This was really stupid, MTV Indies

MTV is an old dinosaur - a T-Rex miming an impossible handclap. A fish out of water, flapping about, trying to keep up. Or something. It's basically just not very relevant.

Even their Wikipedia page reads like a schoolboy prank: Roadies, Splitsvilla, Kaisi Hai Yaariaan, Girl on Top, India's Next Top Model, MTV Love School.

All this while reports have surfaced that even Channel V, its once-upon-a-time dinosaur-brother-in-arms, has decided to reinvent itself as a music channel again (imagine that).

What the hell happened? MTV has, for all its misgivings, exposed me and countless others from my generation (20- and 30-something know-it-alls) to shitloads of new music in the pre-P2P age, from Cher to Biddu to the Screaming Trees (at a stretch).

It was culturally significant to the point where all music on TV was generically and colloquially just called "MTV"; I might be wrong but I think there was also a time where the even-more-ancient Doordarshan used to air MTV shows from time to time.

Not like it was some cerebral exemplar of intellectualism or anything, but MTV used to have a role to play. Now, today, it's all sizzle and masala catering to the lowest common denominator.

Even MTV Unplugged, practically an institution of the '90s, was a letdown when they adapted it for Indian audiences. Possibly MTV Coke Studio offers some kind of substance to long-suffering fans of music (although, personally, I find it quite tedious), but that's it.

The connection is mostly tangential and corporate in nature, but there's also this other channel belonging to the same household, called Pepsi MTV Indies, which is dedicated to music - "independent" music, to be precise.

Its questionable nomenclature notwithstanding (given the fluidity and mystery surrounding the term "independent"), the channel does an adequate (and earnest) job of promoting non-Bollywood music in the country through their website, television presence, and the occasional event.

It's a bit meh, but then the blame could just as easily lie with the creators of the content (the musicians) as with the facilitators (Indies). I have no strong feelings about the channel one way or another, but there was a recent social media episode (what other kind exists today?) that was off-putting.

A few days ago, Indies put up this one photo on their blue-tick-verified Facebook page. It's a band performing on stage. The female vocalist is clutching the mic and there's a guy playing the guitar in the background.

It has a caption that states with very little self-awareness: "Behind every frontwoman sits an extremely happy drummer." Oh, ha-ha, I get it; it's because the drummer can check out the attractive singer's bum during the gig. Ha-ha. Indies added their own caption: "No wonder they call it the best seat in the house!", followed by a tongue-out smiley face.

It's a time-honoured rock 'n roll tradition to (do drugs and) poke fun at stereotypes applicable to individual vocations. What are the three most difficult years in a bass player's life? Second grade.

What do you call a drummer with half a brain? (Drum roll…) Gifted. How does a lead guitarist change a light bulb? He holds it and the world revolves around him. Guitar players are egotistic bastards; the bass isn't a real instrument; vocalists are just people with an attention problem who couldn't learn how to play the guitar; keyboard players should stuff pickled onions into their eye-sockets. It goes on.

So in that spirit (hopefully), MTV Indies put up the photo - a meme - in question. It's obviously sexist; that's not even worthy of debate. So far, there's been no admission or "we regret the inconvenience" message, and the picture is still there.

And while I try to not get too riled up over anything I see or read on the internet, it did piss off enough people, all of whom were very much justified in articulating that anger.

I believe all jokes, however off-base, deserve a forum, but there's still a conversation to be had about why something (like this) is offensive and wrong on many levels (without, preferably, any FIRs or public lashings handed out).

Maybe it was a childish intern - a social media "ninja" - who messed up and allowed his internalised sexism get the better of him, and assumed it to be a harmless, "that'll show 'em" counter to the "drummers are hopeless and homeless" trope.

Or it's a classic (failed) attempt at being "edgy" in a "PR gone mad" world. You can file it as an honest, stupid mistake born of ignorance and reflective of Indian society at large - a joke that wasn't vetted and didn't land - or as something more cynical.

Either way, have at it. I can only leave that to people better qualified.

It did, for what it's worth, lead me to reflect on MTV's descent over time. But then there's also the flipside: Is this what people want? Is it purely a function of commerce over ideology? In that case, fair enough. Roadies audition reruns are always fun.