PEOPLESPEAK-The “K” factor:

Evenings seem to be ruled by the “K” soaps. Do these serials dramatise life, or is life a rama? Do they make homes or do they break homes? Here’s what our readers have to say on the matter:

Television is made for entertainment and to relieve stress. Serials shown on television convey positive messages to society and get people to think. It describes the present real life situation and enhances social interaction. Take for example the “K” soaps which seems to be ruling everyone’s evening. These serial are focus mostly on the serious parts of our life. Life is essentially a serious business. These serials attempt to dramatise some important lessons and get the audience to think about it. For instance, in these serials, the relationship with our kin and kith is shown in such a good way that it touches our heart. It shows immense love between kin and kith and it is love that makes the world go round. Though, it is fiction and is only mean to entertain us, we tend to imitate them. As a result, we give respect to our elders, love to our younger and so on. This helps make a house a home. So, serials like the “K” soaps make homes rather than break them and have a positive impact on society.

Manita Gurung

Just because there are positive characters on TV serials it doesn’t mean it teaches good lessons to the viewers. In fact good lessons can also be learned from mischievous acts played by different characters in different serials. The serials portray characters both, good and bad. Such characters are common in most of families in Hindu countries like Nepal and India. Not only have we learned good lessons from compassionate characters like Prerna but also practical alertness from dishonest characters like Komalika in ‘Kasauti Zindagi Ki’. All family based TV serials can be good lessons for those family members mostly affected by family conflicts. Some family members might be harbouring evil and harmful intentions, which will defame the family’s reputation and create family schisms. So, watching such programmes may produce eternal love and mutual understanding among family members.

Sabut Juan Emac

I would instead like to complain about the nature of the serials. Do they really reflect the situation of Nepalis homes or its family life? The big bungalows, jewellery, costumes etc, and overall the no ending twists and turns — all this bores rather than entertains the viewer. It’s a pain watching it. Furthermore it is time consuming and spoils the environment at home. The precious little time that the family has of gathering together is completely wasted.

Dipendra Bikram Shahi

Nepali or Hindi soaps are nothing but a reflection of real life. Even a beautiful flower like the rose has thrones but if one plucks it correctly and wisely, it will not injure the person. In the same way everything has it’s pros and cons. These serials are capable of both making and breaking homes. But it all depends on the viewer either to adopt its negative or positive aspects. These serials are good servants but bad masters. If you rule over them successfully, then these can be a source of knowledge, and can teach you lessons on sacrifice, love, honesty, struggle, devotion and much more. If your home is made of love, unity, patience and when you rule over these serials then you can kick off the negative aspects and prevent it from touching you and your family.

Ekta Kabra

I do not think that these “K” soaps make homes. I have a reason for saying so — when ‘Kasuti Zindagi Ki’ starts the fight between my mother and brother starts, simultaneously.

Rajib Sherchan

Nowadays, serials have become an addiction. No one seems to be have been spared from this fever. In some ways it administers a rare opportunity for family members to congregate and spend their time together. To certain a degree, it contributes in enriching the family relationships. On the contrary, it is a sheer waste of time as vast multitudes are ready to put off their errands to view these petty serials. Moreover, such serials seem to handicap people psychologically. But, despite its pros and cons, it is the mentality of people that matters the most. With the right mindset we can derive positive lessons even from serials such as these.

Bipin Bajracharya

We watch serials and movies but it hardly makes an impact on our lives. People never get influenced positively from these serials but they may get negatively influenced as it has been noticed. Those who are most commonly mesmerised by these serials are women. They are always occupied with these stories and can always be found gossiping about these serials. This can have a negative impact on the other members of the family. This may create misunderstandings in the family or may even break homes. Serials like these can never make homes. Serials should be treated as serials and we should not let them influence us. Not to the extent where women started crying and spent hours gossiping when Anurag was supposed to have died a few months ago in ‘Kasauti Zindaki’.

Rajendra Prasad Pangeni

It’s usually the time between six to 10 pm that all the family members are together, watching serials like ‘Kyun Ki Saas Bhi…’, ‘Kkusum’, ‘Kasauti Zindagi Ki’, ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’, etc. These serials highlight and promote the importance of bonds among family members by upholding values, and following rich traditions of Hindu culture. In one way it has worked as a counter effect to the youth serials that propagate western values. However, these serials have certain negative effects as well. These serials are, in a subtle manner, working towards cementing the stereotyped roles of women in our society. They have to work as a crisis manager all the time. Any attempt to express their individuality and desire is not considered good. Characters like ‘Parvati’ and ‘Tulsi’ are projected as ideal “Buharis” (daughters-in-law) where as glamorous, individualists and selfish ‘Komalika’, ‘Pallavi’, etc are highlighted as vamps. The “wannabe” mentality created by TV serials and the time spent in watching them seems to have diminished the interaction among family members. Time for interaction between family members is stolen by TV serials. This has adversely affected relations between family members.

People need to go beyond the cobweb of Anurag, Prerna, Komolika, Parvati, Tulsi and so on. Let’s remember we have a lot of promises to keep, so many miles to go before we sleep. So, let’s not neglect our family relations all for such serials.

Gita Khatri

“K” soaps seem to be hogging the limelight and is gaining popularity with each passing day. People may forget to eat and to do important assignments but do not forget to watch these serials. These serials seem to work like magic in getting people fixed in front of the TV set.

