Debojit won Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, we now have Amit Paul from Shillong, Prashant Tamang, Darjeeling, Nirupama Dey, Agartala, who could end up winning Indian Idol 3 (Sony) or Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (Zee).

Alongwith Star Voice of India (Star Plus), these shows have made an enormous effort to stage talent from across the country. So there is Sikkim’s Meiyang Chang on Idol 3, contestants from

Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and of course Pakistan; from Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jabalpur, Indore and so many from Kolkata you’d think this was a Rabindra Sangeet contest. There’s Emon, Ankita, Abhilasha, Harpreet, Arshpreet, Mohammed, Raja Hasan,

Mirande ... and many others, irrespective of class, creed, colour, religion or gender, singing Hindi films songs and folk ditties — anything to become a voice of India.

This reflects our diversity. Not sure about the unity. Evidently, sms voters decide on regional lines. Hence, Debojit had the backing of the Assamese (apparently ULFA backed him, too), now all political parties of Mizoram have asked the people of the state to vote for Paul. Contestants ask for votes on this basis.

Thus cities are pitted against each other, states face-off and languages fight it out. The judges are so busy squabbling amongst themselves they ignore these differences, thank God. Is it a divisive trend? Yes, if you think regional parties, ideological parties, caste-based parties are divisive. No, if you remember that many games are played along the same divide — our cricket tourneys pit Mumbai against Delhi, Karnataka against Bengal and North Zone against South Zone.