Acharya Tulsi
We have two standards to measure a man's level for being:
(i) The man's character; and (II) His tip-top. The first covers his unique individuality and the second his style of living.
In the evaluation of character, it is immaterial whether a man owns a bungalow, a car, a refrigerator or a television set. Here, the qualities that really count are the man's faith in non- violence and his dedication to truth. However, those who judge a man from appearances alone do not give much importance to his inner character. They are incapable of appreciating his sense of discipline, his capacity for renunciation. The man who commands their respect is the one who possesses and makes abundant use of all the modern amenities.
The bare necessities of life are food, clothing, shelter, education and medical aid. Entertainment comes only next to these. However, psychology gives primary importance to the mind. So, the need for providing food for the mind is keenly felt.
The needs of the mind can be fully met through the medium of literature. But in the hairy-burly of modern life, man has little time for any deep study of literature, or to cull out a philosophy of life for himself, or even to preserve his ancient ways of living. His mind is caught in turmoil and he merely seeks some sort of gratification. Was it for this that the TV. came into being? At the time of its invention, nothing is thought to be without utility. The inventors of TV. too, must have thought it all out. To extend the frontiers of man's knowledge may have been their objective. Television, they thought, could become the most important and graphic means of providing first-hand information about what happens anywhere in the world. Also the means of its proper evaluation. However, when the original aim is forgotten and replaced by meaner objectives, the utility of the medium itself becomes doubtful.
From a critical analysis of the fare provided on the television, it seems that it has little significance in the Indian context. That is why the media specialists have suggested the creation of a Supervisory Forum for television to screen out anything undesirable. Only materials cleared by the Supervisory Forum as fit for viewing will reach the general public and the Forum could this become an instrument for starting a campaign for awakening the masses.
As it is, the T.V. today is nothing more than an intoxicating drug. A tea-addict remains unsatisfied until he gets his cup of tea. Similarly, the TV. viewers feel emptied and lost if deprived of their regular fare. Some incurable TV. addicts go to the extent eating, sleeping, studying, teaching or going out to attend to some important work or simply to rest-all become for them meaningless pursuits, when they are viewing a movie on the television.
For students particularly, the television has proved to be a curse-it has done them the greatest harm. It is the main factor behind the falling standards of education. Today's students do not take as much interest in their studies as they do in television The T.V. has so fascinated them as to make them indifferent to their own career. These students constitute in themselves the great wealth of the country; on them depend the country's future. Looking at their pitiable condition, one wonders if these languishing geniuses would be able to shoulder the responsibility of taking their country forward. The students may be immature and foolish. But their parents at least are mature persons. However, these so-called mature guardians of the young, are to be seen witnessing all kinds of trash on the television screen for hours together in the company of their wards, on the men which are otherwise taboo among them, particularly on a Sunday, the weekly holiday. If, on that day, all the members of the family get together to discuss the family problems with a view to making their lives happier and more interesting, their leisure would be well utilized. But on that day, the exigencies of television-viewing dictate the time-table, so that even meals are not served at the proper time. What kind of example are our mothers and housewives setting for their children? Some of them cannot overcome the temptation to view television programmes even while preparing food in the kitchen, with the result that their hands often get scorched. If relatives and friends pay them a visit, Sunday being a holiday, the members of the family are so absorbed in the television serials, that they cannot even welcome their guests properly. Thus, we all seem to have lost our moorings, with life becoming more and more pointless.
The T.V. is a great modern amenity. It is not our aim to run it down. But, unless we make it more relevant and meaningful in the context of our felt needs, it can only be a destructive factor in our lives.
