Nadu goes to stand still when these two serials are airing. Even my grandparents dont encourage visitors when such serials are playing on TV. Traffic reduces by 60% when these serials come on. What is being portrayed in these episodes, is projected so naturally that it conveys the idea that these are the norm in Tamil people's life.

What is the case here ? Life in general imitating art, or art imitating general life ? Ten years ago, it was inconceivable to see leading ladies in serials talk of being single mothers to children born out of wedlock or just go get pregnant with the next guy who comes by !!

Have we come a long way (wrong way?), or what ? The bigotry continues, and I get sick to my stomach. The good news is that these issues die down as quickly as they are raised and are long forgotten in the span of a few days or at the most a few weeks.

Long live Selvi, Long live Kushboo, May Kolangal be blessed with many more glorious episodes. God help the Tamil TV viewer !!