REALITY CHECK

The week that went by required my participation in two popular game shows based on knowledge and skill (both of which I don't have in abundance). While tele-serials with perpetual glycerine tears rolling down the women's cheeks and revenge readymades plotted in most stories don't really make up my kind of Tamizh programs, game shows still make a lighter moment of TV viewing time. So when the schedule dates and my availability coincided after a lot of fixing and cancellations, I grabbed the opportunity to do both the shows one day after another. One of them was the long pending shoot of one of my favorites 'Oru Vaarthai Oru Latcham' referred as OVOL and the other being one of the longest running successful shows 'Jackpot' produced by two different television channels.

OVOL gave the opportunity to brush up my Tamizh diction and called for at least a couple of days practice with my partner who volunteered to give it a shot. I was literally roaming, walking and sleeping with my tiny Tamizh dictionary in hand for those two days. When English becomes a substitute for lots of Tamizh words that actually have equivalents, the time taken to recall the apt word or even a synonym in Tamizh is quite alarming. Where do we use words like Meyjai, Naarkaali, Kotpaadu or Varambu in our normal conversations? Like when you want to give clues for words like 'Adippadai' (basic) or 'Porulaathaaram' (economy), you have to quickly travel into that mind maze of limited Tamizh dictionary you've accumulated over the years and quickly give the one word clues for your partner to guess what's on the hidden screen. These are the times I wish I had opted for Tamizh as my second language in school beyond fifth grade but it's far too late to do anything about it now. It's however a bit consoling to know from the host that the team that played before our slot in the morning comprising of qualified Tamizh writers and lyricists didn't fare too well either. So it was a combination of not just knowing Senthamizh or possessing a good diction but also giving focused clues, matching to your partner's wavelength, knowing an array of Tamizh words, synonyms, antonyms and above all guessing it within the stipulated 2 minutes or less in later rounds. How much we won would be like telling you the climax of the story and then asking you to watch the film from the beginning. So I'd rather reserve that right to the respective channels and let you have the fun of watching the episode. But beyond the money that we won, the most important contribution of this show was to make me learn a lot more Tamizh words that I wasn't familiar with prior to the show.

If there's one person who truly deserves to host a Tamizh-skill based show, it has to be James Vasanthan who has been in this profession of conducting programs for over 15 years. A product of Trinity College of Music, London with eight levels behind his music talent, he is one of the very few people around to speak unadulterated Tamizh without mixing too many English words in his sentences. And it was indeed a wonderful experience to have mingled with the down-to-earth host cum music director who pursued opportunities for almost a decade before he could get his first big break in 'Subramaniapuram'.

'Jackpot' gave me the pleasure to be in the company of my all time favorite actor Simran who was at her bubbly best throughout the show. What energy, charm and humility she exudes by just being present and just being herself. I realized how much I miss her big screen ventures and her peak times of acting when she had donned all kinds of roles with equal élan fitting into any outfit of tradition or modernity and making her fans' hearts flutter like a butterfly with her dancing talent. Anyway, while I got lost in her past and gaping at her lovely ensemble, Simran mentioned the names of all her sponsors for her rust-colored silk saree, sparkling diamond jewellery, unique blouse work and she finally pointed to her face and stated with a proud smile 'This is sponsored by my mother'. Indeed it is and what a beautiful sponsor I thought.

Unlike OVOL where you get to choose your partner, 'Jackpot' was a New Year's special program with the team members chosen from the film industry by the channel. So I didn't have much of a choice to handpick my team as such. But here again, the biggest requirement to pull off the answers was plain common sense (which tends to become suddenly uncommon when you need it the most) and a bit of general knowledge. Do you guys know how many bones do shark have? Do you know as to when it is possible to view a rainbow in a full circle? Do you know if the sperm or the egg decides the gender of the unborn baby? We were educated with the answers at least by the end of the show.

Both the reality shows were certainly a reality check of sorts. For my knowledge of Tamizh words. Check. Presence of mind. Check. Tackling time pressure. Check. Common sense. Check. GK. IQ. EQ. Check. Check. Check. There's so much to know, learn, share experience, explore and such shows make you realize how much of knowledge is out there to acquire in one stream itself. How true and apt it seems to recall our very own Mahatma's 'Arivurai' (that's another word I knew but never used before) - "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom while it is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. 'Learn' as if you were to live forever".