Sushil Bajracharya

It seems that every house is being ruled by the “K” soaps. All these shows have the same storyline and characters. And yet people do not tire of watching such ridiculous shows; especially housewives of Nepal and India. These shows introduce a happy family at the beginning and due to someone or some problem controversy arises among the family members or relatives and the story goes on… Sometimes they show random things such as a woman getting married to the same man more than once and having sexual relationships with others. Sometimes a family member is found dead and after some time the same person is made alive. All the shows show the same kind of things, which sickens and bores men sick but women who are ruled by emotion, drama and tears love to watch such rubbish. On one hand, such serials are doing great business by giving people a chance in the field of acting, whereas on the other hand they are disturbing the social life of our society in many ways. It is true that everything has both negative and positive impacts. Similarly these serials also give positive messages and provide entertainment but all the shows have a similar story, which bores people. Since all the shows carry the same message then it is better to telecast just one of them. Instead of investing huge amounts of money in many show why don’t they invest it in only one show or use the money for development projects. Below are given some points to clarify that these serials help to break and join homes Joining homes

• It shows that every person should be well behaved and should live in peace and harmony with others

• Truth will always triumph

• There should be gender equality

• Respect for elders

• There will be ups and downs in life but we shouldn’t be scared while facing difficulties and

hurdles

• Unity is the great strength Breaking homes

• Housewives instead of doing the housework have their mind diverted even if it is a rerun

• The serials can influence people to take up bad habits like smoking, drinking or even in plotting to break others homes

• It gives idea to people to commit crimes

The makers of these serials are making these shows only to earn money. My suggestion to them is to stop wasting money on such kinds of serials instead the money can be spent on development projects or can be used for other creative shows, shows on social awareness and game shows.

Sanjip Maharjan

“K” soaps make homes. Media has a very strong hand in bringing about any kind of change in society and the world. Women seem to be addicted towards these soaps, which definitely means that they are able to relate with the characters in those soaps. Women are portrayed as having a great influence in a “men’s” world. The characters in these soaps have become the idols of many women. It has helped in recent years to bring about some form of social transformation like, widow remarriage, better relationships with in-laws, being able to differentiate between right and wrong, high judgment power, etc. In one word, I think that they work for social advocacy on women’s empowerment.

Shriyam Dhakal

I am strongly in favour of TV serials as they serve as a medium of telecasting the ups and downs of human life and also portray the components of different relationships like that of

student-teacher, doctor-patient, husband-wife, etc. Due to the development of science and technology, TV serials have already won the hearts of millions of viewers of all age groups.

Nothing is good or bad in this world; it is thinking that makes it so. Likewise, TV serials aren’t totally bad but it depends on the mind or attitude of the viewers.

Deepace Shrestha

Of Bhairab, Bhimsen and Dattatraya

Dubby Bhagat

Kathmandu:

It said that Bhairav came to Bhaktapur in human form to see the tumultuous Bisket festival. A tantric practitioner recognising the god tried to bind him with tantric spells and incantations; the startled god began to disappear but the tantric at a stroke cut off Bhairav’s head and enshrined it at the spot. Fact, less gory but confusing, has the bold Bhairav temple in Taumadhi Square built over the spot as a one-storey ediffice in the early seventeenth century by a forebear of King Bhupatindra Malla or by the famous king himself a hundred years later. The story goes on to tell how God Bhairav was so enraged by the king disturbing his peace that he caused earthquakes and calamities to befall the city. To appease the angry god, the king had constructed nearby a magnificent five-storey temple built on five ascending plinths to the Goddess Siddhi Laxmi Bhairav’s consort. Matching the towering strength of the Nyatapola Temple are ten huge stone sculptures that stand in pairs beside the steeply ascending staircase. On the first plinth are two legendary wrestlers considered ten times stronger than an ordinary mortal and above them are elephants, lions, griffins, and finally protective goddesses, each pair ten times stronger than those below them so that the goddess in the temple is protected by a power one million times stronger than mere man could offer. Which makes it all the more strange that the temple was never formally inaugurated and the goddess never open to public view. So eager was King Bhupatindra Malla to have the Nyatapola built that he ceremoniously carried three bricks for its construction to the site. This royal example apparently caused the populace to assemble all the material required for the building of the temple in five days. Commanded as it is by a temple both handsome and unique, the splendid buildings that surround Dattatraya Square are often overlooked, though they boast some of the most beautiful windows and galleries in the Valley, and their proportions are masterful. Like the Kasthamandup in Kathmandu which it resembles, the temple of Dattatraya is said to have been made from the wood of a single tree and seldom has a tree been put together again so reverently.

Dattatraya was built during the reign of King Yaksha Malla, in the early fifteenth century, to enshrine, strangely, a divinity well-known to the south of India but found nowhere else in the Kathmandu Valley. The god is a trinity of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer. There are statues of all three in the inner sanctum. I like to think that the forest beginnings of the single tree from which the temple was fashioned, suggested the edict that birds should be neither scared nor killed in Dattatraya Square.

So close it almost touches the temple is the exquisite Pujari Math, a glorious hymn in brick and carved wood. Here the priests of Dattatraya lived and held private prayer. King Yaksha Malla is credited by some for this building, a claim substantiated by the knowledge that he brought several hundred Brahmin priests from South India. But then again a Brahmin ascetic, Ranadatta Giri, is also known to have commissioned the building in 1763,300 years after King Yaksha Malla. One long wing of the math which contains the famous carved wooden peacock window, though perfectly harmonizing with the rest of the building, has a discernibly different colour and feel. So both the king and the ascetic could be responsible for this loveliest of Bhaktapur’s building.

Exactly opposite Dattatraya’s Temple is the pavilion-like shrine to Bhim Sen a god popular among craftsmen and traders. Its be-flagged, gilt finials, its hanging golden banner and a profusion of bells give it a continuously festive look. But for its richness this temple might be a traditional rest house found about centres of pilgrimage. And perhaps it did give shelter to priests, master craftsmen and important traders. It even has a large and ornate pool and fountains just a descent of stairs away.