My Childhood Doordarshan.......

Childhood memories are some of our most precious memories we possess. People like our parents and grandparents played a pivotal role in the creation of those memories. But I am not talking about our grand parents here instead a 17inch square box which is known as television generally called as TV. Our B&W 17 inch TV came to our house in 1988 not to mention I was too young to properly utter the name of that box. I am talking about the serials, the programs, the ads, the Government promotional ads and the only 'shudh swadeshi' channel Doordarshan. I am going to rejuvenate those days and memories here in this write up. The one and only daily entertainment dose of every Indian.
Lets check out some goods and bads of Doordarshan and our memory power. Do you remember the ad 'Ek Chidiya, anek chidiyaan..'? Do you get a glimpse of 'Mungerilal' if ever day dreaming? If yes (or even the answer is no) lets go for a down memory ride.

Ramayan and Mahabharat - Doordarshan without Ramayan and Mahabharat- impossible? Literally there was Curfew like situation on Sunday mornings when these two epics used to be telecasted. Arun Govil (Ram), Mukesh Khanna (Bhisma), Punit issar (duryodhan), Rupa Ganguli (Draupadi) , Dipilka(Sita) etc. litterally became the idol for us. These two serials created mass histeria for TV selling. I remember my grand mother used to do pooja of TV before starting of these serials. Harish Bhimanis voice as 'main samay hoon' do you remember??

Rangoli- Countless Sunday mornings started with Rangoli. I remember it used to be the driving force to get up early by 7am and switch on the TV.

Circus -Shahrukh khan todays' King Khan did this serial with Renuka Shahane. Can not forgte his spec frame.

Chitrahaar - Evey Wednesday and Friday at 8'0 clock night.

Fauji- First serial of SRK which made him quite popular on TV.

Mrignayani - the story was- a king attracted by beauty of a girl, Pallavi Joshi as lead actress.

Fatichar - Pankaj Kapur as fatichar, leaving in huge govt. water pipes. It was humorous light comedy serial.

Bharat ek khoj-Based on Pt. Jawaharlal Nehrus book Discovery of India, directed by Shyam Benegal. Not able to recall much of the episodes.....

Surbhi - How can i even think of not mentioning it?Ffirst interesting and entertaining information sharing programme. Renuka Sahane was introduced in surbhi. Sidhdharth Kak and Renuka both did spendin job in hosting this programme. This programme created question and answer contest first time on TV. I remember the lucky draw used to take place for winners. :) Sent answers many a times but never ever could know whether it reached Andheri, Mumbai or not.

Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne - Cant forget talented Raghuvir Yaadav as Mungherilal who used to see dreams of a person whichever attracts him. I wish i could see the episodes again.



Lets recall some video songs and promos

Mile sur mera tumhara, to sur bane hamara- needs no explanation.
Baje Sargam - Pt. Bhimsen Joshi being the best
Purav se Surya Uga phiala Ujiala - Rashrtiya Saskshrata Mission
Sun sun mere nanhe sun- a video directed by subhash ghai at time of 1992 riots. It had Jackie shroff, Rajnikanth, chiranjeevi and bunch of starts popular at that time.

Do you remember 'Rookavat ke liye khed hai'how often it used to pop up in the screen?

And the same old news reader's faces at 8.30 pm used to be the most unwanted part of the day which atleast i never ever liked. But now i realise how important that happened to be being the only source of audio visual news medium.

Thank you Doordarshan for being so magnanimous that even after Star plus and Zee TV mainly the worthless serials like 'sawambar series' you still give us all the programs which does not make you much popular in cites but definitely you are the one and only most popular channel till date in India as India is found in village and so is Doordarshan. Hats Off.....long live Doordarshan. You still stand out...............

Why is colour red my favourite???

I was very young at that time when I could recognise my father's gift as a red frock. It was a 'Tufani' frock with lot of frills on satin fabrics at that autumn season of Durga Puja (my autumn winter collection) and I remember that was my first red collection since I had got my sense of colour developed. It was the most beautiful dress I have ever worn. I literally fell in love with the dress and the colour red. I continued showing my 'Red Frock' to each and everyone whoever visited our house during that period. I loved getting complements and all flattering remarks. I was always desperate to wear it and attend any social gathering. I do not have any clue whether I loved the colour of the dress or the dress itself. However ever since then I started loving colour red the most. Eventually, I came to realize what the colour red signifies. Red is considered as Colour of married women “ Suhag ki nishani”.

