Impending magical date of 1/1/11 is creating a feeling of nostalgia for the year bidding adieu.. I also got very nostalgic for old Doordarshan .. here is some of my thoughts as a tribute to our first love, we called Doordarshan..
1) It telecasted Swayamvar of worthy and beautiful Princesses like Draupadi and Sita, with Rama and Arjun attending their Svayamvar. It didn’t believe in telecasting svayamvars of drug addict divorced men and half human-half silicone women.
2) It showed advertisements which were bigger hits than programs themselves. Remember..Maan gaye.. Aaapki paarkhi nazar…. Vicks ki goli lo.. hamara kal hamara aaj.. yeh bechara kaam ka maara.. I don’t need to complete anyone of the above phrases.. I am sure you already read it completely.
3) It showed reality shows with searched real talents like Sunidhi Chauhaan, without diving country based on regions and earning millions on name of sms voting by provoking regional divide.
4) It had some excellent filler like “Mile sur mera tumhara”, ““Anant gagan ek hai”. We as kids remembered every stanza of these songs without even knowing in which language we were singing. Even रुकावट के लिये खेद है (” Rukavat ke liye khed hai” ) and समाचार थोडी देर में .( “Samachar Thodi Der mein” ) were loved.
5) For Doordarshan, News meant NEWS. It didn’t include special prime time features on Dimpy Mahjan, Rakhi Sawant. It believed only police should deal with the criminals and rapists. It didn’t believe that criminals and crimes should reach everyone’s house as glamour filled dramatic shows.
6) TV serials dealt with real people and real emotions. Remember Udaan, Hum log and Swabhimaan (Here I am bit Biased!! I loved this serial..I had a deep crush on Kitu Gidvani). The actors looked actors not like hangers displaying designer clothes, half pound makeup and two pounds Jewellery while they are working in a kitchen. And yes.. Doordarshan serials had stories for a change.
7) I am writing separate paragraph for Ramayana and Mahabharata. I don’t consider them as serials. They were epics in true sense. They were responsible for letting our generation to know our grand history and culture. Salute to grand Vision of Mr BR Chopda who translated Mahabharta so perfectly that I am yet to find a flaw in that. Be it Mr Harish Bhimani’s voice “ Main Samay hoon” or most talented bunch of cast ever assembled for a TV serial. Also a big big hats off to Dr Rahi Masoom Raja for her immortal dialogues. I remember many people calling their parents Mata-Shree and Pita Shree .. We kids also imagined ourselves as warriors with a bow on our shoulders and few arrows on our back. Days.. Golden days.. for sure!!
8) Rangoli and Chitrahaar and even Superhit Muqabala to some extent were a brand in themselves. It was not the songs we waited for, we waited for Chitrahaaar and Rangoli. They must be doing something good, simple and honest. Such was the magic of Chitahaar that I liked even Sunil Shetty when he danced or tried to dance on " Shahar ki Ladki". :)
9) Last but not the least: Doordarshan was and is the only channel which started its day with Vande Matram.
People may say we miss Doordarshan so much because it had no competition and it was the only channel. Can I discard your love for your Mom as you had no other mom. We loved Doordarshan as it was our first love and will always be..
Though it’s sad to see Doordarshan, despite having such wide reach and infrastructure, dying its slow death (or its dead already) due to some incompetent government officials and complete lack of strategy to deal with changed scenario. “Prasar Bharti” opposite to its name has only contributed in shrinking Doordarshan to its current size which might be smaller than Mahua TV.
©Shekhar Suman
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