"Hell Down Under"

It was really awkward to hear so many beeps in between despite of the fact that I could understand the flavor of abuses exchanged among six handsome guys and gals standing along with their Karizma bikes. I am talking about ‘Roadies’, the famous reality adventure show that is being aired on MTV. I have been following this show since mid of 5th season and now it is in final few stages of 6th season in Australia.

I am not really fond of reality shows, so much so that I would write a blog on these. But there is something special about this show that I can’t resist my temptation to deify it. ‘Roadies’ is the show that is a adaption from popular reality show of AXN known as ‘Fear Factor’, or we can say it is the Indianized version of AXN’s one. ‘Roadies’ had started with the audition rounds that were worth watching. Many aspirants were interviewed (or I would say persecuted) by two bald gentlemen named Raghu and Rajiv (creators of this show). The candidates seem so traumatized on screen that reminds me of our ragging days in college. And now after seeing their reaction, we feel so entertained as if Raghu is taking revenge against our seniors on our behalf. I think these candidates should be given a prize for atleast attending these interviews.

Anyways, after interview rounds, we got to see some 20 odd people fighting for their survival in game show. They compete among themselves in different tasks and bitch against others through vote-outs. Some tasks are too exciting and funny that can send shivers down your spines. In one of the task the guys had to take a hit on their private parts…another one had a mud pit that host two small agile crocodiles and participants had to collect some reward chips that were scattered around the two beasts, and some of the chips were tied to crocodile’s tail…!!! Not even dangerous but these tasks were exciting to watch over television and these are certainly not meant for people with weak hearts. There was one episode that had left many guys ogle the screen with their limping tongue… for one of the task, the participants had to dive in a small swimming pool and create maximum splashes that can wet the white, skinny t-shirts worn by three sexy Australian models standing nearby, so much so that the alphabets printed over their tummy could be visible through their translucent garment…and then two participants had to unscramble these letters to make as much logical words as possible…!!! The whole concept was so thought off, that I couldn’t imagine comparing ’Roadies’ with ‘Fear Factor’. This is the height of creativity..!!! The show not only involves task performance but politics and bitching behind, during vote-outs. Sometimes your favorite one and most deserving candidate gets voted out and show takes a new turn.

Sometimes I imagine why this show has attracted so many viewers of different age groups. Apart from exciting tasks, unexpected vote-outs, glamour, fear and creativity involve in making the show, there is something in our mind that aspire us to see candidates struggling in the show. Talking about self, it takes hell lot of courage to sit beside the fiery crocodiles or hang over the river or fighting against two heavy weight WWE wrestlers. And it is this courage that attracts me to see these episodes again and again. Every individual has a dream to do something courageous, outstanding and against all fears and odds, and when he gets the chance to see someone performing on his lines, I guess it is natural for one to get charged up. My favorite participant in ‘Roadies’ is Sufi because even after being hurt in wrestling, he managed all his further tasks while on crutches. It is this spirit that can make a person stand against their personal comfort zone and be noticed in the crowd. How many of us can afford to do that in real life???? How many of us have the courage to quit the normal office job and work for a NGO…how many of us can challenge the government and ask them about their performance…how many of us can go to police station and complain about injustice if seen by you??? There are many ‘how-many’s that can reflect in negative responses and still we want to prosper in our life. It’s not like, to show courage you need to jump over a wall; the real courage is to get out of your comfort zone and start experimenting or else wait for the experiences that can tumble you down with shaken feet.