It's a sight to behold. A little girl, all of nine or ten, pouts and thrusts like a Bollywood star even as the judges and audience laugh indulgently and applaud. Her antics, heavy make-up and clothes are far beyond her years but no one seems to find this bizarre. Reality show mein yehi chalta hai .

There's a plethora of such shows on air right now, with kids singing, dancing, preening and primping on every conceivable channel. Often pushed by ambitious parents, worked to the bone by channels and sometimes subjected to unkind remarks by judges, it's not an ideal life; neither is the overdose of glamour and public exposure healthy for such young minds. But the whole venture was nevertheless running with the smoothness of Euro Rail until Kolkata reality show participant Shinjini Sengupta suffered a paralytic attack reportedly brought on by the harsh comments of the judges.

Now, Union minister for women and child development Renuka Chaudhury has sprung into action: she proposes to introduce guidelines for judges while appraising children. She is also indignant at the blase way in which kids are paraded for audiences' pleasure: "The other day, I saw a tiny girl suggestively gyrating to a song whose meaning she obviously did not know. What do we say about parents sending their children to such shows?"

A crew member on a reality show admits that kids are under a lot of pressure. "We have seen adults crying on TV when they get eliminated," he says. "These are only children, so you can imagine how they must feel. The fear of rejection is so much that kids voluntarily pressurise themselves to perform better."

And then there's the sheer physical exhaustion. "We have seen grown actors collapsing on the sets because of all-hour shooting shifts," he continues. "Of course, nobody actually forces children to do anything but the channel demands so much that the kids push themselves—on the sets and at peripherals like press conferences and so on. It is pretty tiring." To this the defence of Payaol Paul, creative head of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs , has a bizarre defence. "Yes, there is pressure on children to perform but it's worth it," she says. "We treat our kids with maturity. For example, we don't cancel a shoot that goes on till 2 am just because we are shooting with kids."

From all accounts, parents emerge as culprits too (the new twist in the Shinjini saga is that the reality show judges have alleged her parents pushed her to dance despite a spinal chord weakness). Roshni Chopra, host of a kids' reality show, says she has seen parents put pressure on their children to perform better. "The judges have to eventually tell them that it's just a game show," she says. But while Chopra believes big city parents are more ambitious, Paul says it is the small-towners who are more desperate.

Bhajan singer Anup Jalota says he once went to judge a musical show where an eight-year-old girl was trying hard to sing Duma dum mast kalandar and got it wrong three times. "I told her sadly that it was impossible for her to continue in the show. She said she didn't mind getting off the show but was worried how her parents would react to her ouster," Jalota recalls incredulously.

Psychiatrist Shubhangi Parkar from KEM Hospital finds the whole thing "shocking, demoralising and dangerous". "I have watched some of these shows and the emotional shocks and humiliation that children face in front of a national audience is a matter of concern," she says. "It is possible to suffer from mental trauma after being rebuked in front of people, because as a child you are not mature enough to cope with failure."

Participants and parents themselves are diplomatic. Thirteen-year-old Anamika Chaudhury, the winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs , admits there is always pressure to keep performing "but hard work is everything". Anil Raturi, father of 10-year-old Vasundhara, who participated in the same show, blames the channels and judges for all the unrest. He says, "Our kids get no rest. They have to wait for celebs and deal with hectic schedules. Sometimes they perform without riyaaz . I feel judges should take into account all these factors before they pass judgment." However, he has no objection to letting his daughter participate in reality shows because "it's good if a child can make a career as soon as possible". "Channels need the kids and kids need the channel for their mutual benefit. This is show business," he says, shrugging. Sadly, the show does go on.

priyanko.sarkar@timesgroup.com