To all DDs generation…

Television in hindi actually means Door-Darshan, which used to be constant and sole of means entertainment during my teen-days i.e. late 90s. I don’t know why, but on this rainy and calm Sunday morning, I am feeling nostalgic about those days. And all those soaps and operas came to my mind one-by-one like fresh drops of rain tickling from green leaves of the banyan tree opposite my room. A very important aspect of those days was that there wasn’t any fight between siblings over the channel, as there used to be only one – Door-Darshan.

I still remember, a usual DD day started with a screen showing India’s population with the number kept on adding 2 every second and Vande -Mataram. This was followed by a spinning wheel which transformed itself into DD logo.

Though I don’t remember much about DDs first and most popular serial – “Hum Log”, I still remember some characters like Nanhe, Badki, Manjhli etc. Its popularity was on account of the fact that it presented a true picture of typical Indian family of those days. Then followed Ramayana, which people say was responsible for Television boom in India during late 80s and early 90s. People used to worship TV sets with all haar-malas and nariyals when Arun Govil (Rama) was getting married to Deepika (Sita); cried when Rama was sent to vanvaas and danced when Ravana was killed or when Hanuman burnt entire Lanka.

Then it was below mentioned bunch of flowers which made me hooked to our TV set like anything. I will start plucking the petals of each flower one by one.

Let me start with Rose – the flower of love which also represents thrill, murder and blood. If you have already started pushing your grey cells in motion, then you got it right. Rajat Kapur in Byomkesh Bakshi, Vijay Anand in Tehqiqat (remember, Tehqiqaaaaaat.. yeh hai teqiqaaaaat) and Shekhar Suman in Reporter – each episode uniquely framed and kept us thinking about the killer with different permutations and combinations.

Now I move to Jasmine – the smell which always soothes our soul. Guys, be prepared for a ride to your Bachpan – with Tap tap topi topi, top mein jo dube (Alice in Wonderland), chaddi pehen ke phul khila hai, phul khila hai (The Jungle Book, Mowgli - Bagira - Sher Khan - Shanti - Baloo), greedy Uncle Scrooge (Duck Tales), Balu – Kid – Madam Mahalingam – Sher Khan – Don Karnash (Tales Pin), Aladdin - Iago - Jasmine - Abu (Aladdin), Aaya Aaya jhunjhar wali jheenu wali jhunnu ka baba, kisso ka kahaniyon ka geeto ka chhaba (Potli Baba Ki), Yeh hai tarram too, o bhaiya ye hai tarram too….(Tarram Too), Guchha hai bhai guchha hai, kahaniyo ka guchha hai, kahani lelo (Guchhe).

Taking our ride further to next platform let me introduce you to Tulip, the flower of grace, royalty and valor. The Sword of Tipu Sultan, The Great Maratha, Akbar – the great, Jhansi Ki Rani, Fauji (Shahrukh Khan special), Yug (Yug badla, badla Hindustan), Shaktimaaaan, Captain Vyom, Jhansi Ki Rani, Prithviraj Chauhan. Among these, it was The Sword of Tipu Sultan and The Great Maratha (sorry Shaktiman) which thrilled me most. I still remember the last episode of Tipu Sultan in which he fought single handedly with Brit Soldiers with this sword facing the guns.

Our next destination is Aloe – the flower which is a symbol of integrity and wisdom. The first thing I remember of this is Panchtantra ki kahaniyan (Yeh Panchatantra hai…), Malgudi Days (Ta na na, tana nana naaaa) and Vikram – Betal Stories. To some extent, I will also like to add Surabhi to this. I can’t forget Surabhi, as I had my first official communication to Surabhi Team (as part of contest). Surabhi can be acknowledged as the pioneer in contests through post-cards. (Now-a-days, of course every damn stupid show is coming out with online contests or through SMSes).

Our journey ends with Marigold – the flower which can be used for any occasion, be it worshipping, marriage, home – decoration etc. Starting with early days of Circus (again Shahrukh Khan, much before his fame as k k k k … Kiran), Buniyaad (Pal chhin, pal chhin, tere mere jivan ki yahi Buniyaad), Comedy King Jaspal Bhatti (Flop show), Nukkad, Alif Laila (ha ha ha.. tilismi jinn prakat ho), Chandrakanta (remember, Yakku of Kroor Singh), Udaan (which actually made people realize about girl-power) and Chitrahaar, which every family member use to watch, as it was the first ever visual version of songs which earlier our mom-dads and their mom-dads use to only listen through Akashvani (All India Radio) or their so called Transistors (I still do not understand why tape-recorders were called as transistors).
Well that's all about it. Hope, you enjoyed the ride with me.