My last post was quite a few months back, which as only
become the norm now :-) Well, will pick up from where I left last time -
arrival of TV in our house. The earliest memories associated with TV are
watching Spiderman on Saturday evenings after school. Cartoons were a rare
treat those days and the wait for a whole week to catch a new episode made it
all the more worthwhile. Then there was the Chitrahar - bouquet of hindi film
music over a 30 minute window - which also was eagerly awaited by all families.
In these days and times of multiplicity in every conceivable type of TV
channels - the charm of waiting and the eagerness seems to have been lost for
ever :-(
The earliest
soap operas on India Television initiated in those days of 80s...The first was
was Humlog which seemed to go on for ever....3 years? 4 years? Can't remember
so well any more. But many of the characters are still etched in my
memory....Ashok kumar in his role as the "sutradhar"....his comments
after every episode. Hum log was followed by Buniyaad, Khaandaan and then many
many more. We had some exceptional comedy series like Idhar Udhar & Yeh Jo
hai Zindagi....The characters still seem mint fresh in my mind and there is
nothing on television these days which even compare to these.
Watching movie on Saturday & Sunday evenings on TV was
also something that we used to look forward to eagerly.
Apart from
TV, other means of entertainment included visiting relatives. We were staying
in Barrackpore, which is in Bengal which is my home state and hence had many
relatives staying around. My grandparents from Father's side (Dadu - Thamma)
stayed nearby in Khardah. It is the same place we stayed for a few months
before moving to Barrackpore, which I wrote about in some of my earlier posts.
Then there were my jethus & kakus (father's brothers) and pishis (father's
sisters)and also father's cousins and their families. On my mother's side, there
were her uncles and aunts, her cousins and their families. We used to pay visit
to one of or the other place pretty often - at least once in 2 weeks. Those
days studies were never so demanding or tough as they are today....and it was
always possible to finish off the homework and dash off to some relative's
place or other !!!
It is
not that I enjoyed going to all these places...there were some those were my
favourites and at other places I had no choice but to tag along :-) Well I was
not so much of a social person and mostly an introvert who would rather sit in
a corner with a book than strike up some conversation. One of the reasons for
this behaviour is definitely my basic nature, which remains unchanged to this
day. Only change I have succeeded is change the way I come across &
interact in professional setup. On a personal level, I am still the same - the
way I was as a 8 year old.
But
there was another reason for my not being able to open up to the world. I was
obese as a child from the time I was around 7 years to 12 years old and subject
to taunts and comments from relatives & strangers alike. There were always
unsolicited advice from everyone on what all I need to do to be like all other
"normal" kids. The solutions ranging from eating less to jogging,
yoga, running, skipping & what not. Though they might not have spoken out
of any negative intention, but infringing on privacy is something that we
Indians are known to do routinely without realising the effect it might have on
the recipient. All of us have our weak points....things about which we
ourselves are not too happy about, which we are trying to work on. Very rarely
people are sensitive enough to realise this...
That
was my first understanding of what it feels to be part of a
"minority" community...people who can be identified among a crowd of
"normal" people...Subsequently, as I grew up, though I lost most of
the baby weight by the time I was 12 or 13, there were other reasons for me to
part of this "not normal" community....the fact that I was not
beautiful, or fair, or did not have long hair and then now being single in
mid-thirties....
That title caught my attention.
ReplyDeleteBarrackpore.
The first (and only time) that I had been to Calcutta was to Barrackpore.
My uncle was posted there (he was in the Air Force) and we had been there during our summer hols from Bombay. This was way back in 1972 !!
Yes some of the good old TV serials on DD was worth watching. I always liked Yeh Jo Hai Jindagi, and wonder it was never re-telecasted later.
Thanks for reading my blog & your comments.
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