Entertainment A New Disease

Entertainment which was once thought to be a small break from one's work has now become an individual task in itself. Its importance can be gauged from the fact that today people seek entertainment in everything, despite of giving regular time to it in the form of movies, IPL, TV, web etc. This new tendency of being entertainment centric has its own disadvantages. The most important one is that we could not concentrate on the work which is ought to be done as our duty and responsibility if it does not offer any entertainment. "The goal of all education is to train a person to do what should be done and not only what one likes to do" is a quote from an anonymous writer, but it clearly shows the importance that had been attached to Karma. Today large sum of money is spent on entertainment, the scale is so large that it is capable of sustaining a whole new separate industry called Entertainment Industry. Similarly a large part of time is spent on getting entertained and very less part is left for the useful work. It seems as if people take break from entertainment to do work so that they can sustain their entertainment further. People seek entertainment from everybody , gone are the days when love was the basis of relationship, today entertainment has crept in this domain too. Love is now being compared to being entertained and capable of entertaining others. "Mom is boring , Dad is boring.. wife is boring . .husband is boring.. " are quiet frequent cries one hear among teenagers as well as adults.

Entertainment was not like what it has become today. It was more than just giving few moments of relaxation. It was also a mode of education, of imparting values and ethics to the people. But today in the name of freedom of expression and faith in the capacity of people to decide what is good or bad, anything which could fetch money is being served. Even media and news channel have now indulged in this industry of entertainment and virtually left their duty and responsibility of presenting news, bringing awareness and educating people. Our films are full of violence, vulgar jokes, sex and frustration. In the name of modern idea of freedom and equality between men and women,  our films have painted women as eye candy, an entertainment object, one wonders what kind of  freedom and empowerment is this giving ? Most of the advertisements irrespective of the product they promote, features women being sought by men as if there is nothing else left in life to do. Whatever is being shown on TV is taken as reality in India and people start imbibing and emulating it in their daily life. The negativity that is being spread by entertainment industry including media channels has a disastrous effect on masses. But the responsibility is ignored, till they make money its none of their concern. Our censor agencies have failed to avoid the negative effect. Literature which was thought to be mirror of society is busy in entertaining and money making. Today it shows what they think could be sold, they have nothing to do with the underprivileged majority people who does not have money to buy food.


They target only that section of society which could pay. The urban educated people which should be the harbinger of modern ideas, development of thought, social reform, eradication of miseries of their unprivileged countrymen are busy in entertaining themselves. They seldom get time for even their families. Time and money which is wasted in entertainment if invested in the development of our country could transform the life of millions. One should feel happy in helping the needy people and contributing as much as one can to the society of which one is an integral part. Its an irony that peoples' life weighs less than a cricket match.

Matrimonial sites and Internet is keeping caste system alive in educated India

Gandhi ji described India of his dream as ”India in which poorest shall feel it is their country…. an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; ..There can be no room in such an India for the curse of Untouchability…”.India after independence did work, to make his dream a reality. Practice of Untouchability has been abolished by Article 17 of our constitution and Article 21 gives right to live with dignity to all Indians. India also introduced a system of reservation to empower these underprivileged people politically, economically, educationally and to bring about a social upliftment.  While these measures, along with changed outlook of the society have resulted in betterment of lives of this larger part of our people, even today they are harassed because they belong to a caste which has been historically treated as lower by the privileged caste people. Such cases have been reported even in high offices like Judiciary.

Why even after 65 years of independence we are not able to defeat caste system and give our people, right to live with dignity?  It’s because the ideology of caste system has been passed from one generation to other. Earlier this was done by parents who used to teach their children which caste they belong to, and which is higher and which is lower. Along with teachings like respect for elders and teachers, they were taught not to touch or even go near low caste people. Thus caste system was engraved in their permanent memory right from the childhood and it was made as sacred as God’s worship and mothers love. Similarly the low caste parents made it sure that their son does not go near high caste people and serve them from a distance; this was the education he used to get. In the name of Karma and Dharma, underprivileged castes were forced to keep a low profile and serve others. Thus the theory of caste system survived and prospered through ages.

But today things have changed due to rapid urbanization and spread of education. Parents don’t have time to teach caste ethics to their children and children are busy with their syllabus, Bollywood and cricket. Parents do not care about caste till their son/daughter reaches marriage age. Suddenly they are concerned about the caste; because they want to marry their son/daughter in their own community. And here begins the business of matrimonial sites. Caste takes the centre stage, new generation which never cared about caste, which used surname only to differentiate between two similar names, are reminded of the importance of caste and its legacies. Today the pattern has changed and the responsibility of keeping casteism alive is taken by matrimonial sites and internet.

