I am not a TV person. I rather read than watch. I read almost everywhere but I have not perfected/attempted the art of reading when ironing clothes. It is a risk I do not wish to take. As I let the heat take away the wrinkles in shirts and pants, I fume, I dream, I talk and lately have started watching scenes and clippings from the web on my laptop.

I randomly entered this site that had a collection of Tamil TV shows archived for people like me and I started watching the game shows, talks shows that are typically aired on TV. Nothing more than a steady noise while I do the much dreaded chore and of course silly jokes that make me laugh.

One of the shows that I saw was Jodi Porutham which I assume is aired in Sun TV hosted by the horrible Anandha Kannan and the scary Alisha. The show is supposed to test the “compatibility” between couples by asking some stupid questions and asking them to do weird things which they assume tests the compatibility between the man and the woman in some strange way.

Some of the question “gems” they ask to judge compatibility between the man and the woman:

• How many times has your husband said “I love you” to you?
• How many sarees does your wife own?
• What is the birthday of your father-in-law?
• How old were your in-laws when they got married?
• How many earrings does your wife own?
• If you both fight, who is the first one to compromise?
• How many times does your spouse call you from work and talk to you everyday?
• What is the most common wedding gift you choose for a friend’s wedding?
• How much pocket money does your spouse require?
• How many times does your wife comb her hair in a day?

Other tests of “compatibility” include guessing the price of a saree/wet grinder/table/computer, and carrying the spouse and running 3 circles in the fastest time possible. I still have not figured out how guessing a price of a thing together is a test of compatibility. Similarly I have no idea how running in circles carrying your spouse proves compatibility maybe it just makes the spouse ready in an emergency situation?

There was a similar show I had seen before where the wife dresses up as the man and the husband dresses up as the wife (yeah you read it right, they cross-dress on national television) and act out a fictitious fight scene and how they compromise on a issue. They are judged on how harsh they are, how nicely they compromise, how much “chemistry” exists between them…

The inevitable duet dance is also a part of many such shows. The dance I will not speak about it but the sensationalization of the dance is utterly digusting. The couple go on-air telling “we have prepared hard, we do not know what will happen, we practiced all night” and such….(ewww!) It seriously wants me to kill someone or everyone.

And the participants talk as if their sole purpose of existence in this world is to be on the show and how grateful they are to the TV station for giving them a chance to understand about each other (gag!!). I understand money is a motivation for certain people but is it just money or the need for quick fame and recognization that leads to such shows? A couple mentioned that they prepared a list of 1200 probable questions and practiced them. WTF??? Compatibility in my opinion is not knowing how many times your spouse combs his/her hair

Such shows are on-air because 1) there are people who watch them and 2) people who participate them. Yes, I guess I am an oddity cause I do not belong to either of the groups and the very thought of the show makes me gag! Which group do you belong to? Do you enjoy such compatibility shows? Have you been a part of such shows? Do you have answers to the questions listed above?

I rather watch the yucky-stuff eating portion of the Fear Factor than watch this tasteless public humiliation called Jodi Porutham