What TV shows did you watch as a kid?
We did not have TV at home. Father thought it would hamper studies , create distraction and have a bad influence on me and my sister. Honestly, we couldn’t afford it either. It was the era of black and white TV and only a few households had one.
Sunday evening was movie (Hindi) time. A number of families, including ours, got together in one of our neighbour’s house to watch it. The movie had an intermission too when the news was telecast.
Mid week there was a half an hour program called Chitrahaar which only telecast the song sequences of hit movies. But we (me and my sister) never got permission to watch it. Oh yes! We had to ask our parents for permission beforehand to go watch TV in our neighbour’s house.
Sunday midday was the time when all the interesting serials were telecast. Amongst them the most riveting was Star Trek. We made it a point to watch it. On one of the weekdays there was another fun show – I Love Lucy.
When Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett started showing we had to obtain special permission from parents to watch it.
There were others too but we were not lucky to watch them regularly. Then came the era of Soap Opera. Hum Log was the first Hindi soap to have a successful run. It was about the aspirations of the Middle Class. The ensemble of the cast was from the theatres. It was a runaway hit.
Hum Log was followed by many such soaps. But the one that made history was Buniyaad – a love story during partition.
Then came the era of Ramayan and Mahabharat, serials based on the two mythological epics, telecast on Sunday morning. Streets and markets would be deserted during these shows. These were the first blockbuster hits.
The one series that took the fancy of a murder mystery addict like me was Jasoos Karamchand , the eccentric detective munching carrots and his ‘dumb’ secretary, Kitty.
It’s hard to describe the joy and excitement of watching these serials when options were limited. We used to wait for the clock to strike the time, gain permission and run to the neighbour’s to watch.
Those days people were of different mentality too. I remember the neighbour whose house we regularly visited for movies and a few other shows would be very offended if we missed even one day. It was like a community gathering.
Today surfing OTTs we often reminisce about those days. Somehow the pleasure of viewership in those times seems far greater than today watching alone in Home theatres or on Smart TVs with huge screens.
Such a lovely throwback! Those community TV days had a magic of their own—permission slips, neighbour’s living room, and everyone watching together. Truly, the joy back then feels richer than today’s endless OTT scrolling. Thanks for sharing this nostalgic journey!
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Not bad you remember so many names, that were popular those days.
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In fact I have forgotten many
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I can understand, better about forgetting these many soap-operas. Do you blame ageing? Or simply because there are too many tv programmes?
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I guess they were forgettable
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Truly, Mr. P. . Now we live in islands of our own.
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And that is the truth from multiple perspectives! 😄
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Those very different days.
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Yes Sadje. We did not have much but we did not need much.
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Exactly! There were few wants and all our needs were met.
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Thank you, Geeta, for your wonderfully fascinating memories of your childhood, and watching TV in your neighbor’s house.
Joanna
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Thanks so much Joanna for reading and commenting. Your encouraging comments give me a boost to write more.
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Please do, Gita! You are always welcome!
Joanna
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[…] TV Time […]
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[…] TV Time […]
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We didn’t have one, either
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And we were so much happier 😊
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Dear Geeta
I am always eagerly waiting for your posts to get new ideas!
Thanks for liking my post, ”8000???’. 🙏
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Rajendra ji, life is the biggest library abundant with topics to write on.
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Yes, true, Geeta Ji 🙏
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