Monday 6 August, 2007

Idiot box and me- A decade back

Alone at home, with nothing to do (or lets say, dint feel like doing anything:P) I switched on my Idiot box for some time pass. Like most of the people, i hardly watch TV and even when I do, its more of channel surfing avoiding adverts and repeat telecasts of the teary soap- operas.
I guess I heard while constantly pressing the NEXT on the remote control... "Jungle jungle baat chali hai.." What was dat? I came down on the channel list looking for the source of this long forgotten melody. And there it was on one of the channels- Jungle Book. After more than a decade, I got reunited with Moogli, bagira, bhalu, nag and the oh-so-evil Sher khan. This and next day when I read dis post, took me down the memory lane remembering my rendezvous with the TV in my childhood. Those were the times before cables channels turned up (at least at my place)
Other then, jungle book there was disney hour- mickey mouse, donald duck (I just cudnt understand a word he said bt it sounded funny. many a times i tried to imitate his voice bt so far...no luck) and later on series lk ducktales, talespin and alladin (my fav character in dis was the wickedly funny yakoob- the parrot).
There were morning shows hosted by Tabassum- lady with a very charming and loving persona and someone i was actually in awe of coz she cud talk like Donald Duck. Used to be glued to the screen listening to all kind of fables and stories- about a man who tried to steel bringles from his neighbor's backyard, about a girl who got rewarded for her selflessness, kind and unassuming nature and many others.
In between programs, there were fillers of Chitrahaar- a back-to-back songs program and list of Missing people telecasted by Gumshuda talash kendra.
And ofcourse at the end of the day @9PM, dad used to watch prime time news. Too young to bother about matters of the country and nation, i used to sit with dad noticing everything other than the news while waiting for the telecast to get over. Recorded against a plain pale blue background with a screen appearing at the right-topmost corner whenever the news was accompanied by a video footage. The news readers were people in their late 30s (atleast that wat they looked like). There used to be one particular news reader who used to wear a flower in her hair. It used to be of exact colour as her saree. How she alwayz managed to find the right shade always remained a mystery to me. (When was the last time i saw anyone wearing a flower in hair?)
On sundays there was Rangoli- a musical countdown show hosted by Hema Malini on air every Sunday @ 7AM (wow! i even remember the time). Dat was the only time i used to get up willingly so early. Then after 2 hours there used to be slew of mythological shows accompanying us at breakfast.
Weekends were special coz of Saturday and Sunday night movies. Done with the food before 9PM so that mom can peacefully watch the movie. Of course i never got to watch the entire sunday movie- school next day:(
'Weird how things have changed now...so many channels, so many shows. I sit in front of the TV for like 3 hours and still end up watching nothing. Whats of point of all dis. such a waste?' I think all this while continually surfing the channels.

7 comments:

Spectator said...

that was a nice ride to old days. even i loved some of the tv shows of those days... i'll write bout them one day.

Di said...

Hey i barely remembered that Tabassum lady but just reading her name in tht context brought back her face to me in a flash! :)

Supernova said...

Spectator: Thnx:)
Di: Even i had nearly forgotten all abt her. saw her in some show on TV few days back n suddenly it came back to me.

Unknown said...

Very well said, last lines I'm talking about. Incidently, the other day, Tabassum ma'am had come over as a judge in the dance show Boogie Woogie and it took me down the memory lane, just like you. Jungle book & mickey donald show & chitrahar n everything! Seriously man, even with just 2 channels in those days, watching TV was so much fun :)

PS: You've been tagged dear :P

Supernova said...

Rebellion: Exactly! Ironically, i still rmbr the shows i used to watch 10 yrs back bt nt any i watched since last 10 yrs! amazing na!!!

Wow!!! my 1st ever tag:):)

rk rishikesh sinha said...

I LOVED IT VERY MUCH....

BEING A GIRL U WATCHED THE SAREE...

BUT SORRY I DIDNOT FEEL LIKE WATCHING THE NEW

http://pxylem.blogspot.com/2007/08/let-us-not-forget.html

Supernova said...

Falcon: Im glad u lkd it:) cant say if it was bcoz of my gender bt ya i did notice the flower. it was smthng hard to miss.