'Those DD Days'...on HT

This morning Brunch made me happy. It was more like revisting childhood and made me feel that I (and the people of my generation) belonged to another era. A few days back I had posted some youtube videos on my blog that were a major influence on my growng up years. The morning Brunch had something to share too, on similar lines. Neelesh Sharma, the writer, had touched the right spots when he spoke about waiting for the time slots to arrive to push the button that would break open the magical world of Doordarshan. Those days we thrived on DD. There never was a vast array of channels to choose from. We were bound by national television, we were bound by Doordarshan.

I remember how Sunday afternoons were always full of suspense to know the featured regional film of the day. It could be anything - Bangla, Oriya, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi - anything. Whatever it was, we watched with interest and undertood the film with the help of subtitles. Mondays were Chitramala days, where again the wait was for that one regional song that made you connect with your mother-tongue. Thirty minutes would be spent in anticipation - the next song is going to be a Malayalam one! Wednesdays were Chitrahaar days when oldie goldies were shown and Fridays were Chhaayageet days with a pack of new film songs.

Those days, my husband (then I didn't know him) was an avid newspaper reader, not that he has changed now. He tells me that those days the Friday Indian Express would carry a list of the possible songs that would make an appearance in Chhaayageet. On reaching school he would predict the songs that would be played in the evening, making him a big hero amongst his friends, especially his female classmates. Such was the power of television in those days!

Then there was the Pan Parag ad featuring Jalal Agha, entertaining a host of people with the immortal line 'Aur Mere Liye?', which had me go to a panbhatti to buy a strip of the product only to spit it out after taking the first few pieces in.

How I miss those days when the echoing 'Vikram Vikram Vikram' from the neighbour's house would notify me that its 5 p.m. on a Sunday! And the Nirma jingle which never really made sense to me....'Nirma Nirma, Washing powder Nirma....Nirma se aayi' was always sung as 'Nirma Nirma, Washing powder Nirma....Meri mash se aayi' . Still can't fathom the reason behind it.

How can I forget 'The Tree of Unity'? Thok! Thok! Thok! The little men would march towards the tree. The highlight was the dance...and their bantering with each other. Simply superb!

And of course Saptaahiki, the much awaited weekly programme schedule. It was an like an event that was not be missed...Hmmm!

Doordarshan taught me more about my country, it's culture, it's rural life...in short it helped me peek into the essence of India. Thanks Neelesh for walking us down through those good old days of DD! I really miss them.

P.S. I still remember these:

Aamchi Maathi Aamchi Manoos

He-Man/ Spiderman

Mickey & Donald

Dekh Bhai Dekh

Kilbil

Magic Lamp

Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi

Hum Log

Buniyaad

Ramayan/ Mahabharat

Darpan

News for the Hearing Impaired (Miza's contribution)

Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapney

Potli Baba Ki

Fauji

Circus

Khwaja Naseeruddin Hodja

Alif Laila

Akaashganga

Neev

Tamas

Chunauthi

Nukkad

Ek Do Teen Char

Mirza Ghalib