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Scolded, teen reality show star
paralysed
WSN Network
 KOLKATA: As the
Indian telivision space gets clamoured with more and more reality
shows, some comic, some real tragic but most of them rediculous,
they are increasingly also altering or affecting the sense of
judgement and rationality of a common Indan viewer. The only measure
of talent in today's India is a scale of ten and the whimsical and
suger-coated logic of psudo-celebrity judges hosting these shows.
That this whole
superstructure of this glitter was to come down is evident from the
tragedy of Shinjini Sengupta, a 16-year-old Class XI student of a
reputed city school, can now neither speak nor move. She wasn’t like
this even a month ago. A good dancer, Shinjini had acted in tele-serials
and had even appeared in a Bengali film. But, participating in a
dance competition aired on a Bengali TV channel recently, Shinjini
was rebuked by
the judges of
the show during the shooting on May 19. The teenager never recovered
from the shock of being publicly chided. She slipped into depression
and then lost her speech and finally even the use of her limbs.
Shinjini was flown to Bangalore’s NIMHANS on Friday.
“The doctors
here have not been able to diagnose her problem. She cannot speak or
express herself. An MRI and a CT scan have been done, but we still
don’t know what she is suffering from,” said Sibani Sengupta,
Shinjini’s mother. Till three days ago, she would write if she
needed something. Now she has even stopped that.
Psychiatrists
admit that Shinjini’s case, though an extreme one, is not rare.
“Quite often we come across such cases. Depression is one of the
factors behind a number of illnesses. Shinjini was biologically
vulnerable,” said psychiatrist Debashish Roy.
She was first
taken to the Rama Krishna Mission Seva Pratishthan where the doctors
told the family to take her to a psychiatrist.
On May 19,
Shinjini participated in a popular dance contest aired from Monday
to Wednesday at
9.30 p.m.
on a Bengali TV channel. Shinjini didn’t break into tears like some
of the other participants after being scolded by the judges.
“On returning
home, she said she felt like singing loudly. I asked her if she was
upset. She just said that she had fought hard to hold back her
tears. After that day, she was not her usual self,” Sibani said.
“All
parents should learn a lesson from us,” said D K Sengupta,
Shinjini’s father.
2
July, 2008
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