TV isn't that idiotic anymore

Nine yearold Haely Khadawalarsquos eyes are fixed on the television The camera has zoomed into the face of a tearyeyed participant on a dance reality show for kids After a full minute the camera zooms into the audience stopping at his parents who are waiting for him to say something with bated breath He takes the mic and smiles ldquoI am happy that I learnt so much on this show and I will focus on finishing my steps in time with the beatrdquo Haely claps her hands turns to her father Sunil and announces ldquoThis is the attitude I will have when I go for my fashion show tomorrow We lose so that we learn how to improve upon our mistakesrdquo Sunil Khadawala watches Discovery Channel with his nine yearold daughter Haely PicDatta Kumbhar Fortytwo yearold Sunil is one of the many city parents who are using the idiot box as a medium to educate their children and to help them imbibe good values ldquoChildren are going to watch TV mdash that cannot be avoided But it is up to parents to make it into an educational exerciserdquo says the Byculla resident who coowns a food store in CST u00a0Be it a family show like Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chasma TMKUC on Sab TV or an episode of Garbage Mountain on National Geographic that showed how garbage compactors work Khadawala makes sure he watches it with his daughter turning it into a bonding session where he subtly discusses topics such as good manners and new technologies ldquoIn TMKUC the child protagonist Tappu is a good boy but often gets into trouble for not listening to his parents When he gets pulled up for it and is made to undo his wrongdoings I discuss the importance of respecting elders and taking their advice with Haelyrdquo says Khadawala who is happy with the response he gets from his daughter He does however hold a grouse against the censor board for allowing adult material to be aired on TV ldquoEven the serials have gotten bolder In those cases we just switch off the televisionrdquo he saysu00a0Haely also enjoys Indian Idol on Sony TV where she watches singers from across cities towns and remote villages come on television to give their dreams a shot ldquoThey work so hard and sometimes lose in spite of it It happens The show gave me the courage to do my best in the fashion showrdquo she says quickly adding timidly ldquowhich I wonrdquo Good and bad Television is meant to inspire but it can work both for and against viewers says Ashish Golwalkar head nonfiction shows Zee TV ldquoTender minds will absorb things fasters than grownups which can work both for and against television On our shows Sa Re Ga Ma and Dance India Dance we show both success and failure stories of participants which connect with the audiencerdquo says Golwalkar who believes that TV shows have both pros and cons ldquoWe cannot say we are doing only good stuff It also depends on how much viewers allow programmes to affect their minds Dance India Dance Lil Masters is not just about dancing Mithun Dada who is one of the celebrity judges on the show promotes good eating habits talks about eating green vegetables and drinking milk and even asks kids to adopt cleanliness when he tells them to cut their nailsrdquo he says Ritu Rathore a 41 yearold homemaker from Napean Sea Road watches television programmes such as cookery news reality shows with 10 yearold daughter Raina PicBipin Kokate India is a young country with over 60 per cent of the population under the age of 30 says Rahul Johri senior vice president and general manager South Asia Discovery Networks AsiaPacific ldquoKnowledge is cool Indian viewers are a curious lotrdquo he adds ldquoWhile parents encourage their children to watch meaningful television it is observed that the programmes on new discoveries latest developments in science and technology topical shows survival and adventure etc appeal to the younger generation Our primary target audience is above 15 years hence our programmes appeal to these age groupsrdquo says Johri Discovery Channelrsquos programmes like Man Vs Wild Worst Case Scenario I Shouldnrsquot Be Alive Planet Earth Death of Bin Laden Queen Elizabethrsquos 60 years Build It Bigger and Extreme Engineering are targeted specifically at this age group and have got a good response from them To expand its audience to those between the age of 4 and 11 the channel also launched a new network this year Discovery Kids Expands the mind An episode of Satyameva Jayate on Star Plus worked wonders for Ritu Rathore a 41 yearold homemaker from Napean Sea Road It helped her 10 yearold daughter Raina understand female foeticide ldquoAfter the show she had a battalion of questions mdash lsquowhy are women not importantrsquo lsquothey give birth to children then why are they treated like thisrsquo lsquowhy are boys betterrsquo and so on I explained to her that not everyone thinks that way and that illiteracy plays a part in thisrdquo says Rathore who was appalled at the figures and cases on the same show during the episode on child abuse ldquoI realised it was time to let her know about these things I simplified the information provided and explained it in a way that she would understandrdquo says Rathore The exercise has paid off Last year Raina knew the correct answer to the Rs 50 lakh question on an episode of Sony Entertainmentrsquos show Kaun Banega Crorepati ldquoWhen we watch meaningful things together I can choose the kind of information she absorbs I would even let her watch a show on fashion as it helps her understand colour combinations and what would look good with what etcrdquo says Rathore Similarly fashion designer Chaitali Menda allows her children mdash eight yearold Kyana and six yearold Kahaan mdash an hour of television during dinner time ldquoThey watch 15 minutes of cartoons and then move on to National Geographicrdquo u00a0ldquoKahaan loves snakes and after watching a show on flying snakes on National Geographic he came and told me all about it He was amazed that a particular snake could eat a meal three to four times its size and that another could make long jumps from water bodies onto trees He looked through his encyclopedia to know more and eventually looked it up on the Internet where he could see more videos and read more articlesrdquo says Menda She adds ldquoWhile I believe that too much TV can have an a negative impact on children it can also expand their mind by providing them with new informationrdquo Menda also made Kyana watch the last 10 minutes of the Satyameva Jayate episode on child abuse ldquoWhen kids watch gory shows unsupervised it can be really hard to unlearn but there are a few good shows that work the other way aroundrdquo she concludes Since parents cannot stop children from watching TV it is up to them to separate the good the bad and the ugly and use it to their advantage says Nina Jaipuria executive vice president and general manager Nickelodeon and Sonic sounding a note of caution ldquoKids turn on the television for two reasons mdash either they are bored or they need to shed the stress of academic and parental pressures When kids end up watching shows because adults in the family are viewing them it can have a negative impact on themrdquou00a0