Now TV serials inspired by Books

I am a big fan of Bollywood gossip, but I avoid reading about TV stars. I don't recognize most of them. So, yesterday I almost didn't read this article [see pictures on the right and below] about how 'the Twentieth Wife' by Indu Sundaresan is being adapted for small screen. The serial is called 'Malikaa'. All I could find on the net was these pictures from the launch of the serial.

I am a huge fan of the book 'The Twentieth Wife', and Indu Sundaresan's writing in general. 'The Twentieth Wife' is the first book in a trilogy based on Mughal era [predominantly the story of Noorjahan]. The second and third books are called 'The Feast of Roses' and 'Shadow Princess' respectively. I have reviewed 'The Twentieth Wife' and 'The Feast of Roses' on my Book blog. 


I am ok with a movie based on a book. It is interesting to see how a book is adapted for celluloid but I am extremely wary about such wonderful books getting adapted for TV serials. Many serials are started with a basic idea. Usually the idea is novel and exciting but you cannot dole out a daily serial out of one novel idea for a couple of years, which is the usual duration favoured by production houses. It loses steam after sometime, and since it has good TRP, the makers would want to make the best out of a winning serial on hand. Unnecessary, unreasonable and illogical twists and turns eventually spoils the essence of serial. I would hate that to happen to my favourite book :-( 

Ammaji [Meghna Malik]
Image courtesy: india-forums.com

Of what I have read, Noorjahan or Mehrunissa was a powerful and intelligent woman, but this is not how I have ever pictured her. That posture is too masculine [see picture above on the left]. Why must a woman need to behave like a man to claim power? Is that the assumption with which we are starting this serial? I am already depressed. I know, I know, I am sounding too cynical without having seen anything of it, but still. Moreover, if you look at the book cover images, they show a beautifully decked up, very feminine woman. So, I find a disconnect. And that posture reminds me of Ammaji of 'Na Aana Is Des Meri Laado' [see picture on the left].

The Twentieth Wife
by Indu Sundaresan
Image courtesy: flipkart.com

I don't watch TV so I am not going to watch it anyways but I will be looking out for the reviews and friends' opinions. I have written only about 'Malikaa' but the newspaper article says quite a lot of serials are taking inspiration from books due to the dearth in new ideas. For example, Saraswatichandra is an Indian soap opera currently airing on Star Plus & DD National. The series is based upon the Gujarati novel Saraswatichandra by Govardhanram Tripathi [source: Wikipedia]. To me, it looks like a cross between Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. 

So, what do you think about this new trend?

Open Letter to the Advertisers

This post was first published on Parentous.

Dear Advertisers,

I am writing this letter in the capacity of a mother of a child at an impressionable age.

I don’t watch TV, and as a consequence neither does my child who is in my care throughout the day. [And thank God for that!] As a toddler, he is learning the ways of the world, a tiny step a day. I put in a lot of effort in trying to instill good values and good habits in him.

The other day, I happened to catch a few advertisements on TV, quite by chance. So, I will take this opportunity to share my concerns about this ad and on retrospect this ad too, but I would suggest you must take it as concerns of a mother about several such ads. These are just two of the many on TV.

The first advertisement shows a child making faces at fruits and vegetables, while the other one shows kids turning up their noses at milk. These may be real-life scenarios in several households, but not all. May be it looked like a wonderful idea to connect with mothers of children who shun nutrition by turning up their noses at fruits, vegetables and milk. But when I watch these ads, it feels extremely unsettling. I want to turn off the TV because I don’t want my child to watch these ads. I am relieved that he is fond of fruits, vegetables and milk but kids emulate other kids. It does not help that children in these ads are making faces at fruits, vegetables and milk.

I will neither throw statistics at you nor quote psychologists. I won’t even link strong public opinions on such ads or tread on how misleading ads can be. I just want to say, it is worrying for me, or any other mother like me, to let our kids watch these kinds of advertisements. It just negates all the hard work we do in making sure they favor natural food like fruits, vegetables or milk over packaged sweetened juice or milk additives laden with sugar or chocolate.

Today, my child is too young but tomorrow he may want to watch some TV. So, for me, the concerns do not end at how TV could be addictive for young kids; but I am in fact more anxious about the kind of advertisements on TV. Moreover, these days a lot of ads of products, which are not even directly related to kids, are targeting children. This is highly alarming. In a few countries around the world, there are strict regulations on targeting young children by marketers and it is highly unlikely we have anything noteworthy in India.

That is all I have to say. For now.

Yours sincerely,

A Concerned Mother of a 2 year old 

Note: Dear parents, is it me or you feel the same way too?

TV Blues

This was first published on Mom and Me - one stop shop for Moms and kids.

When we were kids, there were not many options as far as TV programmes were concerned. But I clearly remember when I would return from school, the time taken by me to finish my lunch would be directly proportional to the duration of the programme I was watching while having my lunch.

In the current scenario, with enough number of channels and umpteen numbers of programmes supposedly for kids, one can end up watching TV the entire day. I have other examples in my nephew and niece who don’t even bat their eyelids while watching TV!

Of course, there are arguments that kids learn a lot while watching these programmes, which they can very well do otherwise too. And the kids become so influenced by the cartoon or animated characters that slowly you get sucked into a whole world of kiddie merchandise and theme parties and well, what not!

Besides, being very addictive, I have another issue with TV programmes, sometimes they are full of pre-conceived notions and prejudices. Why should we condition the mind of our kids to think in a certain way or have certain opinions about say gender, race, etc. Our kids should have the opportunities to form their own opinions.

I also have strong objections to the kind of advertisements which are shown in between these so-called kid-programmes, junk food packaged in the form of multi-nutrient healthy snacks and milk supplements which promise to fulfill all nourishment required for kids, to name a few. Kids are shown making faces at veggies, which may be true in real life but I still find it mental conditioning of kids. Kids are influenced by their peer group. Moreover, many times certain ads are not even suitable for kids.

My baby is just 10 months old right now, and so far I have resisted the temptation to make him sit in front of TV and finish my chores. It is a vicious circle really. When my parents or in-laws are visiting, I am unable to stop them from switching on the TV but meal time is strictly no-TV time for my baby. No matter who is watching the TV at that time, it has to be switched off.

I have chosen to be a stay-at-home-mom and I think we, my baby and me, can both benefit by spending more time playing and doing activities together like singing, talking, etc. TV takes the attention away from kids and at such tender age, it can be hazardous too!

I know TV is great in moderation, everything is, but in a perfect world. I wouldn’t mind letting him watch Discovery channel or Animal Planet when he is older.

What are your views on TV?

Satyamev Jayate

For the nth time, I don't watch TV much. But I did catch Satyamev Jayate's first episode. I was very cynical about it, you know, somehow I still feel Amir Khan is eventually getting into politics! But that's not the point. The first episode was promising. An issue which public empathizes with, some statistics, some startling facts, crisp editing, peppered with emotions; the programme was good. I watched the second episode online as I was busy at the time. The issue was closer to my heart, Child Sexual Abuse.
I have read a book called Bitter Chocolate by Pinki Virani on the same subject. It is a difficult book to read but I recommend it to every parent. We need to confront the issue to address it. And most of all, we need to trust our instincts and our kids. They can tell a lot, through words and their behaviour, but we need to pay attention. Of course, we are busy all the time, but childhood is such a tender and precious time for children, we need to do everything possible that our kids should only have fond memories of those times. We owe it to them.
Coming back to the show. I don't know if it can change anything, atleast the presence of a celebrity like Amir Khan definitely provides these issues attention. Any positive change is a step forward, so we shoukd stop criticising just for the heck of it!