A slice of life

The Indian television industry is one of the most popular entertainment industries in the world, taking its prided position only after China and the United States. In recent times it’s been riding high on the waves of transformation. It boasts of about 600 channels and revenue of 320 billion, which has been growing steadily with a whopping percentage of 14% every year.

The content sadly remains the same, the same old saas-bahu sagas, and the same semi naked women trying to woo men in a jungle, the same public faces indulging in politics in order to win a reality show.

So, this Sunday I tuned into star plus to watch another show that was fast gaining popularity among people, yes I am talking about Amir Khan’s new show, Satyamave Jayte.

I was expecting Mr. Khan to rant and rave about some random topic while giving us all ample breaks, in which to heap popular advertisements upon us. I sat down with a plate of cookies to munch on, while tuning him out if he got too boring; Sundays are usually slow days so there was not much on show at any channel.

Now this episode I am talking about had health care in India as the main issue. I expected Amir to quietly introduce some health care professionals and then take a backseat to watch them take a jab at each other.

Amir Khan proved me wrong.

He did not become the silent spectator, but was the one at the helm of affairs calling out each person one by one and questioning them about the ethics and morality of the medical profession. He managed to get some of them to reveal rather dark and ugly secrets of the underbelly of the health care system.

 Gory Incidents were related one by one: an army officer’s wife dying due to forced surgery, people being taken advantage of due to their ignorance of the medical procedures.The most shocking one of all was the story on how women in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh had undergone surgeries to remove their uterus rendering them childless and resulting n their separation from husbands and families to struggle against poverty and pain. These women were led into believing that it was essential to their life to undergo such surgeries.

Amir Khan then went ahead to explain about how the poor man is being forced to pay more than 100 percent of the total costs involved in the production of medicines.

He then moved on to introduce the concept of generic medicines, and new heath care schemes which have saved many lives in India.

Amir Khan is proving to be the most responsible star of today, by taking up such diverse issues which are afflicting our country. He has moved on to a different area of television, leaving behind Amitabh Bacchan, Sharukh Khan and Salman Khan, feeling puny in their game show avatars.

A truly commendable effort and a great show.

My plate of cookies remained untouched!