The moralists are at work these days. Ever since Tehelka violated the code of decency in public life and exposed some very basic temptations associated with power and public life and received public support to such string operations it became an important value creating activity for media people in this country.

This kind of invasion of privacy and tempting celebrities and people in power appears like a new dimension in our society which is fast moving towards degenerating as it existed for a while and evolving into a new shape.

Like any other activity, overplay of this game will eventually lead to couple of important dimensions in the society. One - public stop worrying about ethics and morals but will eventually see if someone is adding value to the society through his actions; he can be immoral with money or more basic instincts like sex. A situation we witnessed in case of Bill Clinton who was not disowned by American society just because of sexual dishonesty. Two - our offsprings will get more ideas to infatuate and experiment with. We will witness school and college kids targeting their own colleagues and teachers for such kind of operations…either to fix them into some trouble or just for vicarious satisfaction. Both are dangerous dimensions.

Is it really important to respect the privacy? If we are not exposing things like this what else is the way to keep evil off? Can this not be a way to cleanse the system? Are a few questions we will face from Tarun Tejpal or Rajat Sharma or anybody else looking at this as a main bread and butter creator for their industry in general and company in particular.

As a member of public I was pained by two factors. One - excessive play of these tapes on the television channels at prime time. I have a few important instances to note here.

When the issue of mobile phone cameras was rocking I saw the scene of some one misbehaving with an upcoming south Indian actress appearing on the TV again and again at all times. At that time filming another artist in the bathroom was figuring very regularly. Another scene was the string operation of swami's at Swami Narayan Temple in Ahmedabad where direct sex was showed with small shading. Similar scene was the film on Bihar leader. The film of Shakti Kapoor was far more decent among all these scandalous pieces.

Two - there is no discussion at intellectual or legal level on these being showed in the TV channels. I have not witnessed any discussion going on in TV talk shows (not denying about some good shows happening) as much as these films played. This will give rise to confusion among younger generation because they see something but cannot put it in perspective and analyse the situation. This can make them anxious about the social development or simply enjoy what they see and follow the same rules on the roads. No women can be fully careful at all times and they will not get privacy in public for a small kind of error in their dress or posture.

It is very easy to tempt any human by tempting them on basic instincts. This is not proving anything nor capable of fixing the problem. The best way to fix the problem is to make the society conscious of quality we need to produce to stand as a star in the world. No compromise on quality in the name of any temptation. This appears like a utopian goal but the attempts Tarun or Rajat are attempting are similar. We should remember the classic case of 'Illustrated Weekly of India', once a very respected magazine…gone into memory lane for involving into such activities.

I strongly believe that the solution for these problems exist in over exposing and invading the privacy of people in power or celebrities and invade the privacy of public by beaming these acts into the living rooms.