Wednesday 9 November 2011

I'm not an entertainment material: Swami Agnivesh


urprise entry in 'Bigg Boss 5', Swami Agnivesh, believes in extracting the good from everyone, even criminals!


This year, many spiritual/social leaders like Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and Swami Arvind have appeared onreality shows. Have reality shows become irresistible?
Not for me, at least. When I decided to take up the "Bigg Boss" offer, I had a different plan. When I consulted people, I was asked to shelve the idea. There was no positive feedback. Kaafi disappointing tha. That's when I watched the show about four times and felt that accepting the offer was about accepting a challenge. Show dekh ke maine socha, yeh toh kharaab nahin hain. Achhey naujawaan hain. Negativity seeps in when you are detached from the world and locked inside the house. My only motive is to be a friend to them, and help them engage in social issues. Naujawaan mein toh bahut potential hoti hai, thoda sa uska sapna jagaiye toh kahaan se kahaan pahunch jaye.
Are you entertainment material?
Not at all. That's why it won't be easy for the channel. In fact, the channel has a bigger challenge to face, since they are getting a person like me, someone who can't entertain the viewers.
Don't you think that by the time you come out of the show, you'll have become entertainment material?
Nahin, main kisi ke liye bhi entertainment material nahin ban paaonga. This is because I have always been involved in discussing issues that deal with the harsh realities of life. Main aise hi logon mein raha hoon. Aur waise hi bana rahoonga.
But this looks like television channels are now cashing in on the sudden popularity of social activists for higher TRPs...
May be, may be not. I have no clue if channels pressurise popular faces or they themselves are under pressure to get spiritual leaders or social activists to appear on their shows. The channel wanted me to change the atmosphere in the house. They want positivity in the house. So, when they approached me, I was like, 'Badhiya hai'. If TRPs go up because something positive is happening, what's the harm? Mujhse shuddh TRP ke naate se koi ummeed nahin kar sakta. I have never worked on other people's agendas. Main mazaak mein kehta hoon, jab main apne baap ka nahin hua, apna ghar nahin basaya, apni naukri chhod di 45 saal se, toh main kisi aur ke agenda par kaam nahin kar raha. Apne agenda par agar koi bula raha hai aur freedom de raha hai, apni baat ko kehene ka, toh isse unki TRP badh jaye ya ghat jaye, kya pata? Kyunki log entertainment channel se khaas tarah ki ummeed karte hain.
In the last 45 years, I have appeared on different shows and the motive has only been to engage people so that they transform socially. This social transformation should be peaceful and non-violent. Iske liye hamne har platform ka upyog kiya hai.
Did you get the offer because you are no stranger to controversies - be it your decision to leave Team Anna, or a video that showed you asking the government to be tough on "adamant" protesters from Team Anna, or the fact that you accused Kiran Bedi of mismanaging funds, or even the recent letter you wrote to the Pope?
If you see the work I have done in the last 45 years, all of it has been controversial. Main lagataar news mein hi raha hoon. Be it going against Naxalites, participating in a long march organised across Haryana in October 1968, becoming a sanyasi, taking the decision to enter politics, launching my political party in 1970, winning elections and then becoming the education minister - nothing has been easy. Later I resigned and took up the bonded labour cause. The only message I want to put across is that controversies needn't only create a negative impact or emerge from negative situations.

We have had Swami Arvind and Baba Ramdev being targeted by Rakhi Sawant. Don't you think your stay in the house, dominated by female contestants, can make life difficult for you too?
Main inko toh apne beti aur beton ke baraabar manta hoon. Yeh sirf socialise karne wali ladkiyan nahin hain. I see a lot of potential in them. I know Pooja Bedi and Laxmi because they have taken up social causes. I want to understand them and help them think positively. I don't want to think about things like what did Rakhi Sawant do, or what if someone behaves with me that way... Main toh alag paristhityon mein jaakar unmein positivity hi dekhta hoon.
Swami Arvind accused Rakhi of molesting him, Baba Ramdev too slammed Rakhi for her indecent proposal to him. Are you expecting something similar to happen to you?
No, I don't think something indecent will happen to me, because I will be respectful towards them. Also, they are younger to me - we will be more like friends. I'm sure they will speak to me in a dignified way.
People in the Bigg Boss house use swear words and lose their temper very quickly, and that too for no reason. Do you think you will be able to handle them without reacting in the same way?
It is all about how you maintain your cool. I'm mentally very tough so nobody can provoke me. No matter how much others will try to instigate me, I will not say anything wrong. Spiritualism is also about not losing your temper easily. So, the challenge lies in how to live peacefully. There is enough politics in the house, I want to help them become spiritual now. My strategy to stay in the house depends on the response that will come from my fellow contestants.
What if Pooja Missra tries to mess with you?
If we say, some people are completely wrong - that's not right. Each one has a role to play. Agar inmein se hi achhai ko nikaal sakein toh yeh bhi heeree ho jate hain. There have been occasions, when criminals transform into revolutionaries. Pooja Missra revolutionary ban sakti hai - yehi ummeed leke jaa raha hoon.

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