Misplaced priorities

A few weeks back I happened to see the program “Airtel Super Singer” that’s aired on Vijay TV. There are two versions of it – for the above 18 folk and then a junior version where any child who can sing can participate. The prize is always a flat in Temple Greens from Arun Excello – looks like they have some unsold inventory :):)

The senior program is fine, the participants are older, nearing completion of their graduation or working. The problem I have is with the Junior series – the children are out of school, I heard some participants’ school-going has been stopped and their parents ferry them from one contest to the other. I know of one contestant who has come on the junior version of this program in Tamil and then in the Hindi version of it. Whatever for ?

Also the program I happened to watch a couple of weeks back, should be dragged to the court – two children who were a few years away from their teenage sang an innuendo filled song that I would have been ashamed of singing !! The gurus and parents sat there clapping – and then we say the teenager today is violent, indulges in unsafe sex early, ofcourse they will. We as parents clap when they sing a song with suggestive lyrics and expect them to “get” what’s right or wrong. The worser thing is the judges talking about “feel” being right for such songs. I remember a news item from a few years back where Sonu Nigam had refused to sing a song because the lyrics were objectionable and I was happy someone noticed. Why can’t singers do that more often ?

What do we adult Indians place priority on today …. Remember the news about the newspaper boy making it to IIM… Shiva Kumar. There is hardly any update on him, while I know how Sanjay Dutt who went to jail for a crime that led to several hundreds getting killed, spends each day. What do we want to focus on ? I had written earlier about this He went to IIM.. Sanjay went to jail, so ?

The other classic misplaced priority – women chasing after creams that make them look younger, am not going to the “fair skin” drama which is disgusting. Across the world if actresses need to look young as their profession demands it and if they chase after the youth elixir it’s understandable, but they fail always and grow old. We should be learning from that … Using Botox and becoming like a wax museum exhibit while still alive is just not worth it. And the bigger danger is, we are teaching our daughters that growing old is something terrible – it’s not, it’s a natural phenomenon and happens to everyone. The misplaced focus on outer appearance and no focus on the inside is detrimental.

My friend who had to visit a psychiatrist for a relative of his, went in thinking there would be a handful of people who have psychological issues and was shocked to see the queues and the “crowd” waiting to meet the doctor. In some ways, our individual priorities are misplaced and the collective social priorities are just as misplaced and we impose the same on our children :(. Today schools have a psychologists to whom students in class 1 are referred to … At age 5 a child has psychological issues ? What have we done to ourselves. Many times the behavior of an adult of today will make a juvenile look more mature.

There is an urgent need to re-evaluate our priorities, re-look at what’s important and re-focus on the right things… Can’t leave the world worse than how we found it !!