Voting Contests On TV - Organised Crime?

Yesterday i was moved to tears listening to Javed Akhtar and Sonali Bendre, both judges on the unreal reality show, Indian Idol. Both of them gave some (made up) emotional diatribe on air to the public exhorting them to vote. Javed Akhtar even went to the extent of comparing the voting on Indian Idol to the national elections saying we don't vote and then complain what kind of person has been selected. Then he continued again talking about being an Indian, he said he wondered when we will be non partisan, when we will cross the boundaries of caste, region, language, religion etc. His hidden message please vote, if you like a singer don't vote only once, keep voting till the deadline ends. Sonali Bendre on the other hand picked out the oft-repeated line of conspiracy against the girl-child and even shed a few tears, Please vote for the girls, she begged the TV audience.

Coming back to my tears. It was not because I believed in these two stalwarts of our country, it was because I was ashamed that a personality like Javed Akhtar could stoop down to such levels that he would compare the selection of Indian idol to something of national importance or any importance for that matter. Obviously the show is not doing well. Maybe the TRP's have gone up, but people must have have stopped voting. How long can they fool the people? Do Javed Akhtar and the other judges even realize that they are being party to an organized crime which is looting the people of this country ad they call themselves nationalistic.

Organized crime it is, all these voting contests on TV. Everyone who is part of the show is a party since everyone knows that they are putting on an act. An act to cheat the public in cohorts with the producer and the directors. Then the TV channels are roped in who will be the medium for delivering the criminal content. Then there are media patners like FM radio channels and news channels who will spread the word and keep reminding the public about the contest. Then come the phone companies, private sector as well as the Public sector companies like MTNL and BSNL. They will be the carriers for the vote irrespective of whether they are counted or not. These telecom companies are the ones through whom the money will be siphoned from the unsuspecting public. Whereas a normal SMS these days costs less than a Rupee, the vote SMS can cost anything from three to five rupees. The cartel splits the profit from each SMS amongst themselves.

This is sheer looting of Public money. Why should the public pay extra for the voting SMS's? If the voting SMS at the same rate is going to put extra load on the telephone network, the phone company should ask the Producer of the show or the TV channel to pay for their service. Are they not making enough money through advertising? They must be since there are other shows which are being telecast, which are plain soaps. There comes the bureaucracy into the loop. They do not get money directly or officially, but i am sure they are getting paid in some manner to permit a concept which is clearly against all moral, economic and social ethics. A small print at the bottom of the message exhorting people to vote is not enough to escape the legalities. Do they ensure that the people who are voting are above 18 years of age and hence independent? Do they ensure that the children are not wasting their parent's hard earned money on voting for contestants because of being misled by the 'in your face' canvassing by the likes of Javed Akhtar. If they do not they are robbing people covertly, which is a crime and everyone in the chain is an accessory to the crime.

I have never voted, still do not vote, but fail to understand why other people vote? Hey you or your parents are already paying for the TV, the cable connection and the channel subscription. You don't need to give any more money for those people to show you content. Stop wasting your money. Your vote does not matter. If it did the channel would have shown the counting and the program in real time. They fudge everything, the program is scripted just to fool you. When will you all understand?

I have a feeling people have slowly but surely started understanding this. The number of votes received must have gone down drastically. That is why Javed Akhtar had to stoop so low as to literally beg people to start voting. A respectful and successful personality like Javed Akhtar ought to stay out of this organized crime. Are you listening Javed? By the way you are a very good actor too, have you ever considered acting?

It is high time the Government or the Courts of this country banned this concept completely to save the people from unnecessary expenditure in the face of an already troubled economy.