Nitish Banka

    • HISTORY vs. ENTERTAINMENT

    In the words of Mark Twain, “India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.” India is a country where culture holds a very vital and strong position. This is also the most important reason why the world recognizes our nation and endows respect to it. We owe this, because a reference to history always makes an Indian proud.

    To depict the greatness of Indian History, in the earlier times plays were organized. Then theatres took the charge. And, now finally television has taken the up the responsibility. As time has evolved, the T.V. entertainment has taken a shift in its broadcasting commodities. Earlier, where Mahabharata and Ramayana used to be the heart and soul to Indian television, now we have a new variety of shows. It’s an effect of globalization and also, modernization that the demand has shifted to reality shows and also to those which demonstrate intellect. There is also a liking for telecasts which we term as “daily soaps”; undoubtedly, the ones which are at the present the kidneys and lungs for majority television consumers in India.

    In spite of this, we have also witnessed the saga of Lord Rama, Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganesha, Lord Krishna been broadcasted. The stories of Chandragupta, Prithviraj Chauhan, Rani Lakshmibai, Maharana Pratap, and Jodha-Akbar which have rocked our Indian history have also been on air, or, are being aired.  But sadly, the versions which we are consuming as viewers of these shows are deviations from the original one. The focus from the display of history has shifted to the dissemination of entertainment, only. Recently, a writ was filed against the broadcasting of “Jodha-Akbar’ serial on the grounds that the contents of the show are a “distorted presentation” of historical figures. This has hurt the sentiments of a large population in Rajasthan.

    The question which now lies to analyze is the importance of history for the new India.  Are we running away from our culture and traditions? Are we not amazed by the legends of our historic achievers? Or, in this fast and furious world full of lust, has the Indian consumer lost his taste for the basic food? Because in the market of demand and supply, the buyers are supplied as per their call. The world of fantasy may be fascinating, but as dialogued in different Indian movies and serials, “Ghar ka daal-chawal is always better than Bahar Ki Biryani”; it is healthy, indeed.

     By-: Tejaswini Ranjan

    Related articles