Dear Sonu Nigam and Rahat Fateh Ali Dear Sonu Nigum ji and Rahat ji,
First of all, I want you to know that I love your programme, 'Chote Ustaad'. From the obvious care, time and effort that have gone into identifying these talented miracles, to the pairing of Indian and Pakistani children into teams, to your reactions and interventions as judges, it is all delightfully heartening. Congratulations.

As a child psychiatrist and as someone who not only deeply desires peace and harmony for and between our countries but also wishes for a more humane, tolerant and joyful future for our children, I would like to share some concerns and suggestions.

The competitive and judgmental aspect of the program design where teams work to win and others are eliminated creates, in my view, an unpleasant and unnecessary tension for the participants, their families and perhaps even within the team itself. This in what could otherwise be a wonderfully, enjoyable learning environment for all.

I realize that this design is fairly a standard by now and has been followed successfully, as far as ratings go, by many different programmes both in our countries and in the West. But is that necessarily a good model for our children? Would it not be better to teach this young group a different way of being together, of enjoying and learning for the sake of enjoying and learning - not for winning and defeating others?

You have before you a chance to do things differently. After all the goals you have set for yourselves of strengthening the bonds of friendship and solidarity between the two countries as well as guiding these children to become better singers are also different.

I am sure there can be many innovative ways to do this. Here is one suggestion. Make the Chote Ustaads part of the judges' teams. Divide the group into two or three smaller groups and let each team be led by one of you as the experts. Then guide them through the process of evaluating and critiquing each other's performances.

As you guide them, I would think you would deepen not only their knowledge of music/ singing/ performing, but it would be educational for the audience as well. In addition it would teach them to give and receive feedback in healthy ways - a skill often lacking in the best of us. You could even let them rate each other on some basic criteria - but it would all be done with the purpose of supporting and encouraging each other to improve. Thus, these twelve weeks could be a positive journey of growth for all the participants and their families.

If you are concerned about the audience's reaction, I for one can tell you that this change would make your program even more entertaining and special for me.

The writer is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in Islamabad

Wednesday, September 08, 2010