The television has come a long way ! I remember a time, when we were kids and we would go visit our grandparents haveli in Askaripur, which is a small village whose length and breadth i could cover on foot. It was located close to Bijnor where my uncles still live and is another nondescript town located in Uttar Pradesh. My grandfather although a big erstwhile "zamindar" did not own a T.V. He found no use for it. Village life was far more entertaining for him and all day was spent in conferencing with other oldies of the village with the latest grapevine or discussing & forecasting the weather and listening to BBC news over the radio. Oh yes!! He was the most well informed person i knew. And it never ceased to suprise me how well he knew what was going on around the world with just that old Philips Transistor glued to his ear every evening.
The month of summer vacations we spent there were the days i have the most vivid memories about. We didnt need a T.V. All day was spent conjuring up new games, counting all the wells in the village, begging for a rupee from my grandmother so we could get 10 pouches of yummy chooran from the shop nearby. Climbing trees, bathing in the tubewell, eating fresh sugarcane and having a puff from the hookah when my grandfather was nodding off. The only time we did miss the T.V. was on Sundays when "Mahabharat" series was a huge rage. We all used to go the neighbours house and sit in front of the small T.V. marvelling at the various kinds of arrows with different colored auras, each outdoing the other.
Even when we got back to civilisation (read Delhi), i dont remember being glued to the T.V. at all. I think a lot of that credit goes to my father, who was very strict with the time we spent watching it. And the ones we did watch were watched with a lot of loyalty. Episodes of Byomkesh Bakshi, Vikram aur Vaital are still fesh in my mind.
Cut to today
Today there are hordes of channels, with multiple options pertaining to all genres, but i find myself saying more than ever "There's nothing to watch on T.V. tonight"
We spend more time flipping channels than actually seeing something. We begin by seeing something and end up seeing something else entirely. We lose track of movies midway because intermittent ad breaks just make us lose interest. Very rarely are we able to see one program through. Today if somebody asks me what i watch on T.V., i find myself searching for an answer.
I think families today are spending more and more time in front of the idiot box chewing off the scarce family time they get together. Infact, many homes have 2 or more T.V. sets !! We cant even force that time together. If instead we spent time talking to each other, we would not only strengthen bonds with our children but find that entertainment is right there at home, in each other's lives. That's reality T.V......right in our homes
The month of summer vacations we spent there were the days i have the most vivid memories about. We didnt need a T.V. All day was spent conjuring up new games, counting all the wells in the village, begging for a rupee from my grandmother so we could get 10 pouches of yummy chooran from the shop nearby. Climbing trees, bathing in the tubewell, eating fresh sugarcane and having a puff from the hookah when my grandfather was nodding off. The only time we did miss the T.V. was on Sundays when "Mahabharat" series was a huge rage. We all used to go the neighbours house and sit in front of the small T.V. marvelling at the various kinds of arrows with different colored auras, each outdoing the other.
Even when we got back to civilisation (read Delhi), i dont remember being glued to the T.V. at all. I think a lot of that credit goes to my father, who was very strict with the time we spent watching it. And the ones we did watch were watched with a lot of loyalty. Episodes of Byomkesh Bakshi, Vikram aur Vaital are still fesh in my mind.
Cut to today
Today there are hordes of channels, with multiple options pertaining to all genres, but i find myself saying more than ever "There's nothing to watch on T.V. tonight"
We spend more time flipping channels than actually seeing something. We begin by seeing something and end up seeing something else entirely. We lose track of movies midway because intermittent ad breaks just make us lose interest. Very rarely are we able to see one program through. Today if somebody asks me what i watch on T.V., i find myself searching for an answer.
I think families today are spending more and more time in front of the idiot box chewing off the scarce family time they get together. Infact, many homes have 2 or more T.V. sets !! We cant even force that time together. If instead we spent time talking to each other, we would not only strengthen bonds with our children but find that entertainment is right there at home, in each other's lives. That's reality T.V......right in our homes
i have a vivid memory of growing up in past in Guna . We used to play a lot , we used to go always go to somebody's place in the evening for gupshup since our parents dint have much to do in the evening . We used to particpate in Jhanki and Ganesh Puja's 26 Jan celebration etc . We used to interact so much with fellow human beings . But now we have this Idiot which is only communicating one way . And then we come to internet for our Two way communication dose.
ReplyDeleteI feel really bad when I meet up my cousins and then in an Hour all of us are though sitting together but are hooked on to TV , Phone , Pads or Laptops .