The Life of Me

It's been a long long time indeed since I last saw what is undoubtedly the most depressing programming on TV anywhere - an Indian soap opera. I am at my sister's place now, and so are my parents and my grandmother. Obviously, there is clamor for Indian channels on TV - a wish of the majority I don't have any problem acceding. My problem with this is that most of the programming falls under what I call the "K-Klan" of Indian TV - after the pioneering depths reached by the K-serials from the Balaji Telefilms stable. The same old formula is thrown at audiences in different forms, none too different from the other.

For those who don't know how this works - not that I am an expert, having viewed only about one episode of each serial that came yesterday - let me enlighten you. You can call this MISO 101 - Making an Indian Soap Opera 101 -
One huge rich family; one extremely nice or extremely nasty mother-in-law; one very docile daughter-in-law; one rebellious d-i-l; one ex-lover; a couple of one-sided loves; a very nasty character (usually a woman) out to get the first family; two-three "teenager"s who look like they've been sitting in a college for years and years together;
The above form the basic ingredients - proportions of each can vary depending on the mood of the writer. Also throw in a couple of deaths and/or marriages and you get what can be any god-damn soap running on Indian TV now. What those characters do for a living does not matter - they are too busy falling in and out of love and fights to actually work. They simply make a very good living - no questions to be asked!

Now, don't get me wrong. I've seen some soaps on American TV as well, and I wouldn't say that they are much better. Atleast, those stories try to maintain some amount of logic - though not much; to ask for logic of any soap opera is too much I agree. But at least, there are 2-3 different plot lines I noticed on American soaps; not the same story hashed and rehashed through all of them. Anyway, on Amru TV, I atleast have a lot of options like sitcoms, drama series, stupid standups, etc. All I seem to see on Indian channels is soaps. I guess that's why TV's the one thing I don't ever miss about India!

To come in the near future: Things I find pathetic about American TV...