When ‘KBC 17’s’ Ishit Bhatt was criticised for being ‘rude’, the internet found a new favourite in Arunoday — turning childhood into a comparison contest. The ‘Sharma Ji Ka Beta’ moment got real, exposing how adults pit children against each other in the name of ideals.
Ishit Bhatt, that child who recently appeared on ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 17’ was just that: a child. He was a fifth grader, a 10-11-year-old boy who hasn’t even started dreaming yet. But as if the trolling and social media schooling were not enough, we found a brand-new way to “teach him a lesson”.
The internet, in all its moral glory, dug up an old episode, featuring another child to take the criticism up a notch. Within hours, Ishit Bhatt from the latest season was pitted against Arunoday Sharma, last year’s contestant, now canonised as the “ideal child.” Bhatt became the “rude kid”; Sharma, the “polite one.” And suddenly, we had a leaderboard of manners.
Things also got a new twist when, after the Ishit Bhatt episode, KBC aired an episode featuring Rudra Chitte, a young contestant who is quickly becoming the new favourite child prodigy of social media. The schoolgoing Rudra has impressed all by showcasing his coding skills, teaching dance trends to show host Amitabh Bachchan, and navigating the quiz rounds by utilising the lifelines effectively.
Did KBC deliberately air consecutive episodes featuring kids with seeming contrasting traits? The internet is yet to get on with any Ishit-vs-Rudra debate, but the comparisons with Arunoday Sharma rage on.
Comments under the old ‘KBC’ episode featuring Sharma got nasty. People proudly declared they had returned to watch “the good boy” after witnessing Bhatt’s supposed “badtameezi”.
One comment read, “Ishit bhat ke rude behaviour ke baad yaha aaya hu (I came here after Ishit Bhatt’s rude behaviour).” Another user wrote, “He is way more better than the overconfident rude boy (sic).” Another suggested, “1 badtameez bachhe ka episode dekha toh main Arunodaya sharma ko yaad kar raha tha bahut pyara bachha hai ye (After watching the episode with the rude kid, I was reminded of Arunodaya Sharma — such a sweet child he is).”
Lovely, isn’t it? Turning the YouTube comment section into a moral science classroom. But it’s not the appreciation for one child’s behaviour that’s triggering; it’s the comparisons. Why must we measure one child’s worth against another’s demeanour? Why must every display of confidence be called arrogance, and every moment of silence be called virtue? Is it fine – culturally and emotionally – to make a barrage of comparisons — who behaved better, who spoke humbly, who deserved applause?
We seem to forget one tiny detail while mindlessly and brutally comparing these two boys: they are children. Still learning to express, falter and grow in their own ways. Are Ishit Bhatt’s badtameezi or overconfidence and his wins, which the world might just be totally unaware of, because you can’t know about a child’s entire life in a 20-minute episode, for us to judge?