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{mosimage}Infact I wanted to water down the words to describe about the mega serials in the TV, but couldn't. I don't mind if it sets a wrong reputation about me. All filthy words come fluently when I wanted to vent against the so called "entertaining" mega serials. I want to kill the bastard who stumbled upon the idea of daily soap. I want to torture those 'mother f*****s' in public who script these mega serials. I really want to throw the idiot box out of my home fearing for these mega serials. But I am really helpless and incapable, thats why I am venting out my angst in the form of this blog. It is really sad to see the family bonds eroding and minds corrupted through these slow poison fed to the minds of ladies and even men these days.

I and my mother always fight for only one reason - Mega serials. Other than that we are really close. She is a mega serial addict that she starts seeing the serials since 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM, and if she is at home on holidays she catches up the day time soaps also. I don't mind her watching them because she has no other source of entertainment as of now. But what really irritates me is the contents. All serials are about adultery, conspiracy, black magic and violence. More the tears, more the tortures meted out to the heroine, more popular is the TRP. So all the serials are replete with conspiring relatives, poor heroine (normally played by some prostitutes who are arrested in cases) who act as if they don't know what to do even kept in mouth, with so much of glycerene and wailing. Since I am writing in English, the words are bit subtle and what I think in original Tamil is full of third rate words when I sit to write about these mega serials.

What I am writing is normally happening in lot of homes but since I have no right to comment on others', I am writing what happened in my home. I am not singling out but just representing how these mega serials create a havoc by weakening the family bonds. Previously the ladies at home had ample time to carry out the home making activities, catch up with the neighbours and know about each others, had enough time to spend with the kids and spouse. But what is happening today? All the ladies cook once in a day - morning, and evening they start their "serials" and have no time even for cooking. Those who have school going kids send them to the tuition and continue with the serials. The "cooked" food was heated during the 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM break, but now it is reduced to 30 minutes. You won't be surprised if the 8:00 PM news slot is also given for mega serials. Sometimes my mother offers to serve me "morning cooked food" by 11:00 PM after the serials are over.

{mosimage}Previously once the lights are on in the evening, people won't even raise their voice. They used to say that Goddess Lakshmi will bless the homes that are calm and peaceful. If anybody shouts and fights in the evening, they discourage by saying that if a house was so, "Moodhevi / dharidhram" (poverty) will take over the homes. But with the advent of mega serials, in the evenings all the houses are filled with "oppari" (wail), grief and resemble like an "ezhavu veedu" (house where some death had taken place). I am really scared of the evenings now. Now even the men had been accustomed to these serials, that they also watch these scraps regularly along with their wives.

When we ask the ladies why they see those bastard serials, they say that they have no other source of entertainment. My question is "What you were doing when there were no such serials? Even then you had your share of time pass". We had a chance to know who is living next door, today we are living in a concrete jungle. Now nobody bothers to know who their neighbour is. Even if they meet for a chat, the subject is reduced to the mega serials. One day while waiting in Salem bus stand, I overheard a conversation between two ladies midway. It went like this - "Poor girl, she was very patient all the days. I had never seen her raising her voice even once, but yesterday when I saw her losing her cool, I felt justified. Till her father died she was very calm..." Somewhere it rang a bell inside "I had heard this somewhere". Fuckers... they were discussing about the woes of Saroja in the famous mega serial - "Metti Oli".

When the women formed a major chunk of audiences for movies, there were scripts with family values even though sometimes regressive with "Thaali" sentiments. But when mega serials took over the ladies audiences, in order to attract young audiences, the movies turned to sex and violence. So mega serials had affected the movies also.

I alway used to comment my mother that she is the one who worries that she has got nothing to worry about in real life. Recently she had got Blood Pressure problem, but whenever she and Nichola akka catches up in the evening, they are worrying for all the serial heroines. I don't remember when I had a healthy chat with my mother last. Every evening I get goosebumps when I think that it is the time mega serials are going to start. Even though I keep myself engaged in other activities, these background musics of wailing and crying just raises my blood pressure. Once I tried to "reduce" the number of serials, all I got was a rough answer, that really shook my belief in the family system. After much deliberation, I got out spare TV a cable connection and kept it in the other room, requesting to spare the living room becoming a funeral house. Not all the homes might have a spare TV, I am just thinking what will be their home's happenings.
{mospagebreak}Still I fight a lot in the evenings with my mother. I understand it is a psychological behaviour to get maximum attention from her, but it can't be a long term solution. I really don't know how to save her from the clutches of these serials. I don't know when these ladies will realise that this idiot box is actually weakening the family bonds. These ladies, including my mother, has enough people to worry about - like Devyani in "Kolangal", Meena in "Lakshmi", Radhika in "Selvi", Khushboo in "Kalki". They have no time for the kids and their family. So why should I unnecessarily bother & emotionally attached about them. I am so frustrated that I have decided that once I leave from my home, I'll never ever return. Once I told the same thing to my mother for which she said that I am finding an excuse to be keep parents away in their last days, since I had become financially independent. No! I can put in other way - I am forced to take this stand even though I dream a lot about a happy close knit family. Long live idiot box!

If you want to know how much I am frustrated, please take a look at what I want my wife to be in my matrimony profile - She should not be an avid watcher of mega serials. I am so much affected and frsutrated.

To the scriptwriters:-

All the serials have woman sleeping with more than one men and vice versa. All these mega serials have a set of "wicked" females and "spineless" male characters. When asked about why the serials have so much of immoral characters, they say that the serials reflect the lives of the people. Do they mean to say that there are no good people in the world? Else do these bas***d serial writers draw inferences from their own life? All RADAN produce serials have adultery themes and characters. Ofcourse the scripts are approved by their MD, who married thrice. Obviously her serials reflect her codes of morality. If you have so much of filth in your life, why are you permeating it into the society?

Most of the mega serial actress are very open about being prostitutes, but in serials they act as "homely chaste heroine". After few months they get all their dubious record wiped off completely and they become role models for the mega serial viewers. At the risk of sounding ruthless demon, I experienced a sort of sadistic pleasure when reading about the suicides of the TV actresses. Only time I felt bad was - at the suicide news of Shalini, who sparkled in Vijay TV by doing political analysis, during MP election.

We all teach our kids not to believe in black magic and sorta matters. But all the serials targetted at the kids are replete with those things only. Also with the contents replete with sex and adultery, the morality of the young generation is surely corrupted. Scriptwriters might argue that they take inspiration from some real life incidents. It is like taking the garbage from the dustbin and littering the whole city. These serials corrupt the simple minds by teaching how to carry out clandestine lurid affairs and how to plot and cheat.

Recently my niece got married and there was a reception at the groom's place. The initial batch of guests, friends of my nice, who came to wish the couple gave their complement covers to her. Since she couldn't hold more in her hands, she gave it to the groom's relative standing next to her. That man put those covers along with their share of complement covers. Immediately one of my relative who sat next to me was commenting "What is this? Similiar thing to what happened in "Kolangal" serial. If on the first day itself it is so, what will they do with our child?". Shit! She was relating with the worse consequences of the drama. Just an example how mega serials had corrupted the average viewer.