Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Saturday, December 02, 2006

DoorDarshan

Today, while sitting in the office, I found myself humming
"Ek kahaani kahte-kahte ek kahaani aur mili
Dil ki Dagar pe chalte-chalte, ek nishaani aur mili"
and suddenly the memories of good ol' DoorDarshan days came rushing back to me.

Some of you may still remember, it was the title track of a serial based on Gulzar's short stories, "
Ek Kahaani". Such a bunch of heart-warming little stories they were! Then there were serials based on short-stories/novels by Chekhov, Maupassant, Tagore, Sharatchandra, Premchandra, Satyajit Ray, RK Narayanan, Ruskin Bond, Rahi Masoom Raza and names I might have forgotten.

"
Chekhov Ki Kahaaniyaan" used to be one of my favorite serials. The stories were so touching, and had this quality of making your heart go out to the characters. No other serials have been able to capture childhood fantasies and present them in the manner RK Narayan's "Malgudi Days" and Ruskin Bond's "Ek Tha Rusty" did.

Or even the serials based on old indian stories like Vikram-Betaal or Sinhaasan Battisi - they were too dramatic at times, but made their point nevertheless. And then, there was this series for kids, "
Kahaaniyon ka Guchchha" - its title track makes all the more sense now -
"Khatti ho to namak lagaake
Gale mein aTke paani le lo
Guchchha hai bhai guchchha hai
Kahaaniyon ka guchchha hai
Kahaani le lo"
:) Isn't that so very true about life as well?

I was not old enough at the time of
Hum Log or Nukkad. But the other serials I remember watching and loving are Farmaan, Circus, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Vyomkesh Bakshi and Aarohan. Even Shekhar Suman's Reporter was something I remember our family waiting eagerly for, every monday at 9 pm, if I remember it right.

Not only the stories, even the actors and the characters they've played have became immortal in the history of indian television. Be it Pankaj Kapoor as KaramChand or Vijay Anand as Sam D'silva in Tehkikaat, it's hard to imagine someone else playing the characters.

Despite a hundred music channels, no programme has equalled the popularity of
Chitrahaar, which made people forget all their assignments and sit glued to the TV at 7:30, every Wednesday and Friday. Or even Rangoli, which made us get up at 7, even on Sundays.

*sigh* I can go on and on writing about these serials, and how they always managed to bring the whole family together for lunch or dinner. I do miss the golden DoorDarshan days!
"Sadiyon sadiyon wahi tamaasha
Rasta-rasta lambi khoj
Lekin jab woh mil jaata hai
Kho jaata hai jaane Kaun"
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