Once upon a time in Doordarshan - DD@50

Just last week I watched the video - “Mile sur mera tumhara”. Some things leave an indelible mark in your life, and this video is certainly one of them. This was a video that aptly described the concept of unity in diversity. Surely there was a time when media was an instrument to spreads communal harmony and promoting brotherhood and not about just dim-witted reality shows and breaking news. The television entertainment industry in India has come a full circle as DD completes 50 years of existence last month.

There have been other amazing things about doordarshan. Like the intellectual program called Surabhi hosted by Siddharth Kak and Renuka Shahane. Teaching diverse things like geography to culture was never so much fun. The presentation was so good that it would take a mammoth effort to recreate it. There was quality content on the show and TRP’s (if there were TRP’s then to measure the success of different shows back then) would have certainly hit the roof.

I was not part of the generation that saw (as I was not born then) ‘Buniyad’ and ‘Hum Log’ which were the bellwether serials. But I definitely liked watching Circus in which Shah Rukh Khan acted and Mahabharat, the epic that never seizes to amaze. DD had a lot to offer for everybody; from ‘Amchi mati amchi mansae’ to ‘Shaktimaan’. It was certainly the single biggest entertainment provider till the early nineties when cable TV entered the arena.

Also there were many unforgettable cricket matches that I have seen in our DD like the phenomenal test series of 2001 where India hosted Australia for 3 test matches. I vividly remember the VVS Laxman’s innings of 281 with Rahul Dravid where not a single Indian wicket was lost in the 4th day of the second test match in Kolkatta. Also in the same series where Harbhajan Singh who ended up taking 30 odd wickets in the series hit the winning run of Glenn Mcgrath by guiding the ball to the thirdman region.

I also remember some of the ads that were on display at that time as I was equally engrossed in them. ‘Humnara Bajaj’ was certainly my favourite and Cadbury’s ‘Kya swad hai zindagi mai’ comes a close second. For more such incredible ads watch the youtube links provided below.

Lately DD has sadly entered the phase of slow death where cable TV has almost entered everywhere in the country. The fancy news channels have become the staple diet of the Indian Diaspora. In the world of intense rivalry between different channels competing to catch more and more Indian eyeballs DD has lagged behind big time. The time has come to reform and revitalize this national channel.

Well I hope that DD makes a comeback and the theme music of DD - the famous Shehnai again reverberates in our homes.

For good old doordarshan -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZPMnqlkKKs&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMLhuH_g_gU&feature=related

Whose statue is it anyway!

Many of you reading this blog would be aware of the statue building exercise carried out by different state governments in India. Maharashtra will spend a bounty worth Rs. 350 crores for Shivaji Maharaj statue which when completed will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. Not to forget the Uttar Pradesh government will in all spend Rs. 2600 crores (yeah that’s right, no typing mistake) for the statues of uh….Mayawati behenji. (The actual education budget of the Uttar Pradesh government is a paltry 70 crores)

Such blatant display of we-are-wealthy-and-we-will-show-it-to-the-world kind of attitude is a cardinal sin considering that it’s the tax-payers money which will foot the bill. The feeling that these tall structures, monuments will make us a proud nation by increasing maratha pride or by giving voice to the dalits is farce. The foreigners visiting our country will surely be in awe of these tall and magnificent structures but soon the truth will dawn on them when they see the beggar on the street right next to them. Such elephantine symbols are only for the politicians who score brownie points by increasing their media exposure and not for the middle class, whose money is used for building these and definitely not for poor who would have got this money otherwise.

It takes just Rs. 5000 annually to educate a child till 12th standard. Then Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra government together have deprived education to almost 4,00,000 children thanks to the equivalent amount of money spent on building these structures. These very deprived children will end-up becoming job-less adults, bar-dancers, beggars (maybe just sitting besides these statues and seen by the foreigners) and not to forget criminals. What a great vision of India 2020, isn’t it?

But fortunately we have institutions like the Supreme Court to see if this senseless expenditure doesn’t go unchecked. Some days back Supreme Court ordered to shut all activities related to the statues within 6 hours of the order.

In our country, when people start questioning our ineffectiveness we always take the garb of culture and try to stamp our cultural superiority. But who is to decide whose culture is superior. Also this so called great culture is no good when we are not even able to feed our own people and when the farmers who produce the food grains commit suicide. A country is in a very bad situation where it’s is past more glorious than the present. And thankfully due to the Supreme Court and other such bodies we are not falling into that trap.

Destiny's child

There has been hectic news flow throughout the week, from Indian football team making a hat trick of victories in home turf to Andra Prdesh chief minister, YSR’s tragic death. From making 10th board exams in CBSE schools optional to the landmark declaration by the Supreme Court judges to make their assets public. But hope can come from smallest of quarters like a ray of light entering a dark room. There was an incident last week that would make every Indian proud; something that we could call world class, something which saved a little life. I being an eternal optimist will write about this positive story.

A woman in Bihar gives birth to child whose heart is protruding out of its body. This is a very rear condition and the babies that are born with this defect unfortunately die because of infection in just 3 to 6 days. A man and his wife bring this newborn baby to AIIMS wrapped in a simple muslin cloth in a hope that their baby will have life against all odds. An emergency operation was performed and miraculously the baby is stable now. First time in the world the operation involving this has been successful. This story can very well be an episode in the American hospital melodrama ‘private practice’, only that this has happened in real life. God has certainly written a wonderful script for this destiny’s child.

We as a country require heroes. The doctors who gave this baby life are one such heroes of modern India. Their weapons are stethoscopes and computers. It will be heroes like these who will take India forward in its quest for being a global power by 2020. More than a military or a financial power, India will be a soft power. Another example is people like the brave staff of the Taj hotel that stood in the line of fire to save their guests. These stories of heroics give me hope and reaffirm my belief that this country with 10 raised to 9 people has something working for it. The very people who have, made this one of the most corrupt countries in world are its biggest strength.

Coming back to the small baby, I remember the starting lines of one of my favorite movie ‘Schindler’s List’ which goes like “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire”. In this case we can say, “One life was saved, 10 raised to 9 ambitions light up”.