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Today, I want to share something that has been disturbing me so much for years now.

According to a 2022 report by BARC India, television serials account for more than 70 per cent of daily TV consumption in Indian households. In many homes, especially in middle-class and rural India, Bengali and Hindi serials run for two to three hours every single day. Children, adults, and elders often watch together, making TV serials one of the most influential forms of storytelling in the country.

I am a Bengali and an Indian. I grew up watching Bengali and Hindi serials with my family. Like many others, I have seen how these shows claim to highlight social issues like domestic violence, patriarchy, disrespect toward women, and family conflicts. But these claims are surface-level, they try to show how responsible they are.

But over time, I have started questioning, these serials are actually making things worse.

Indian society does not lack awareness. Most people already know that domestic violence is wrong, disrespect toward women is unacceptable, and emotional abuse damages families.

These are not hidden problems that need daily reminders through television.

The idea that showing violence repeatedly will suddenly inspire people to change is flawed. If people truly wanted to change only by watching TV, society would have transformed long ago. Awareness alone does not create action, especially when the same harmful behaviour is shown again and again.

Repetition normalises harmful behaviour.

What worries me most is repetition. When children grow up watching men shouting, controlling, insulting, or hitting women as a normal part of family life on television, it becomes familiar.

Even if the story later says the behaviour is wrong, the repeated exposure shapes what feels normal.

For kids, television becomes a reference point. For adults already living in difficult households, it reinforces the idea that suffering is expected and endurance is a virtue. Instead of challenging violence, it slowly enters everyday life.

Almost every serial shows a disclaimer saying the content is for entertainment purposes only. But a disclaimer cannot delete what the mind absorbs after watching hours of humiliation, threats, and violence.

Entertainment does not work like this. Stories influence behaviour, beliefs, and tolerance levels. No matter what, violence can’t be shown, in a good or bad way.

Another issue is how consequences are handled. In many serials, abusive characters are rarely held accountable in a meaningful way. Punishment, if it comes, arrives after hundreds of episodes of glorified suffering.

Women are praised for tolerance, sacrifice, and obedience without fighting back. This sends a dangerous message that respect comes from tolerating pain rather than fighting back for it.

If the intention was social change, storytelling would focus on accountability, growth, and healthier relationships. But, pain is the way of their so-called entertainment, because pain increases viewership.

Social issues are used as content, such a shameful act.

Most of these serials are designed to retain attention.

Violence, disrespect, and emotional abuse are turned into daily entertainment under the label of culture and family values. That makes it even harder to question them, because criticism is often dismissed as being against tradition.

No, I don’t want the serials to be stopped, but it should handle the situations differently. It would show men unlearning harmful behaviour. It would show women choosing self-respect over silent endurance. It would show consequences that arrive without glorifying suffering.

Most importantly, it would stop turning trauma into a business model.

As someone who grew up with these serials, my discomfort does not come from hatred toward Indian television. It comes from awareness. When content reaches millions daily, it carries responsibility whether it admits it or not.

Showing social issues is not enough. How they are shown matters more.

Until that changes, these serials will continue calling themselves socially responsible while quietly reinforcing the very problems they claim to fight.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. I have wanted to talk about this for a long time, but I stayed quiet because I felt that one person like me could not change what is happening.

Still, I did not think staying silent was right. Even if no one listens, speaking up matters.

So I decided to say it.

I urge you to share this because people need to understand these things better. This is the kind of awareness that actually matters.

See you then? Cheers mate.

— Anirban