So much for the idiot box…

I still remember the days when we had to buy our first color Television way back in the late 1980’s. I had done enough research as a kid with the brochures of many companies and had diligently worked on the specs (though I could not understand much, I still managed to choose the largest number among the choices…like a 29-inch compared to 25-inch, a 200 watt compared to a 100 watt). I was mentally prepared to buy a “videocon bazooka” with 200 watts PMPO. Whereas, my father was looking at a cost effective television that probably had just a picture tube and with no extra features at all (not even a remote). I put all my convincing abilities to test, explaining my father about why we require a television with a remote and a good sound backup but, on the contrary, he used to counter my arguments with a simple statement that “ what more do we want for two channels DD 1 and DD 2”. At last we settled for a “Philips 21 inch” after many arguments and brainwashing. Finally I was a proud son of the owner of a color television (with a remote control). I fancied myself sitting in front of the TV and watching programs all day and I also remember inviting my friends (most of them did not have TV at home) to watch “Chitrahaar” on Friday evenings. I would sit with the remote all the time and test peoples reaction as I switched channels at the very moment when everybody were engrossed in a melodious song or at the moment when a comedian is expected to crack a joke in the next nanosecond… and… as I switched they would boo with frustration…. it was fun… my father had refused to subscribe for a cable connection because he feared that I would not study and waste time switching between channels…. not that I was a class topper otherwise… but u know what? I still managed to see a few cable channels. If u are wondering how, then as most of us know fixing a cable connection is easy for a teenager…all you need is a blade and a safety pin…yes. I pulled the nearest cable wire that ran across my terrace and then a “little prick did the trick”. My brother, who was my accomplice would position himself in the house and tune different bands to check the clarity of the cable channels. He would run out of the house every 2 minutes and look at the terrace and shout at the top of his voice “ I am not able to see anything” (most of the time he wouldn’t even care whether I listened to what he said) and then I would readjust the pin and shout back…the idiot box as we call now was not all that idiotic then. It was probably the only source of entertainment and it was also a status symbol to own one. A few programs that I remember which were my favourites on DD are Neem ka ped, Kaliganj ki bahu, Malgudi days, Bhyomkesh bakshi, Tar rum too (NCERT), Chitrahaar, Ramayan, Mahabharath, Gul Gulshan Gulfam, Dekh bhai dekh and many more….