Truth

For the past two weeks, every Tuesday has been a rush-rush affair for me. I try to wind up my work before 7 pm, have dinner by 8 pm and I am back home on the couch in front of the TV to catch the latest episode of 'The Moment of Truth' by 9 pm. There has been no other show that has captured my imagination so much, as far as memory serves me. Probably after Project Runway, this is the only show that I have made time for diligently week after week.

Deep within my heart, I am actually ashamed that I am so fond of this show. It's because I am aware that it's voyeuristic, exploitative, and makes a great viewing experience of someone else's misery. But I have to admit, it's hugely entertaining. So much that in the last episode that was aired in India, I had my heart racing and I was actually jumping on my seat answering on behalf of the participant. It's actually very unfortunate and extremely sad that the contestant had to lose both her husband and her money at the end of the show. Yes, the questions broke the contestant's marriage and she also ended up getting no money because of one mistake.

The basic premise of the show is that you have to answer truthfully, all the questions posed to you. The questions range from the mundane to the silly to the personal types. There are 21 questions posed, at the end of which you go back home with half a million dollars. The only catch being that you have to answer only the truth. If God forbid, the lie detector marks any of your answers as false, you end up going home with nothing. If you are wondering to yourself how could this be so difficult, let me assure you it is probably much more difficult than enduring all those physical tribulations on the Survivor series. The questions get far way too personal, much beyond the comfort levels of even the host of the show. And the farthest any contestant has reached so far in the show is Question no 16. I can't imagine how personal and tricky the last few questions on the show would be if anyone were to ever face it.

For e.g.: Suppose someone asked me, would you donate one of your kidneys to your sister in case both her kidneys failed and yours is a match? Sure, Of course, Without any doubt, I would say if someone were to randomly ask me this question on the street. But what if deep within my heart somewhere I am not so sure whether that is a good idea. Subconsciously, my answer would be hmmmm....I don't know. If I am now strapped to a lie detector and asked the same question on the show, and if I were to answer Yes sure, Of course, then I would be out of the show with no money gained from my previous truthful answers.

Another question to which you might just not know the answer is of the types "Do you think you are a good person?". Again our immediate tendency might be to answer Yes. None of us are that great sinners who have done such horrible things, that we would call ourselves bad people. But even for a fraction of a second when you are asked this question, if your mind trespasses to any of your previous wrong doings, like the time you stole some money from your dad's pocket, or the time when you quite purposefully did something wrong against one of your colleagues at work, so that you get to outshine him at work, then this would be captured by the lie detector. And then if you answer affirmatively to the question, the lie detector would disagree with you.

That was the question at which the last contestant lost all her money. And that after she had answered truthfully to the other 15 hugely personal and difficult questions. Questions which broke her marriage, questioned her fidelity, and labelled her as a thief. It's extremely unfortunate that she lost her money to a question that looks so simple and straightforward on the outside, but we all know how difficult it could be to answer.

And as entertaining as it might be, it still troubles me that it's extremely exploitative. It's sad that I am enjoying the spectacle of someone else's misery. Maybe if I am asked the same question "Do you think you are a good person?", my mind might trespass to this grey area and my lie detector would beep.