Humour::Sitcoms or Shitcoms

History has it that some of the most pioneering ideas and thoughts of philosophers and great men came along at the most unpredictable and sometimes inappropriate times. Not that I came up with any mind blowing idea or thought but sure came up with a realization…which dawned to me rather late…which fortunately is better than never.

As I flipped one channel after another in a state of utter boredom, I finally settled in for a typical Indian soap on TV. I watched it for a couple of minutes and kind of got a hint of what it was about. It was the same mindless mumbo jumbo all over again. That's when I assessed what the TV scenario was. Be it any soap on any channel from a top TRI rated channel like STAR to a not so popular channel like SAHARA they all have the same programmes. A classic soap would have to include:

A mansion fit for an emperor. It doesn't matter if the owner is a top-notch business tycoon or a pauper but what is essential is owning a house that would put Bill Gates to shame.
A huge family all living under the same roof, consisting of everybody you can possibly think of. There has to be a Dadaji, Dadiji, Daddy, Mummy, at least 5 sons, 3 daughters, 5 bahus, loads of grandchildren…the list is endless.
After every other episode, somebody is getting married with a lot of pomp and splendour.
Funny how every serial has a villain in it…almost puts Veerappan to disgrace. They go to any length to gain vengeance. Having a person- be it a kid or a grown up- kidnapped seems to be a child's play…they have just the right contacts.
Funny how the wrong person always ends up at the right place at the right time to eavesdrop.
Oh and plastic surgery seems to be the most popular and not to mention easy on the pocket fad these days considering how every next person in a serial has had it done.
If I weren't a true believer in Islam, I'd start believing in re-birth. After all, don't you see people rising from dead on popular demand??
Doesn't matter what status the lady belongs to or what time of the day it is, but she has to be flawlessly dressed in silk sari with a long mangal sutr and seems to have no work to do other than to model around the house minding everyone else's business except hers.

It has all become a senseless waste of time. At the end of the day, it all boils down to one thing…overly dramatic scenes of pain, death, torture, extravaganza, complex and immoral relationships.

Sheeeeshh… I could just go on all day about how ridiculous sitcoms are getting day by day. But what actually dumbfounds me is that the number of people watching this crap is actually increasing every minute. Some have remained “loyal” viewers for all the years the serial was aired. How crazy is that! Don't people have better things in life to look into?? How can any sane human being possibly tolerate this nonsense for so long???

Well...the answer is simple and glaringly obvious… people want a comfort zone; a place to unwind and relax. So fed up, stressed and machine- like have people become that they would resort to anything… even crappy, larger than life TV serials if it would provide them the solace and so- called entertainment they crave for. Watching unrealistic characters unfold their life on a TV screen actually, in a way, gives people the life they fantasize about. And for that half an hour at least, people tend to forget their own problems.

Coming back to the realization I had. I, for a minute, thought what in God's name was I doing? I, at that moment refused to be a part of this frenzy and gave up watching serials for good. It doesn't appeal to me anymore if Sushmita is planning to take over the Kapoor empire, or if Kathya and Ali are going to get married, or whatever hell happens to Tulsi!

Do yourself a favour, stop wasting precious 30 minutes of your life watching this baloney. What, you may rightly ask, should we do when we are bored to death? Exactly the same thing I am doing at this moment...type a long sarcastic article or then again…you always have Seinfeld to delight you... lol!

About the writer: Fatima Rafat Qadri passed out of IISR in KSA, in 2004.

Published on June 16, 2005