Last week, there was social (un)consciousness of sorts created when the media reported that Shinjini Sengupta, a 16-year-old girl from Kolkata, had become the first medical victim to the real pressures of the reality TV phenomenon. Unable to withstand being rebuked by judges for her not-so-great performance on a reality show on a Bengali channel, Shinjini had apparently withdrawn into a shell. She had stopped having her meals and was not talking to anyone at home. Her family said that she had lapsed into a state of depression, holding the judges responsible. Their harsh attitude towards Shinjini on the tube, they claimed, had edged her toward depression. That parents more often than not try to live their unfulfilled dreams through their children is a known fact globally. And it is this that often drives otherwise "reasonable" parents to push their children towards pressure situations. The advent of reality TV in India has proved that behind every child participating in front...