Miles to go..

This is going to be a no-frills post. I am not able to find any fancy words. I am deeply touched, moved…

We tune in to watch reality shows once in a while for relaxation during dinner time. We do have a few favorites in this genre. Many a times they come up with more tragedy in terms of elimination, or a depressed candidate due to a failed performance or a brutally mutilated song we love.

Here comes a new reality show. A real path breaker. Not the kind of path breaker introduced by “Rakhi ka swayamvar”.  This is the reality show of the 17 street singers around us. Yes, those people, as thin as skeleton, blind, crippled, who sing around us in Railway stations and bus stands. Those people, whom we ignore and sometimes laugh at for their mediocre rendition. The specialty of the show does not end there. There will be no elimination rounds for the show. Instead, the sponsor of the program will build houses for all the 17 participants!!

“hmm.. Novel Marketing Tactics!!” That was my first thought when I heard about the program  in Indiavision channel. Yet, I was curious to search for the timing, for a glimpse of the program due to the novelty of concept.

Today, I stumbled upon the videos in Internet.  I would like to share those videos with all my friends across the world. See this one :

If your eyes become wet after watching this video, its not the program’s fault. Its because you are still human…

For the benefit of the non-malayalees reading this post, let me introduce a few contestants along with the links to their performances.

Saraswati

She used to share stages with  eminent musicians like Dr. KJ Yesudas in her early life. A Ganabhooshanam (degree in music) graduate, she says that she finds no difference between singing on street, or on a stage. For her, music is all that matters.

Listen to Saraswathi’s Alaippayuthe…

Suku, Kunjaava, Hamsa

This is a rare story of friendship.

Suku has a 16 year old daughter, who is handicapped. While, changing rented houses often, Suku  is helpless with his daughter. Kunjaava, is Suku’s friend. Though Kunjaava himself is very poor and blind, he has come to sing in this show, for a house for Suku !! Kunjaava’s wife and two children also accompany them. Suku is a support for many blind singers in the street, like Kunjaava. He plays Tabla while they sing.

Watch Kunjaava’s song here.

Watch Hamsa’s song here.

Pushpa & Rajesh
Pushpa’s mother tongue is Kannada. She was born and brought up in Kerala, and speaks excellent Malayalam. Pushpa and Rajesh met each other while singing in train, fell in love with each other and got married. On asking how she came to know about the show, she answered – “One day, I was singing in a train, and the director of this show, Sudheer Sir saw me and talked to me. A few days later, Sudheer Sir came to our  rented house and saw the home and circumstances. He told me about this show, but I didn’t believe at first. I never expected I will get a stage like this, to sing”

Listen to Pushpa’s “Ovvoru Pookkalume”…
Listen to Rajesh’s song here…

Subhash

Subhash came for the show for a shelter to protect them from the sun during summer and rain during monsoon.

Watch Subhash’s song here.

In the Judge’s comments, music director Jassie Gift pointed out, “This is not a song. This is a voice the society should hear and be an eye-opener to them”

See the other performaces :

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m-TDjiU6aQ – Ravi

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDIohd59R30 – Chaman Lal and Family

Another speciality I have noticed in the show is, the judges (rather celebrity guests) or the anchor are not downgrading the term “street singing”. Instead, they are considering it as a job, a platform for delivering the artistic skills of the singer. It was kind of amusing.

In Kerala alone, if we take 5 mainstream entertainment channels, there are atleast 20 reality shows going on. Senior singer, Junior singer, dancer, dance troupe, genius, show for moms, cookery contests, adventure contests, competition for colleges and what not.. If all the 5 channels host one reality show like this, and participate 17 contestants,  5 *  17 = 85 people are going to get houses in an year!! And, all the saregama’s going on for many seasons, imagine a “street light” show running in every channel for 4 seasons. 85 * 4 = 340 houses in 4 years…!! Now, multiply this number with the number of Indian States and the number of all the regional and national channels who host reality shows. What a beautiful dream!! :-)

All reality shows are imitations from the west, or from another channel in the same region. Hope the imitations happen for good.  Let the above number multiply and multiply, for a prosperous country of our own.

“Little drops of water, Little grains of sand

Make the mighty ocean, And the beauteous land

Little deeds of kindness, Little words of love,

Make our earth an Eden, Like the heaven above”
- Mrs. J. A. Carney

PS: Another report about the show – Click here to read.

Yes, you guessed it right. I have not quit writing on the topic, mumbai and its aftermath. I was going through ibnlive.com and the citizen’s comments there under each article. I do post there my opinion occasionally too. Anyhow, the following is one post I came across, which made me think. Posting it for you to read too.

User: abhigyan_dg

Post:

Hi Rajdeep,

I watched Mumbai being shattered by 10 so called ‘motivated’ people. Undoubtedly it was painful, to see a few fanatics holding a 10 billion strong country at ransom! Like most, I blamed the government, the politicians, the administration, the intelligence … et all. Until last evening when I was pondering over the crisis we currently are in. 
And … I blamed myself, a citizen of India, a common ‘urban’ man (I use the term ‘urban’ purely because it is primarily urban India which is under threat from terrorism). Zillions of questions cropped up!

- Vigilant: I scream of in-efficiency of the security forces. How much did I as a common citizen contribute towards keeping at least my neighborhood if not the city or the country safe?

- Co-operation: Airport security, if tightened for some reason, passengers are the first to protest, with arguments that they were ‘harassed’ and ill treated. It is only now, after the recent Mumbai attacks, that we are slowly coming to terms with the extra security measures.

- Votes: I blame the politicians and rightly so, because they have failed in performing their duties. Question is, was I a part of the voting system to start off with? Sadly, the answer is NO! Am I not shying away from my social duties as well? I come up with excuses like, ‘it is a difficult process to ensure the name appear in the voting list’. Tax filing in our country is an equally difficult process. But since I expect gain out of it (refunds), I will go to any extent of this difficult process, without complaining.

- Casual: I have been hearing about the Spirit of Mumbai since the 1993 blasts. It is said that nothing can dampen my spirits, the spirit of a Mumbaikar, the spirit of an Indian. But do high spirits mean putting everything behind me and carrying on with my day-to-day activity from the very next day, as if nothing had happened? The list can go on, but due to paucity of space, I have highlighted just some of the points which I felt needs attention. 
This is purely what I feel about myself. But, I am certain that there will be many like me who will have similar thoughts. Yes, our agitation against terrorism and corruption is completely justified, but along with that, as responsible citizens, we need to sit back and think of ways of becoming a part of the ‘cleaning process’. No country can be sanitized by the police, intelligence, politicians or the armed forces from terrorism, without the contribution of the citizens of that country. Things are changing, India has woken up, authorities are being questioned, but with all of this, let us, as individual citizens, wake up as well and contribute to a safer and cleaner society. Let us not wait for the next eventuality to happen. However little it might seem let us act NOW.