The sound of music
The country’s northeastern hills are in the grip of frenzied passion but guess what? The cause is neither political unrest nor separatist violence. It is difficult to imagine that the trigger for such hysterical ferment is a television programme.
The country’s northeastern hills are in the grip of frenzied passion but guess what? The cause is neither political unrest nor separatist violence. It is difficult to imagine that the trigger for such hysterical ferment is a television programme.
As the finals of ‘Indian Idol’ readies to go on air tomorrow, consider how this singing talent programme — which ostensibly aims at unearthing the best undiscovered young crooner in this country — has rewritten the definition of idol worship.
Consider the attention and the adulation heaped on the two remaining finalists — Amit Paul from Shillong and Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling — one of whom will be crowned ‘Indian Idol.’ In Meghalaya, where Mr. Paul was recently anointed brand ambassador of the State for peace and communal harmony, the young singer is credited with doing the impossible — bridging the divide between the Khasi-Jaintia-Garo tribes and the non-tribal population.
Similarly, Mr. Tamang is said to have forged “an unprecedented unity” among Nepali-speaking folk in the swathe of hills that comprise Darjeeling and Sikkim. In a contest in which votes polled via SMS and phone calls will determine the winner, all stops are being pulled out by the two sides in mobilising support for the son of the soil.
In Sikkim, the Chief Minister has declared “all out” backing for Mr. Tamang; free PCOs have sprung up from nowhere; and Ministers are commandeering cell phones for voting via text messages.
Not to be outdone, the Meghalaya Chief Minister has instructed senior government officials to canvas support for Mr. Paul. In Darjeeling, the local administration has ordered all liquor shops to be closed over the weekend, fearing raucous parties if Mr. Tamang is crowned and severe alcohol-induced depression if he fails to make it. To set the record straight, the rumour that the Gorkha National Liberation Front and sundry Nepali outfits have been forcing people to vote for Mr. Tamang has been denied.
Recently, when the two young men returned to their native Shillong and Darjeeling, they were feted, felicitated, paraded, honoured, awarded, mobbed, and showered with all manner of adjectival praise. Of course, it is not only the hills that are alive with the sound of music. In other parts of India too, the programme, which is now in its third and most popular season, has got everyone — adolescent, youthful, middle-aged, and elderly — glued to their sets. This cannot but make one wonder. If only this power of television could be harnessed for the social good. If only people took a similar interest in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. If only our idols were more than singing or dancing sensations.
THOUGH QUITE SURPRISED BY THE POWER OF MUSIC , WHAT PAINED ME A LOT IS THE SURGE OF IDOLS ONLY IN ENTERTAINMENT ARENA .
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