The Curious case of Sanjaya Malakar

Not too long ago, a certain Indian actress won a reality show on British tv. And many, including me, would like to believe that she won due to the sympathy vote being firmly in her grasp. Now, I'm not taking away anything from her success. She played to her strengths and manipulated the competition as well as the audience to her victory - just what is required to be done in such reality shows. And needless to say, I cheered for her. And not because she's Indian. The fact that she was an Indian did make a difference though - had it not been for that, why would someone like me, sitting in a far off land, be hearing about a run of the mill reality show in the UK? Note that the Indian version of the same show overlapped its counterpart in the UK, but I barely noticed what was going on there. But how could I avoid the daily reports in the newspaper or the systematic analysis of her campaign on news channels on Indian tv? I read the newspaper and watch news on tv too. Anyways, that's besides the point. It just struck my thoughts because of the parallels it draws with another similar case doing the media rounds these days - The case of Sanjaya Malakar.

Sanjaya is another person of Indian origin participating in another reality show on tv far away from India. The Indian media is vociferously following his campaign too. But the parallels dry down there. Neither is Sanjaya a celebrity nor is he doing just what is expected of him on the show. Then why the big hullaboo over him? Is it still a hangover from Celebrity Big Brother in the UK that the media has taken upon itself the responsibility of following all people of Indian origin participating in reality shows? Even if they come out with an excuse of highlighting how mediocrity can shine, I don't see why there has to be a weekly update of how Sanjaya is succeeding on American Idol. A piece highlighting their thoughts at the end of his campaign would have been more than apt for that reason.

I'm sure that if the media wants to look for heroes, they'll find thousands of cases more deserving than Sanjaya. For example, you have children who are presented with bravery awards on Republic Day every year. I don't remember having seen more than a passing mention of them in newspapers. And tv news channels are a different breed altogether. Even the passing mention is too much for them. And I'm sure there are many other myriad stories of heroism they'll find in India and related to Indian diaspora. I also don't have any doubts about the mediaworthiness of such stories. Pains me that the media doesn't show enough effort in unearthing these stories.

Not very long ago, we were being fed a daily diet of Sunita Williams. Apart from having an Indian parent, what's Indian about her? Still, she was depicted as an example of Indian success abroad. Why? Why do we still hanker after the likes of V.S.Naipaul and Nirad Chaudhuri (may his soul rest in peace), trying to establish their Indianness after they have quite overtly disowned India? An Oscar has become the de-facto standard for achievement in movies. Every year, we bemoan the failure of India's "Official" entry to the oscars. Nobody bothers about awards won by other Indian movies at numerous film festivals of repute.

Somehow, a combination of these two factors makes me think of the Indian media as an adolescent in the midst of an identity crisis. They clamour for attention from the west. They want to be like the media of the west. But they forget the relativity factor here. In trying to follow the american media system, they're nothing more than aping it. Would American news channels bother about an underperforming American in some Indian show? I'm sure they won't. They definitely would pick on someone like Sanjaya...because he's a participant in an American show and not because he's an Indian. Somehow, this objectivity is missing from the Indian media. Another cause for this behaviour is the lack of pride in both our glorious past as well as the good side of our present. The Times of India starts a campaign called India Poised. They're trying to highlight the good side of our present day state. Not even 6 months into it, they dump it like a hot potato. Possible reason being that it might have ended up as a branding failure. When the media tries to weigh its national pride against monetary benefits, one can safely assume that it stands in a very poor light in terms of morality.