Red is hot. It's a strong color that conjures up a range of seemingly conflicting emotions from passionate love to violence and warfare. Red is Cupid and the Devil. If I talk about the Nature of Red it goes like: A stimulant, red is the hottest of the warm colour. Red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure.The expression seeing red indicates anger and may stem not only from the stimulus of the color but from the natural flush (redness) of the cheeks, a physical reaction to anger, increased blood pressure, or physical exertion.

Some more facts about red of which when I got to know I felt exited. And these are: In some cultures, red denotes purity, joy, and celebration. Red is the color of happiness and prosperity inChina and may be used to attract good luck. Red is often the color worn by brides in the East while it is the color of mourning in South Africa(trust me I Did not know that until I read it in an article recently).

In Russia the Bolsheviks used a red flag when they overthrew the Tsar, thus red became associated with communism. Many national flags use red. The red Ruby is the traditional Fortienth Wedding Anniversary Gift

Now I would tell how the word red is used for language

Good red

Red letter day - important or significant occasion

Red carpet treatment - make someone feel special, treat them as if they are a celebrity

Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning; red sky at night, sailor's delight - pay attention to good and bad warning signs

Paint the town red - celebrate, go out partying

Red eye - an overnight flight

Bad red

Seeing red - to be angry

Red herring - something that deceives or distracts attention from the truth

In the red - being overdrawn at the bank or losing money

Red flag - denotes danger, warning, or an impending battle

And did u know Red is one of the most common colors used on national flags throughout the world???

Oh, I am so happy to have red as my favourite colour and I am so thankful to my father for gifting me such a beautiful dress which attracted me towards RED.

Why saying no is difficult????

In this world many a people just can't think of having to tell people they can't do something. Or they feel obligated when a colleague or a friend asks a favour. Sometimes it so happens that even if we want to say 'no' direct on face we simply fail to do so. I personally feel if a person is of low self-esteem very often has a lack of assertiveness and believes he has to meet the expections of others. Saying no is very difficult for them. But if we do things against our will this will result in a wired feeling of being used which inturn has an indirect negative affect in our personality. hence the best way to avaid this kind of situations is learn to say a NO. A simple and direct "No I am affraid that I will not be able to help you out now" can be the easiest way of making your stand firm without using any hursh tone or word. But yes, if requested for something then it can be responeded in a possitive way like " I would definitely try to do that but may be after sometime/ after i finish my assignment." I would like to cite another situation where a clear and bold utterance of NO is adviceable in order to avoid further problem. In case of working women there are hundreds of situations where a male boss very often tries to abuse them physically or mentally. In those cases women should take a firm step in opposing such craps and making the boss keep a safe distance. If someone tries to enter into your personal space then he/she should be stopped there only. I think and strongly feel that women those who are little hesitant of uttering NO should literally learn and practise saying 'NO'. Sometime expression, gesture and body language also give the same massage but still if we learn how to say NO it will definitely help us in keeping a healthy and long term relationship with our colleagues, neighbours and other accuintences.

Life in Metro

Do not confuse with the title 'Life in Metro' with the recent film of Anurag Basu. My article doesnot wish to review or criticise any film rather its a sheer expression of what people in metro experience, and how life is changing creating a gap or conflicts within the family. Its more of a sharing of how people loose their sense of belongingness to individuality. How people start moving towards and adopting an alien culture and forget their own traditions, value. Today there are thousand of books on Urbanisation and its affect. If we go by the meaning of the term Urbanization, it is the physical growth of urban areas from rural areas as a result of population immigration to an existing urban area. But what is worse is not the increasing population in a urban cities mostly in metro cities but the huge difference in the living standard of the poor and upper middle class, upper class and the rich section of people. People are busy in their own world without caring about others around. One very interesting phenomenon which caught my attention is the fast changing attitude of youths in metro cities or urban areas. I am not only talking about the youths born and brought up in metro but also those who come from a remote village or a small town, who are from lower middle class families and after coming down to metro tend to forget thier own values, tradition and culture. By this I do not mean that one should not adopt new culture but at the same time the adoption should not be so dominent that it creates a huge gap between the parents and the children in terms of culture.The youths are loosing their adjustment capacity where they can move on keeping a pace with the previous generation. Where parents should not develop a feeling that they did a mistake by sending their child outside. This should not happen. What is required is a proper balance to be maintained and the responsibilty doesnot lie on our parents in this case but on us. The sanity of culture should be maintained so that we remain grounded with our roots when we progress. Not like completely geting uprooted from it. And mere online transfere of money to our family at the end of the month is not the end of our responsibility but keeping family happy in all respect is required. And if they are staying with us then extreme care needs to be taken in temrs of what they like and what not. The Metro life should not keep us away from our basic duties and responsibilities.