Ever since ‘Pehredar Piya Ki’ went on air, I have been trying — rather desperately in fact! — to find some method in the show’s madness. You see, I am more left-brained, which is why even when I see a creative work of art (be it a painting or even a television show in the present context), I invariably ask myself some basic questions, such as: a) What is the purpose behind the show? b) What is the moral of the story? c) What are the key learnings and takeaways? d) How is the show beneficial for the people? e) What will be the repercussions (in this case)? etc.
Of course, when it comes to ‘Pehredar piya ki’, the public in general had a huge problem with the depiction of a child stalking, canoodling and caressing an adult woman…which is what prompted the channel to take the programme off air.
Of course, the readers would do well to remember that this is not the first show to be taken off air Years ago…in March 1999 to be precise, the immensely popular and successful sci-fi television show ‘Shakimaan’ was also taken off air after kids began re-enacting dangerous scenes. [Note: In case you are wondering why we are talking about ‘Shaktimaan’ now is because Mukesh Khanna (the protagonist/superhero of the show) is hoping to bring the series back to our television screens. [Note: Whether the kids of today are smart enough to discern fact from fiction…is of course…for time to tell!] But this discussion is an important one and needs our immediate attention (especially given the backdrop of ‘Pehredaar Piya Ki’).
You see, television is an extremely powerful medium, with several studies showing the impact (both positive and negative) on the psyche of human beings, especially young and impressionable children. This is why, the impact of violence is often studied within the context of normal child development. For if we look at cognitive development in children, they were born with an instinctive capacity to initiate adult behaviour (in fact, that is how the process of socialisation really operates).
In fact, mimicry is an inherent trait of human behaviour (social learning), which is even witnessed in young ones who are just a few months old. Of course, while children tend to imitate adult behaviour, they do not have the filtering mechanism to gauge whether a particular behaviour is good or bad.
Of course, there are those who are arguing that children will not imitate such behaviours (this was also the argument used by Mukesh Khanna against Prasar Bharati). However, anyone who has ever played the game of ‘Simon Says’ instinctively knows that imitation is not always “conscious”. A human’s sub-conscious mind is a powerful arena where dangerous and salacious scenes that are watched on TV find a permanent nest. The behaviour may not necessarily manifest itself almost immediately…but the remnants of the behaviour remains and may manifest itself in due course of time. Which is why we need to watch out for what the children are watching!!! Which is why instead of becoming “Pehredaar Piya Ki” (Protector of one’s Lover/Husband), she should have considered protecting the child himself. ‘Pehredaar Bachpan Ki’, after all, would not attract anyone’s fury!!!
