Mind Your Language

Way back in the 1980s,before economic liberalization and cable,Indian television was still about benign people leading benign lives in benign cities,towns and villages.

From conniving teenagers to hot-headed starlets,with realityshows swearing on television no longer holds any shock value

Way back in the 1980s,before economic liberalization and cable,Indian television was still about benign people leading benign lives in benign cities,towns and villages. They spoke in pure,unpolluted Hindi,and addressed each other with courtesy and respect. On a rare occasion when the script of the serial demanded a certain character to be angry,his aggression would be documented through flaring nostrils and raised eyebrows,but never with verbal vents. Then,one day,a certain Shah Rukh Khan erupted on the TV with a trendsetter of a serial called Fauji. It was about commandos joining their training school,and was hugely popular with youngsters. I remember distinctly that in a particular episode his character used the word shit. That was one of the most defining moments of my young life. The thrill of hearing a swear word on national television was incredible, remembers Kolkata-based banker Samridhi Sen,who grew up during the 1980s.

Those were the times when swearing on television had some sort of frission attached to it. These are the days of television by products (read participants of reality television shows) who swear like over-eager schoolboys. Their passion of talking about each others private parts seconed by their obsession of making crude gestures to each other.

But let us not be judgmental and consider this paradigm shift. Why is swearing on television so indiscriminate nowadays? Were swear words discovered only in the last few years? (NO!) Didnt youngsters in the 1980s swear? (You bet your pants they did!)

Its just that television is more youth centric today. We speak the language of the youth of India, says Saurabh Kanwar,vice president,content and communication,Channel V.

The middle class stigma associated with swear words,it seems,is a thing of past. Swearing,which was seen as a prerogative of the lower class,truck drivers and of course the antels,is now the lingua franca of the bourgeoisie. Its not as if we taught India to swear. My show,Roadies,holds a mirror to the society. The contestants use swears words in the show because thats how they speak, says Raghu Ram,conceptualizer of the popular MTV show Roadies,which draws much of its drama from the colourful verbal duels between contestants.

Why is it a problem if we show people,talk and behave like they do in real life? asks Ram. Probably because we have been brought up to see television as a sanctuary inside which people behave better than they do outside. This attitude has to change. Its like saying its ok to have sex but not ok to talk about it, says Raghu.

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However,arent we taking things a bit too far? There is this particular reality show where even the innocuous words were beeped to make it sound like the contestant was swearing. That is nothing but senstationalism, says Kanwar.

So where does one draw the line? One has to think of the context. To use srong language for the shock value would be very irresponsible. However,in some cases it might be wholly justified in the interests of authenticity. A show about youngsters will have them using some four-letter words, adds Kanwar. Raghu agrees. When I realise that a contestant is using swear words just for the effect,I edit the portion, he says.

Yet,its quite evident that television is no longer the citadel that it was. Its more like your paras rock.

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