ah the drama!

So I am addicted...yes very much..addicted to all those reality shows that air on every damn channel aired on that huge TV in my room..

Reality TV as a genre is not something very old for the Indian me.. Yes the 'Big Boss', the 'roadies, splitsvilla et al not withstanding.. which reminds me (sorry for digressing) how I once witnessed a scene in Bombay wherein my friend, lets call her P threatened to beat up a colleague N for voting against Kashmira Shah in Big Boss :P .... Hardcore is the word :D

Anyways..despite witnessing such devotion for the reality shows back home..I still feel totally new to the concept when I watch endless number of such shows here in US...

America..the land of opportunities.. And honestly, it hasn't taken me that long to realize how drama finds every opportunity to come alive on screen in every form or manner.. This country thrives on drama! and no not the drama that is contrived or rehearsed or that is nor real... This country thrives on every bit of drama that happens in real life..

Whether is it watching some uber rich Housewives bitching around...spending truckloads of money on what in India would be categorized as conspicuous consumption...or watching the tale of the unsuspecting women who carry a baby for 9 months without realizing anything in the belly! I am aghast!

If you thought that we in India make a celebrity someone greater than god..then think twice.. In US, they make a celebrity out of nothing... you don't need to be anything in real life... Just appear on a reality show about your life which shows you sleeping, drinking , eating and shopping and sometimes reading a paper in the bathroom and VIOLA! YOU ARE FAMOUS!! Wow being a celebrity is THAT easy here...

Watching this reality show on the lives of Kardashian family was just mind boggling! A bunch of sisters who appear rather dumb (seriously!), the bimbos.. they don't shy away from being in front of the camera exposing every part of their body while giving birth...or letting the camera into their bedrooms to capture some intimate moments...or let the world see them getting a bikini wax!! Seriously! are there no boundaries??? No, basically doing these things make them sensational...and lest we forget..the great country called USA LOVES drama..loves sensation! and yeah this country has made superstars of those really lame sisters.. sigh!

Then there are shows like the Bachelorette...and I can proudly (or maybe not) say that India had its own version of the show with our homegrown drama queen... but the US version is so full of steamy scenes, masala and DRAMA..that Rakhi Sawant pales in comparison.. Just imagine that!

There is this really crazy show I came across while flipping channels yesterday... The show features parents who hate the boyfriends/girlfriends of their kids.. And they are on a quest to find their spoilt kid a better date who can have a decent influence on the former! And we curse shaadi.com in India! The concept is similar except that these parents do everything in front of EVERYONE and add a LOT more drama to the endeavour..

There are so many more shows I could talk about..but lets just stop here for I am sure you have totally got what I started trying to convey...

One of these days..I am so going to pick up a book and switch off that idiot box! I am so going to do that soon :)