Sunday used to be so different in my early childhood. All my cousins, aunts, uncles used to come to our house early morning. I used to look forward to each of those mornings, because it was a refreshing change from the routine school going week days. It was a perfect example of a big fat indian family get together. Now if you are thinking, we used to have a family function every sunday, you are wrong. Our joint family is big, but not that much :)
They came to our house to watch Mahabharat. In those days, Doordarshan signal was not available in the outskirts of the city where my cousins live. But such was the craze of Mahabharat, that they used to come to our place every sunday morning, sharp at 10 AM. Earlier was fine, but nobody was late. It is so hard to believe that people can become so crazy about a TV serial. Especially when i know that none of them are a TV serial addict now. But Mahabharat was no ordinary TV serial. If i believe my parents and elders, traffic used to stop from 10 AM to 11 AM, sunday mornings used to be a family get-together not only for us, but most of the joint families.
And speaking of the popularity of the TV serials, Mahabharat is probably the biggest TV serial made in the history of indian television. But this was not the only hit from Doordarshan. Ask any person who was watching TV in late 80s and early 90s, they will get a twinkle in their eyes when you mention Doordarshan. No matter what age, what culture one belongs to; DD had something for everybody. Ramayan and Mahabharat are iconic mythology serials in indian television history. Programs like jungle book, surabhi, bharat ek khoj, chanakya, dekh bhai dekh, hum log, buniyad, vyomkesh bakshi are still remembered fondly. And the ads, can any one ever forget 'mile sur mera tumhara' ?
What about news? I remember when DD used to telecast india's cricket matches, an hour break used to come for news (general news + parliament news in hindi and english). It was very tough on me to bear those 1 hours, and god forbid if i miss sachin's batting, all hell broke loose. In one of those frustrated moments i once asked, why can't they show news after match? I never understood it when my dad said that news is the most important thing in TV and should never be compromised, No matter what is the price one has to pay.
Sadly that is what the present media has done. Today the 24x7 news channels look more like entertainment channels. We do get tit-bits of news, but that is packaged in a hysteria making substance and presented by loud mouth journalists. The debates shown on the most of the news channels are like DOSA. It is a term i read in an article published in 'The Hindu'. It means Decision Oriented System Analyses. Most of the channels already have a conclusion for their debates, they just want the experts to fill in with some facts. That defies the logic of journalism. It has to be dispassionate, it should respect the audience intelligence and let them form an opinion based on the news provided by them.
That is where DD has still maintained the dignity of a news channel. The news reader are sober in appearance, in mannerism, not over the top, present the news dispassionately and do not sensitize the issues unnecessarily. I would say, if you care for news, DD news is the best place for you.
I agree, that Doordarshan has lost its sheen in presence of private channels. But if you are asked to recall a landmark serial; chances are that it will be from Doordarshan. The rich history of Doordarshan makes me believe that it can still produce quality programs. It is different from private channels in the sense that while serving entertainment, it also has to contribute to public welfare. This makes DDs jobs harder than the private channels, but the romantic optimist inside me thinks that it will manage.
Kuch to baat hai hummein, Jo hasti mitti nahin !
