Indian Politics is quite like "Bigg Boss"

With elections on our head every time, it becomes difficult to avoid them. I know I shouldn't care about other state elections, but it's all over news. Besides, it's fun! So I watched one of these discussions on YouTube which tried to decipher what Indian politics is. They are all useless but fun, really. But then it hit me. Indian politics is just like the popular reality TV show, Bigg Boss.

Up until a few years ago, I followed Bigg Boss quite religiously. To an extent that I had to ban myself from watching any more. Yes, I peeled myself off from the TV a few years ago when I realized it took too much and gave back absolutely nothing in return. Even after that, I accidentally(Hehe!) viewed a few episodes of Bigg Boss and got involved in some of the issues of the contestants, which really were non-issues. I got sucked right in. I could come out of that madness only when I began consuming even crazier acrobatics: The Circus Of Indian Politics.

And literally this new find happened like it did for Bigg Boss. I remember a few years ago when Smriti Irani (another TV connection) used to be the minster of telecommunication, someone (probably a Congress MLA) filed a case of misuse of MPLAD funds on her. MPLAD funds are five crore rupees every MP receives every year for developmental works in his/her constituency and Smriti Irani reportedly apparently allegedly directed the money somewhere she shouldn't have.(News English is stupid, I know!) Long story short, the court gave strict orders (like always) to her ministry to submit  the details where the money went in like 2 weeks. I, naive as I was, fell for the lure and started following the story. Two weeks later I checked all the news and I found the court, though still strict, had given the ministry an extension. And after a few more weeks the court, stricter still, was reprimanding Irani's office still more but the report wasn't filed. By this time I had involved myself with a few more political stories which seemed interesting in the beginning but I am sure none got to closures. Every story was a new distraction from previous ones and the web went on getting complicated for the centralized Indian media to follow. I was made to believe, like everyone, that the closure in these stories is only possible through next elections.

The absence of any closure in these political stories is what makes me think of their similarities with Bigg Boss. You are looking for closure as a viewer but you don't get them. And even if they exist, they do not receive any screen time. The only closures are the populist polls which I always felt were stupid ways to settle the debate. He got eliminated, he must have been wrong. You think she was wrong, but she won.

This is my attempt to find as many parallels between the two circuses.

Well, voters are still voters, or viewers comprising of indifferent by-standers to keen observers to bloggers and news portals who try to milk the "Politics of the Shows", making a business out of closures. This got meta!

Next is the host Salman Khan who also tries to pass off as the ineffective judge which is eerily similar to law of our country that insufficiently gives out verdicts on our disputes. The judges are all products of the society they judge.

Contestants obviously are our Circus acrobats who up their game after every poll. They keep the circus running by generating those closure-less stories that are complete cow-dung. Their job is to keep the narrative alive while the real work is done behind the walls and dark glasses.

Another important part of the Show are the cameras or the media in the political Circus. In fact, they are the selling point. The illusion of "the public life" is created through these lenses. They are the eyes that look for the juicy stories and ignore the closures.

Next is the Bigg Boss itself. I find it difficult to guess the analogy here so your suggestions are welcome. Nonetheless, Bigg Boss seems an abstract entity. Maybe a symbol, or an emotion. It is a derivative of another show, Big Brother, which itself came from a book on totalitarian communist governments. A book on politics gave birth to Big Brother and Bigg Boss, and now the shows reflect politics. In all cases, the Big -dash- has been abstract and never shown in flesh and blood. So, it could be analogous to our conscience which is endlessly judgemental, objectifying, populist and always wanting that moral high ground. Quite close to Bigg Boss.