Television Memoirs
Recently
a casual chat with a close friend led me to walk through the golden days; those
days which were spent more care free than now and because of this, their memory
is etched in my mind forever.
Those
of you who are around my age would easily relate to the times when out of many
houses in the lane, only a handful of one had a TV. Luckily our house was one of
those. The ‘Chitrahaar’ on Wednesday evenings and the ‘movie’ on Sunday
evenings on ‘Doordarshan’ used to be a grand affair. I still recollect the max.
count of 19 neighbours on a Wednesday and 23 on a Sunday, in the drawing room
of our modest two-room flat in Delhi. For us, organizing such a gathering used
to be a privilege as well as a treat!
While
we (I & my younger brother) enjoyed this privilege, we suddenly found
ourselves a little wanting when one of our ‘foreign-returned’ neighbours
brought with them a ‘coloured TV’. For our friends, the sleek SONY was fast
becoming a popular attraction than our voluminous 24” cathode ray tube ‘Black-and-white’
JK TV with a bluish tinge. Eventually there was no mass exodus of the friends
to the neighbours and this made us pleasantly realize that it was actually the
warmth of our welcome which repeatedly attracted our friends to our place than
the enjoyment of watching the TV alone.
The Asian
Games brought with them the launch of ‘coloured TV’ in India. During vacation,
on one afternoon, when two of us walked to one of our neighbours to watch a
cartoon, we were a little scolded for laughing too loudly! What could be more
emotional for two growing brothers than being pulled-up by an Auntie and that
too over a small affair like this? That evening, even before our father could
settle down after reaching home, we had convinced him as to how important it
was for us now to have a ‘coloured TV’ of our own. We were confident as we knew
that we had the backing of our loving mother. Next day the ride from Binatone
factory to our home with a ‘coloured TV’ in the boot of our hired Ambassador
car has been till date my best ever ride in a car!
While
times changed and as we all progressed, the ‘Chitrahaar’ became more of an
individual family affair, as most of the houses started owning a TV. Fortunately
the touch with the neighbours was still intact. The Telephone had replaced the
TV to maintain the contact. Once again, our house was one of the firsts to have
a telephone connection. For me, there was nothing more irritating on a hot
summer afternoon than the phone call meant for someone else. For my brother, an
opportunity to run a few houses away to call a neighbour to attend his / her phone
call used to be the best excuse for him to take frequent breaks from his
studies. For both of us, for many years, it remained a great medium to maintain
a healthy connect with our fellow neighbours!
Hello Vinay,
ReplyDeleteAnother well written article! I do recall my childhood days when I used to visit our neighbor's house to watch TV (in the early 80's) through their window, as my neighbors were not so hospitable like you guys...now I have no time to watch TV....time changes!!
At last I would like to use the phrase "Good old days", which I refrain from using. These memories of yester years remind me of the times when neighborhood was cherished with each other. Chitrahaar was favourite of complete household and we used to count the songs in each telecast. If the count was less than expected we used to curse DD and by chance they were more than expected, it made the week.
ReplyDeleteA few years later there were those VCR hiring friends nights with friends and neighbors for birthdays and special occasions. .
Another great aspect of yester years was that all the neighborhood assets were shareable. Those were the means to remain in touch with each other. Today we have advanced communication but no reason to remain in touch.
Enjoyed reading this.