Lessons that television/series taught us

Remember there was a time when our parents and grandparents used to tell us to stay away from the “idiot box”? I remember shutting down the TV and then coming back again when the coast was clear, just to switch it on and watch, like a honeybee goes back to a flower. Now that I am almost through college, I don’t remember sitting down in front of the TV in the recent years. One of the reasons, maybe that I am a voracious reader. And the other is because all the shows and series that I want to watch is easily accessible through my laptop. At this age of Netflix and chill, most TVs in an Indian household is either occupied by fathers watching political news or cricket or mothers watching their favorite soap operas. Unless you are an independent millennial living on his/her own self, television is basically a showpiece. However, my mind constantly goes back to the term “idiot box” and how the meaning has changed in just a decade. Yes, television is responsible for the boost in the optometry industry today but they have changed the definition of storytelling. There are new innovative series debuting in every channel or digital platforms almost every month. There are new stories with new characters and new settings with new course coming to life. Series have taught us about the limitless possibility in front of us. We are open to so many stimulating scenarios that leads to scintillating conversations on a 5 pm Saturday coffee with friends. There used to be an explicit distinction between good men and evil men, a distinction between right and wrong. Television series with so many different story lines have given an insight into the complexities of being a human. We have started appreciating humanity and its nuances more and more. These series often represent different cultures around the world and have made us start appreciating them. Safe to say, our era is the most culturally diverse in the history of the world. The best thing that we can learn though is the use of imagination. Einstein had quoted that

"Logic will get us from A to B but imagination will get us everywhere."

It stands so true for these stories. From Dragons to Demogorgons, imagination have not only given us audience mind blowing stories but has also made us acutely aware of how important imagination is in our life. We see series as an escape from the harsh realities of the world because these series in general provides us with the tonic to rejuvenate us, whether its comedy or drama or thriller. It’s a curse a lot of people will say, but then again everything has its pros and cons. It’s kind of hard to imagine our generation without these television series and honestly we’re all grateful for them.

By Rtr. Sanjeevani