Since my childhood Ma taught us (read my brother too) to
preserve all those wonderful greeting cards our loved ones once gifted us on several
occasions. And may be because of that we still have, may be hundreds of them
very well kept, with all love. The oldest amongst them is from my mother’s
friend which was given on my parents’ wedding day…25 years ago. Well, this time
the note is not on the box in which we keep those greeting cards:p
Don’t exactly remember the year, date and time but yeah I
still remember how I used to make a mountain of those greeting cards imitating exactly
the way Renuka Sahni used to do at the talk show Amul Surabhi, which was
aired every Sunday on Doordarshan. Another personality who shook me up during
those years of bachpan was Smt.Nalini
(‘Smt.’ is being added coz I don’t remember her surname). Her show Aankhon Dekhi on Doordarshan made me
visualize her as a woman of substance with her look comprising a khadi kurti
mingled with a scarf, she left her hair fall on her shoulders and a big black bindi completed her look. Looking her
everytime on the smallscreen encouraged me to become a journalist…though it was my dream of early 90s:p Again I remember the times when during festivities
specially Durga Puja, kids particularly twins, were dressed in Shaktimaan attires, the brown superhero
dress with a golden chakra intricately designed on the chest. Mukesh Khanna
indeed instantly became our desi superhero
with all his powers to destroy Shakaal:p Raja
Aur Rancho gave birth to the detective instinct among ourselves. Mandira
Bedi is still popular as Shanti with
homemakers and working ladies admiring her corporate look like never before. Vishal
is more popular than any other VJ of channel V today…may be just because the
late 80s and early 90s people grew up watching Disney Hours. And what to say
about Mahabharat, Ramayan and Shri Krishna which were Sunday bonus to
every mythological grandparents, parents and children respectively! That was a
beautiful Doordarshan time…but cable tv didn’t bring any disaster however.
Rather the cable era has brought with it globalized dreams…glittering
paparazzi….spicy thoughts….a strong voice!
The Three Stooges
taught us humor, I Dream of Genie
made me rub all bottles and jugs with a belief that a beautiful Arabian girl in
pink or green harems would make my world magical and finally Dennis The Menace, made us do all kinda
waywardness! Small Wonder with Vicky, Jamie and Hariet made our world a beautiful small wonder indeed….my pet’s name even fell after Jamie and it
was the same show which introduced me to the word ‘date’:p!
Meanwhile, fights over which
channel to switch on began blossoming in every home. The Adam’s Family,Flintstones,Dexter’s Laboratory dominated the
Cartoon Network with many naming their puppies with the super tag Scooby. Malgudi Days on Sony still
reminds me how I used to hum the tune….tanana
nanananana :p Meanwhile all mothers
would complete all their tasks just to watch Ghar ek Mandir starring Gautami and Ram Kapoor (these days mothers
are busy watching Bade Ache Lagte Hai:p)
and on a happy note they used to watch Hum
Panch…the way I still spell it:p
I still remember Late.Priya Tendulkar’s role where she used to talk from her
portrait. It was fun watching them!
There were times when watching Hip Hip Hurray on Zee TV made us wear short skirts in
schools….later Remix on Star One
brought the hap thing amongst the teens with characters like Yuvraj, Ranbir, Anwesha and Tia. Terms like ‘hey bhaggu….paliz’ became the in thing. However the entertainment
is still on with D3 and Suvreen Guggal!
No matter how much we criticize the soap operas, we have to
admit that atleast at some point of time we watched them…..we need to watch them even to criticise:p Ekta Kapoor is
undoubtedly the ambassador behind those creative and masaledar characters:p
10.30 pm soon became the primetime with the telecast of Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Every
mother hoped to get a daughter-in-law like Tulsi,
every girl hoped to get a husband like Mihir,
every fan of this soap opera hoped to calculate Baa’s age:p That non-living
box in our bedrooms and living areas indeed blessed us with immense entertainment
with versatile emotions:p
Once I was shocked to see Kumkum sarees on a sale and Ramola’s
finger rings at a street market. These saas
bahu dramas made characters like Komalika,Prerna,Anurag,Parvati,Om,Kusum,Kumkum,Mandira
household names:p And its more
entertaining to see how these shows khatam
hone ke naam hi nahin lete and kept on stretching and stretching. Omit the
weeping on part of the sushil sanskaari
bahus and leave the practice of polygamy aside…I wonder how Tulsi’s son,Gautam married thrice and you will love
them:p
From these family shows, let me move to some laughter
therapies….no no I am not talking about Raju Srivastav,Sunil Pal or Qureshi.
