'You must watch National Geographic. It's just the thing for you'. If someone says this to me one more time, I am going to blow up. Watching Discovery Channel seems to be the latest 'in' thing for showing your concern for animals. Everybody wants to prove their love for animals by saying that they just can't get enough of Animal Planet,
I have nothing against any of these channels. The photography, especially of the underwater sea world is extraordinary. But I find that while everyone wants to watch what's happening on their TV, no one wants to find out what's actually going on in their own backyards. At 23, I am the oldest of three brothers and I distinctly remember the family discussion at home some 15 years ago on the subject of TV. My parents have always been opposed to buying a TV and they were trying to explain to us the reasons why they were not falling in line with the TV buying public. We couldn't understand all their arguments and finally they put it to us this way: TV is for those who can't experience the real thing. Do you want to actually some day visit all those beautiful places they show on TV or will you be happy with just seeing them on the screen. The choice simply put was: Buy a TV or travel around instead? We chose travel. And I am proud to say that till today we have never owned a TV set. We have traveled instead to almost all parts of India. I learnt snake handling in Pune, caught crocodiles in Mamallapuram, studied spiders and earthworms in Chennai, even went to Thailand and Malaysia in my quest to learn more about reptiles and today with all modesty I can say that I am among the best snake handlers in Goa. All because I never sat in front of a TV. So what's there in the backyard? Well, have you ever noticed the different type of insects around? Grasshoppers, locusts, bugs, beetles, ants, spiders, geckoes, snails and shrews are present in almost every household. Do you know that spiders aren't insects, that they have 8 legs instead of six. Same with scorpions. They belong to aracnida. But why bother, since every once in a while we swoosh away all the cobwebs in our homes, sending all the spiders scuttling around for safety, their homes destroyed? Spiders prey on flies. Mosquitoes too. So much for nature's mosquito control programme. Neither are cockroach eating geckoes welcome in our homes. And if we see a centipede we crush it quick. Even in Panjim city one can find toads, frogs, snakes and birds. How many birds do we know the names of, other than crow or pigeon? How many wild plants do we know the uses of? Earthworms are found almost all over Goa, but do we ever bother to collect a few, put them in a box and try to make our own vermibed for all the kitchen waste we produce? So don't tell me that you are watching animal programmes on TV because you love animals. Or even that you are learning stuff, watching TV. Every time I have tried to watch a snake programme on TV at my friends houses I gave up after a short while. For one thing, TV programmes are very basic. They cater to viewers with the most average IQ. TV programmes are designed to catch the eye. They cannot be made even slightly complicated or you would soon lose interest. And the few bits of information that appear to enter your mind so easily, exit just as fast. So in the end there is next to nothing you will learn even after watching TV for 2 hours. So many people watch snake shows, but zero is the number of people who will be able to identify a snake on that basis. And close to 90% is the number of these TV viewers who would happily smash a snake if one crossed their path. I have had many avid National Geographic viewers ask me very basic questions, like, is it true that snakes can't hear or that they dont seek revenge? Another thing about TV is that the programmes very often stray away from the truth. I remember once watching a video on Monitor lizards. "Thunder Dragons" was what it was called. Scenes of monitors clashing with each other, claws drawn, lightening flashing and all this combined with the deep rumbling voice of the narrator, gave even me the creeps. The truth is that monitor lizards like snakes are cowardly at heart. But the simple truth is not always exciting and TV needs to spice it up and serve, isn't it ? If you are just a casual channel surfer or you watch Discovery for the wonderful photography (I have to give them credit for that), and you have no other interest in the world around you, that's fine. Don't be hurt or feel offended by my article. But if you watch because you are interested in learning something, do this instead. Buy a book (about whatever you want to learn - snakes, insects, or birds). You will learn more, reading for 30 minutes, than you will if you had to watch every TV show on the subject for the next 2 months. Start bird watching, collect insects, its very easy when you have even a little genuine interest. Now when i go to a friends house , I watch a movie instead. That's better use of my free time. You read a few books and you'll soon find that, that's true for you as well. 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