Old Television Days

Going back in the memory lane, the one thing that we all have in common is the old television programmes.

Back in the 1990’s, when I was a kid, I still remember the advent of television in India and slowly in my neighbourhood and eventually in my home. Doordarshan soon became a household name. Doordarshan brought with itself a whole set of serials varying from entertainment to sports to quiz to cartoon to suspense thrillers.

As it was the only channel available in that period, most of us have grown up watching the same serials and soaps. Today watching some of the episodes of those serials that are re-telecasted, makes me nostalgic. So, I just decided to enlist some of the popular serials that, I am sure, all of us would have definitely been part of it at some point of time.

Sunday was the most loaded, starting with Rangoli at 7am. We used to have breakfast watching the old melodies. Rangoli was followed by a serial meant for children, which changed over the time. Some of the popular ones were “Jungle Book - Moguli”, “Chandrakanta”, “Shree Krishna”. “Shaktimaan” which became a huge hit, was shifted from Saturday to Sunday, as a result. Then there was also “Captain Vyom” a sci-fi thriller.

Every Saturday and Sunday evening, one movie used to be shown. I still remember when a power cut during the programme used to disappoint us so much, that we all kids of neighbourhood used to pray to God, to get the power back. The joy that we used to experience when power used to come was the ultimate one.
Regarding the animated programmes, there were “Aladdin”, “Disney Tales”, “Sindbaad”, etc.
Coming to the religious programmes, “Shree Krishna” by Ramanada Sagar was the best and my favourite. I hardly missed any of its episodes. The other serials were “Mahabharata”, “Jai Hanuman”, “Om Namah Shivaya”, etc.

Doordarshan also had its share of comedy programmes like “Dekh Bhai Dekh”, “Nehle Pe Dehla”, etc. Among the thrillers, magic and suspense were the programmes like “Alif Laila”, “Vikram-Betaal”, “Tehkikaat”, etc.

There were other episodes that were also liked by certain sections of people like “Surabhi”, “Shanti”, “Swabhimaan”, “Turning Point”, “Yug”, “Akbar –The Great”, “Bharat ek Khoj,“Noor-Jahan”, etc.
There were also some musical shows and quizzes like “Antakshari” and various programmes.

Between various programmes were beautiful nostalgic melodies like “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara”. The famous advertisements of “Nirma”, “Bajaj (buland bharat ki buland tasveer)” still haunt our memories. Even the screen that used to appear in case of transmission problems, which had the seven vertical stripes of rainbows , reminds me of the old television days.

Having said all the above things, I can’t stop myself from comparing those days with the current television scenario. Today we have an abundance of channels that are dedicated to news, music, movies, cartoon, television daily soaps, bhakti, etc. Today we have lot of celebrity driven news and reality shows, that have be come the norm of today’s entertainment. Religious serials have declined. News channels have become the crappiest ever since. The excitement of waiting and watching for a movie has gone. The impatient wait for an episode for a week has also diminished. Even with so many channels in all languages and also with recent foreign channels, we have so less quality programmes to watch. The bulk of repeated advertisements, that intrude the normal show, add to the irritation of the viewers.


Inspite of all the good serials of Doordarshan, it has today become a laughing stock among everyone and it is only viewed in the rural areas. Probably because Doordarshan still connects to the heart of India and hence cannot afford to be glamorous to cater to the needs of urban India.

But the saddest part is that our new generation will miss the whole fun and knowledge offered by those day programmes. It is a pity that they cannot enjoy and imbibe the beauty of our great epics “Ramayana”, “Mahabharata” and “Krishna”. I am not sure if they will really miss something by not having a chance watch the legendary shows of DD. Of course there have been new ventures in the cartoon sector that have greatly developed owing to the new and better animation technologies. But I must say, that’s all that can really be called as shows meant for children and nothing else, can be safely assumed as unobscene or not vulgar. The difference between news channels and entertainment ones have blurred. The idiot box has become the idiotest. Now the only genuine reason for still remaining glued to the dabba is watching live sports (mostly cricket).