Sad but I am referring to the Indian horror shows which make me laugh instead,
with the make-up overdo:p The Zee Horror Show, Aahat, Sannata and Sshhh….koi hai, the last being the most
humorous:D Then there came real comedy
shows like Khichdi and Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai….if nothing else we
smiled atleast;)
Meanwhile the 90s kids grew up and they started switching
from desi to videshi channels…but it was the same box:p The
Amazing Race and Ripley’s Believe it
or Not became popular and we tried our best to publicize our adventures:p That time Late Steve Irwin with his
crocodiles delighted us and now its Bear Grylls with his survival skills. Friends, Desperate Housewives, The Oprah
Winfrey Show and Koffee with Karan….to
name a few more,engaged us in Star World.
Again, Reality shows began to amuse us like never before. Shilpa
Shetty and racism in Bigg Brother
created a lot of sensation indeed. And how can we forget our very own Bigg Boss….every season brings with it heavy
surprises. It was fun watching both censored and uncensored versions, whether
its Pravesh and Claudia or Veena and Ashmit Patel…undoubtedly his name changed to Ashlil Patel after the show or its
Dolly Bindra and Shweta Tiwari’s fights and
how to forget the superstar…nah, not Salman but Kamaal Khan:p Shows like India’s Got Talent, Indian Idol,
are kinda less competition and more emotions:P
Roadies, Raghu’s masterpiece
is the oldest Indian reality show. And all what I can say about the show is
‘RESPECT’. Splitsvilla…another show on MTV which should be banned according
to the parents of 90s kids:p But to my
surprise, rather horror, my mom followed each episode of Roadies 9 and to her, the gals and guys at Splitsvilla are very chic:p
Nathing else but Star Plus’s punch line, rishta wohi soch nayi stroke me:p
Arnab Goswami insists us to share a word for the nation,
Anup Soni of Crime Patrol warns us to
be alert and ACP Pradyuman justs reminds us of ‘Daya,Abhijit, darwaza tor do’:p
Rajiv Khanderwal, still known to be Sujal,
encourages us not to be a part of Sach ka
Saamna:p and Ravi Kishan thrills us
with Raaz Pichle janam Ka…..
Oh, how can I forget about the contemporary social issueswala serials:p Child marriage,widow remarriage,witch hunting-all
in one@Balika Vadhu…..dads hate Gauri, moms hate Jagat, parents love Anandi….I
toh love Shiv with the Magadheera music on his backdrop:p
Desi and Videshi television has made me its super fan….but
it doesn’t mean I’ll start watching Uttaran:p
At this moment of time…Ek
Hazaron mein meri Behna Hai has made me fall in love with my sister:p Be Blunt with Adhuna Akhtar is provoking me
to get some bucks from dad and visit Headturners:p Bear Grylls is really not encouraging me to
mess with a shark:p I Shouldn’t be Alive is stirring me to be alive:p Master
Chef always makes me think this is what I should have opted for
literally:p Sweet Sixteen reminds me of the fact that I am still in India…sapne dekhna bandh karo:p Feels good watchin Oprah’s Next Chapter with
the colorful Indian states. I love another show in Turbo, I don’t remember the name, the 90s kid is growing old:p………where
three teams are engaged in transforming damaged cars into some extraordinary
motors that rides, flies and swims….in
Videsh every other person is an innovator! DID
all seasons is just 3(kya baat):p and Satyamev
Jayate is so very satya! And
obviously the most favourite….how can I
forget about it…afterall every other sister is a victim of her brother who
watches it….Smackdown and Raw….newcomers are inevitable, but the
90s kid cannot forget the champion Triple
H, the dead man Undertaker, the
big Big Show,the sudden sensation Brock
Lesner, the entry of John Cena
into WWE with a fight between him and Kurt
Angle, the notorious Ric Flair,
the death of Eddie Guerrero, revealing
of Kane’s face and the most popular Heart Broken Kid. Sorry for I never liked Rock and Hulk Hogan:p
Undoubtedly that box…irrespective of shape,size,color,price……has
indubitably shaped our lives gratifying and amusing us with those enormous
characters and faces………afterall the 90s kid didn’t grow up poking on FB and
playing with an i-pad!
P.S.- This note is dedicated to that faithful box
which gives us a mini heart attack when it suddenly stops working. Happy
load-shedding this summer:p
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