What is your first TV memory????? How old were you? What were your favorite programs? And what is the status of TV ,in your life ,now?
I vaguely remember when I saw a TV.I was probably 6 or 7 years old,in Bombay then,with my mom and dad.The TV screen was surrounded by wood(or like they used say ,plywood covered with sunmica) and I kept wondering what the hell it was ,as they were setting it up along with the antenna on the roof of our building.The company which had manufactured the first TV which I saw was called,Dyanora.I remember that most of the time when I used to switch it on there was nothing to see except a screen with vertical stripes with the the colours of the rainbow.Increasing the volume yielded nothing but a continuous tone of a high pitch-how irritating!
At around 6pm this box would transform, and give me an almost magical experience of sound an visuals.It would start with the symbol of the Indian Television Broadcasting (Doordarshan) getting bigger and bigger till it filled the entire screen and,if I remember right ,the same symbol would again get smaller and smaller ,till it completely disappeared.I also have some acoustic memory of the accompanying music.The fact that it was a black and white (B&W) TV did'nt seem like a handicap.
For the next three hours, the TV dictated our lives.All three of us would watch whatever came on the telly (unless I had an exam or test at school- when I would be sent into the room to study or the TV would not be switched on).One of my favorite programs was something called 'Chitrahaar'-a medley of film songs -which usually came on a wednesday evening,for 30 mins.
As I grew older ,the timings of the TV got longer and the addiction got stronger. More so because I was repeatedly,getting instructions not to see it and to concentrate on my studies. Well,study I did but I also have distinct memories of watching serials like 'Khandaan', 'Buniyaad' - 'in hiding',right behind my parents backs as they watched their soap operas fully engrossed.Oh, it gave me such a high!!!!! I felt I was so cool.
Then somewhere along the way ,the colour TV made its way into our home-an ONIDA TV.The company's advert for the TV said- 'Neighbours envy,owner's pride.' As a teenager I thought that it was an original line.Looking back I think I felt that way because it was,afterall ,the first colour TV I set my eyes on.
But the actual thrill of a TV as a youngster was watching cricket - I remember my uncle waking me up from my sleep when Kapil Dev lifted the Prudential World Cup defeating West Indies at the famous Lord's cricket ground(B&W TV).....Gavaskar left only with the handle of his bat as Malcolm Marshall bowled his bat out -literally-at the Eden Gardens(again B &W),Ravi Shastri riding his Audi at the MCC in Australia with almost the entire Indian team in and outside the car(yippee-coulur TV!).....Miandad hitting a six off the last ball bolwed by Chetan Sharma at Sharjah ,to win the match ( I hate to admit now-but I was at my grandpa's place and distinctly remember going to the toilet to shed tears- I was so upset because I had a major crush on Chetan Sharma then!!).......hmmm.......I could go on.
My uncle also woke me up to watch Maradona lift the football World cup in 1986 . Uncle must have taken that extra effort to wake me up, after having seen my almost daily arguments with my aunt and mother at the increasing number of Maradona posters in my room!!! I was ecstatic!! My hero had guided his team to glory!!
Seeing Chris Evert lift the French Open in 1986,Steffi Graf 's numerous wins,Lendl's numerous failed attempts at winning Wimbledon are etched in my memory.
When I left home for my undergraduate studies the nature of my tryst with TV changed. The TV in the hostel hardly ever worked and since then TV became a luxury.Watching TV was only whenI went home.From then, till date ,I enjoy TV immensely but don't miss it too very much when I don't have access to watch.Something about the advent of cable TV made me both wary and curious about watching TV. I miss watching my favorite games and movies ,so I usually make it point to at least watch stuff I have always enjoyed watching since childhood.
Here in London ,I stay in a studio flat with Aj.It is a compact flat and having a TV meant that it would take over our lives completely.So we decided gainst having one.Its been 2 months since I watched TV.And it looks like it will be another 13 months till I get to see regular TV ,with me getting into college in september.The only time I did watch the telly in the last 2 months, was for 90 mins(which was the EURO 2004- the team I was backing won and it made the effort of going to a pub to watch it worthwhile).
I now do a whole lot of things in the time I might have wasted watching programs which came on the telly. But having said that I do love watching telly when I get a chance to see it.
But I would give anything to go back to the times when the TV broadcast lasted for only three hours,did'nt have any adverts and the Doordarshan symbol would creep its way to cover the entire TV screen........sigh........
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