Wednesday, August 5, 2009

LET THE TRUTH TRIUMPH; SACH KA SAMNA TOO


A consensus on any issue among our Members is something very difficult to evolve; perhaps all such occasions taken together won’t outnumber the total number of the Ministries we met. Often it happens when the papers are on the table for a hike in emoluments of the members for the members by the members.


Nation witnessed that sense of consensus again with the members in high spirits zeroing in on a Start TV programme. A few words on the programme ‘Sach Ka Samna’ is an oriental version of the occidental ‘Moments of Truth’. Rajiv Khandelwal, the host will be quizzing the guest with some 21 deadly questions, absolutely personal, moving from personal to official to physical to sexual. Just give true answers to all the questions of the host and walk away exactly not with Rakhi’s hands but with a handsome one Crore.


Right, as you may doubt there is no room for any anxieties that the depth of the Marina Trench or the height of the Mt.Everest will once again be measured for as Sidharth Basu is the Producer of the Programme. Producer’s attempt is to set soil, cultivate, reap and market the truth exploiting the present demand-supply gap. All the men and women who are not allergic to truth will be welcomed to try a hand under the limelight. People suffering from Alzheimer’s when it comes to truth better remain at home.


Host ensures either of the two situations for the guest. Either you walk out with a handsome one Crore thinking how to spend it alone, nearer you are to the Crore farther you are from the family, Or you forget the truth, polygraph takes over and you loss both the handsome one Crore and the faith of the audience and sometimes the spouse too, if so lucky. (When one loses something gains something else).


As a buffalo need not be trained in swimming, Basu need not be taught of the ingredients of a successful programme. We are all peeping toms in someway or other and the programme provides enough to keep the voyeurs sorry viewers interest undying. Above all, a controversy serves better than the pages of millions worth advertisement thanks to our beloved Members. Our public faces whose life looks like books wide open, are all out against the programme. To Brinda and Sushma, it outrages the modesty of women and to others like Shantha Kumar, former CM of Himachal Pradesh and others are sure that the Indian Value system is under attack. Our ladies and gentlemen will soon be taken to streets to protect the Indian Value System which even survived Macaulay’s mortal blows. Not so long before, one of our beloved poets shifted his allegiance to Buddhism, and during the ceremony, the Budhist monk asked the poet what he would do for Budha. His answer was that he will be defending Budha wherever and whenever necessary. The Monk famously said, “Budha is here for the last 3000 long years without your help”. Values never ever need any protection.


Shaking off the gender, caste, creed, ideology differences all our men and women join hands for pulling down the curtains for the Show. When all are on guard for our value system, a simple question peeps from above. Do our values, ethics and culture ever teach us not to tell the truth?

Not that’s the reason, our wise leaders view the worse days ahead. No one can predict what will be the sequel to ‘Moments of Truth’ in West. Imagination is not at all expensive. Just imagine the Channels there go ahead inviting public figures as guests and flashes the names of the men and women who rejects the offer during the programme. If Basu and others translates the programme to Hindi, and the Media Syndicate or Satans in Kerala into Malayalam, of course, the mansions of Indian ethics and value system won’t be razed to ground but the twin towers of reputation and character of our so-called leaders will touch the ground zero. So a stitch in time saves nine. It would be better if those clamoring for the ban on programme keep at least an arms length from the Mahatma, who never was afraid of truth, be it in personal or public life. The Mahatma holds a stick.