   
Matrimonial sites introduce you to all the castes available in the country and thus creating a curiosity in knowing these different categories of people, you start thinking about the caste of your friends, co-workers and acquaintances on the basis of their surnames. Interestingly these sites in the name of helping their customer to find a soul mate act as a means for survival of caste system. They do not differentiate between Hindus/Muslims etc. they proudly display a drop down box where you have to declare your caste which would be boldly displayed on your profile as if it is your most important qualification or identity. They even ask sub caste, gotra etc , and make sure that you never forget the intricacies of caste system. In case of underprivileged castes, these sites often tend to write the name of caste profession which the ancestors practiced, which without a pinch of doubt is derogatory and infringes their dignity. While so called upper castes feel pride in reading Thakur/Brahmin, it becomes a matter of insult for the underprivileged castes who are branded as chamars,nais,dhobis,khatik etc. They may be doctors, engineers, scientists or even Judges, but they are looked down as if they are still doing those petty things, just because they belong to that caste and use that surname. These sites violate their fundamental right to live with dignity and equality. It promotes inferiority in SC/STs, underprivileged castes and superiority in upper caste people and shatters the dream of social equality.

 

Today when world is shattered by communalism, fundamentalism and secessionism, the concept of social equality and unity becomes much more important for our existence as a society and country.

Internet is full of caste information and descriptions, even sites like Wikipedia provides whole genesis, demographics distributions, professions, surnames of various castes and thus keep the caste practice alive. They never let people forget the existence of caste. For a common man, information available on internet is as true as Einstein theory of relativity! Our present generation which searches for all things on internet, are reading about castes and unknowingly imbibing such practices in their mind and this inhuman system of dividing people in high and low categories on the bases of their surname is kept alive.

The menace of caste system cannot be eradicated from the society till this branding of caste system continues on internet. Laws, commissions and punishments are useless if the free propagation of caste ideology is not stopped. All references to castes, profession, and their relationship with surnames should be removed from internet especially from matrimonial sites, so that this inhuman practice cannot penetrate in the mind of today’s educated generation; Like terrorist and Maoist literature, caste literature is equally eligible to be banned on internet because it is also preaches anti-social and anti-national ideology. Efforts of our forefathers will go in vain if we do not stop the propagation through these new and much more effective means.

Let’s help ourselves to forget such practice and accept the people who have lived in misery, dejection and indignity for ages. Gandhi Ji’s dream would come true on the day when an Indian has to search meaning of caste in dictionary.

Using the Power of media for social and moral upliftment of the society

The role of media is not only to inform people about what is happening in the world but to put an objective view of the contemporary world and act as a leader. It can be the most powerful means of educating the masses about social menace, not informing but educating. Today when TV is not a luxury and it is available to all classes of society, what is shown by media has a deep impact on people and their thinking. Media has the power to transform the personality of people watching it, because it deals with ideas,at the same time if it does not understand its responsibility it can erode the intellectual level and moral values. The argument given by media that they show what people want is totally irresponsible and is degrading the media. Media is not an ordinary business that sells daily commodities which people buy and forget, it deals with the ideas which have transforming effect on the people, It has to be more responsible. Today people are busy in entertaining themselves and has very less time to look into the surrounding world and to work for its betterment. Now it is up to media who either can choose to go to that level, perpetuate it and sell its news as ordinary goods or take up the job of uplifting it.If media also act as an entertainment then how are they going to know about their capabilities, role and responsibilities in the real world . The world which includes the fellow humans too. Earlier children used to get social education from their parents,elders , colony and school, today when families are small , parents don't have time for their children and schools are only for syllabus completion media can fill the void created. It can effectively revive the moral values and sense of social responsibility among the citizens but if it is busy in making money by entertaining them, this purpose cannot be fulfilled, and the results are grave. Why is that the people who once fought for freedom and establishment of democracy in our country are not at all interested in it ? Is it not because they have forgotten what they could do with the intellect they have got, their contribution could make a positive tremendous change in the way we live, the problems we face. In fact some problems would just cease to exist one awareness about their causes and consequences are objectively placed in front of the people. For example communalism which is a serious problem which our country is facing, if people are made to understand how it has already caused tragedy of partition and numerous riots, and why it is necessary to be away from such menace and how we can be a more powerful and happy nation without it , they would surely understand. But the reality is that people are busy with sensations,cricket, movies, advertisements,serials etc. and they don't want to watch the documentary on topics like communalism, untouchability, social inequality and in general nation and society ! unless it gives some kind of entertainment. This is where our media grab an opportunity and use this argument knowingly or unknowingly to throw sensational news and debates. Some people who are obsessed with the individual rights of freedom to choose , freedom of expression  may argue that in a free society a person is free to see what they want and state shall not impose morality or anything on him. But are we accusing the commercial advertisements for the same violations ? Their argument is people buy what they want it is just a promotion, but commercials does affect a persons mind, In the same way if media can act as an advertiser for intellect, moral values and social issues it can bring a positive change in the society. And on that day It would fully realize its power and serve its true purpose.

(some excerpts taken from Justice Katju's speech on media leadership)