The old me

"When I look at you, I see something I haven't seen in 20 years. I see me."

-Gary Winston to Milo Hoffman (Antitrust)

Like most kids, television was a big part of my childhood. I can say in all seriousness that I could watch it endlessly. The first TV set we had in our home was a 14'' black and white salora (anyone remember that company?). I was six or seven years old then. The thing I remember most clearly is getting up really early (like 4 AM) with Papa to watch India's tour of Australia. And the disappointment when India lost a match by a single run. Later came a 21'' BPL. Cable was all the rage then. ZeeTV was in its prime, and Sony and its siblings were yet to be born. Disney hour (6:30PM on weekdays on ZeeTV, Alladin and Darkwing duck), Fox Kids (same time, but on Star Plus, esp. Spiderman), Ghostbusters (8:30AM, Sony), these are some of my most cherished memories. And Shaktiman (DD1, Saturday 11:30 AM). I remember Alien encounters on Discovery and Aahat on Sony. Movies from that time have their own distinct flavor. The likes of Waqt hamara hai and Raghuveer. I was heavy on cricket at the time too, remember following the '96 world cup with a fondness hardly matched by anything else since. Aah! those were the times!

This came to an abrupt end when I left home after 10th. My room did not have a TV. Yes, in holidays, I still used to spend as much time as possible with my beloved Idiot box; but my interest dwindled slowly. The exponential growth of the stupidity of the idiot box was a reason. The most prominent part was played by the rise of so called news channels. Most are worthy of the title abuse channel, and I won't say this is my humble opinion. Then came the sans bahu dramas, and then the current crop of ultra stupid reality shows. I found myself unable to stand them. I was happy without a TV.

And one fine day, the old friend returned. There was not much communication in the beginning, but slowly, and this is the now, my interest is returning. I learnt to appreciate the creativity of, most of all, ads. Take zoozoo for example, or the sleepwell matress, or the famous daddoo ad. You can have a 1TB harddisk, but suddenly discovering your favorite movie on TV feels almost as good as bumping into an old friend. And things like Tom n Jerry are not gonna lose their appeal, ever. I am enjoying it. I enjoy the burst of memories it brings, relive the carelessness of the days, feel in my bones the enthusiasm unmarred by harsh realities..

Does saying all this makes me old? See, I am not complaining.

Enjoy!!