The rishta show

The emotional abuse girls are made to suffer

The crowd has gathered and the judges have made themselves comfortable. Popcorns are oozing from the pans and cheers are heard in the distance. The host is making her last-minute preparations while one judge walks out already feeling the service was not too good. This event will decide the fate of many. It will give young girls the opportunity to rescue themselves from their loneliness and become a bride. The music begins.

A girl is pushed to the centre stage. She is heavily adorned with jewels and her skin-tight clothes can barely make her breath. After being analysed from top to bottom, she is dismissed. One of her eyes had greater make-up than the other; she looked a mutant. Another girl is called in. The host introduces her excitedly. She is tall and smart, but too lanky for the judges’ liking. How would she be able to bear a child with so slim an abdomen? She is also thrown in the abyss. Another girl comes in but she is too short; she would destroy the family photo. Worse, the next generation would be doomed. She is sent away even before she could arrive.

Finally a plastic arrives. The judges like her but still feel that her photos were way better. The celebrity is then called in. He is asked to analyse the model thoroughly. As he gazes around her physique and her facial features, he is impressed and decides that he wants to talk to her. He asks her if she can cook, do the laundry and most importantly serve his mom all the time. She replies in the negative, because she wants to have a career of her own. She is brushed off immediately.

A girl is pushed to the centre stage. She is heavily adorned with jewels and her skin-tight clothes can barely make her breath. After being analysed from top to bottom, she is dismissed.

The celebrity complains to the judges saying that he has been insulted. The judges calm him down and criticise the host for not showing them any worthy candidate. The flustered host then starts the second round. Each girl is now asked to put her offering at the judges’ altar. The judges invite the goldsmith to inspect the sacrifices. Girls whose offering weigh heavy on the rating scale filter onto the next round. The rest are burnt in an inferno, of fate.

The third round commences. Another candidate is called on to the centre stage. Her skin is coloured but the host tries to emphasise that there is at least 50 per cent chance that the next generation won’t be coloured. But the judges wanted a guaranteed colourless generation. Next comes a blondie. She had it all, except that she had recently embraced Islam and her intentions could not be verified. Down she goes. The celebrity is bored. An entertainment platter is called for; a Playstation along with bags of snack food. He asks the show to resume while he runs his car over the next pedestrian, virtually.

Another girl is summoned to sell herself. She is taller than the celebrity. How inappropriate would that look for a five-foot man! The girl must be suffering from some growing disorder. As she walks past the stage, the judges bash the host for wasting their precious time. There comes the girlfriend from behind the stage. Exuberant to see the celebrity, she waves out to him. He is mesmerised. The judges stare at him in absolute shock. Trying to avoid eye-contact, he outrightly denies that he even knows her. Vilified, the girlfriend tries to give evidence of the relationship. The master judge then frantically stands up and accuses her of being a pervert. She is stoned to death, or at least her soul is. The security guards take the soul-less body away from the stage and dump it in a shell of eternal agony.

After the dramatic turn of events, some refreshments are called in. One by one each girl is called in to serve food to the judges. One of the girls had put too much food on the plate; the judges deciphered that the girl has no sense of a healthy living.

After the dramatic turn of events, some refreshments are called in. One by one each girl is called in to serve food to the judges. One of the girls had put too much food on the plate; the judges deciphered that the girl has no sense of a healthy living and will therefore kill the judges’ family of a heart attack. The other girl had put only salad on the plate; the judges realised beforehand that her selfishness would starve the judges’ family into malnutrition. The girls are then told to serve the celebrity. As he eats, the judges insist on adding more food to his plate till he has to leave for a bathroom break. The judges then insist for the fourth round to be started immediately. The remaining girls then try to please the judges. The white-skins aged between 20-22 years are short-listed by the judges. The blue-eyed ones are selected for the fifth round. A brief question and answer session follows. Two candidates make it to the finale. The stage is heating up.

The celebrity returns after a satisfying dump. Drooling over the judges’ choices, he swiftly moves towards his seat. It is decision time. As the audience casts down its votes, the celebrity flirts with the candidates. The results are in. The buzzer is sounded, and the show ends. The winner is announced. One girl is rescued from the tyranny of womanhood. Rushing to the stage in exuberance, the celebrity loses his wig. As he hastens to grab his wig back to hide his baldness, the judges pretend nothing happened and divert the attention of the audience elsewhere. The girl is taken away in a chariot. As the celebrity and the bride wave towards the audience while leaving the stage, the latter packs up to leave for their home. The celebrity then stops the chariot some distance away, pulls out a car and asks the newly-wed bride to drive. In a few minutes they meet their fate. Autopsy results show that the bride was drunk. What a choice did she prove to be for the judges! The audience, who had decided the couple’s destiny, could care less now, for both. Yes, this audience is the very society that pressurises the mothers into making the wrong decisions for their children. And yet, it is nowhere to be seen when it’s really needed. The pampered sons who never man up to make a decision for themselves are only hurting themselves. And yet, what is left to say for the emotional abuse every girl suffers when she is forcefully being made a contestant in the rishta show?