Today (July 29th, 2012) was the last episode of Amir's show 'Satyamev Jayate.' For the last thirteen weeks every Sunday morning, I waited eagerly to watch this show, I can only compare this excitement I had with only two TV shows from the past 'Ramayan' and 'Mahabharat'. I am sure many people liked this show as much as I did and there must be few (or many) who didn't like it and must have their own reasons for it. I watched this show with my family, especially with kids, I wanted them to watch it to understand what problems Indians and Indian society face even today, what are the burning issues in Indian society, and also I was interested in their reactions to it.
Frankly, Amir's show didn't tell us anything new. All who spend their life in India know that these problems exist in Indian society (some of them are worldwide issues like child sex abuse, alcoholism or drug addiction, domestic violence, excessive use of pesticides, etc.). So, if it didn't say anything new then what was so special about this show? For me, the special thing was their presentation. The way Satyamev Jayate's team did the research for each topic, their selection of topics was very interesting and the way they presented the issues on the show was unique. This was not done on Indian television before. Mnay of the issues were really sensitive like female foeticide, malpractices in medical profession or manual scavenging and can generate quite angry and passionate reactions in India but they all were handled in very balanced way. Amir is not the first Hindi movie star who came on TV, many big stars debuted on TV and were very successful in whatever shows they did, but his show was totally different than all other shows from the past. It was a very rewarding experience, sometimes it took me back to the chawl where I grew up, sometimes it took me to my village in Uttar Pradesh (UP), sometimes it showed me the problems I faced in my own family, it was a very unique experience for me. I have seen or experienced most of the issues or problems discussed in the show that's why I can relate to them and maybe that's the major reason I liked this show. Many times I cried while watching the show, and many times I got angry after listening to victims' stories, but this show also gave me a lot of hope. The show also showed me that people want to change and many people are working to bring that change.
In the last episode, they showed many examples where people or organizations working selflessly to bring that change. The main message it gave was that we can bring change, it's easy to blame the system, politicians, or fate for the problems we face. It's easy to expect that someone will stand up and raise their voice against these issues or that future generations might be able to solve these problems as they are better equipped and well informed, but it doesn't have to be someone else, we can fight and try to solve all these problems. We all can fight against these things together and win, and we can only win if we fight together. The change or fight has to start with a single person and that is me. If I am not prepared to raise my hand to fight then I don't have any right to complain and don't have any right to expect that others might solve these problems for me so that my kids won't face these issues when they grow up. This is the major difference between this show and other shows, it not only raised the question but also offered the solution and told me that 'I can be the solution'.
Thanks a lot, Amir for making this show, and thanks a lot to your team for its efforts and research. I know that shows like this can't bring change or revolution in society but they can definitely catalyze it, they can initiate the discussion and create awareness that can lead to revolution and it can bring that change. This show has done its job and now we have to do ours. Only greed, lust, and desires can not dictate our behavior we need to think beyond all these things. Humans are a result of millions of years of evolution and we need to behave like an evolved species.
Thanks for reading and please share your opinion.
(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)
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