Good old DD

Have you ever felt that there are too many channels , but nothing worthwhile to watch? Have you spend your Friday night just browsing channels , but never able to make up your mind what to watch and ended up exclaiming ' all is crap on TV'. It is very strange that despite so many channels being there, we some times have nothing to watch.

Now rewind back to 20 years when only DD was there in India.The time when we use to wait eagerly for the serials and other programs.Atleast I used to wait eagerly for serials like Circus, Tehqueqat, Vyomkesh Bakshi, Oshin, Giant Robot, Didi's Comedy show, Vikram Betal etc etc.I used to watch Chitrahar, Chitramala, Rangoli, Turning point, Ankh ajube, Siddharth Basu's quiz show and all that.Now also I tune into DD to watch Rangoli some times. After coming to UK partly because of dearth of Hindi channels ( I get only Star channels) , I started watching DD and seriously I feel DD is a much better bet than all those entertainment channels. Before dismissing me as a colossal bore for watching DD, just think. This is the only channel where you get all the stuff in one place whether it is news, entertainment, educative programs or social programs.

I am not a great fan of Sony or Zee or Star as I feel they just provide mindless entertainment. They have money , but the shows and serials are just too monotonous and over the top. I do watch some programs on these channels , but what I find is most programs are directed towards urban middle class people who want just pure entertainment and nothing else. There are only talent shows( read singing and dancing) , serials, film based programs and films. Not even a single thought provoking or educative program. Now people might say if you want documentaries why dont you watch Discovery/ Nat geo, yes I do watch them as I find those channels extremely educative and atleast my brain cells work for a while. I feel like if people watch only the skimpily clad dances and biased singing competitions in Sony and the K serials in Star or Zee, the IQ levels are definitely going to be low. Those serials teach people all the bad things on earth like cheating, lying, extra marital affairs and even murder.Compare this to the innate goodness that DD serials used to have, very simplistic and down to earth stories.

The new age news channels like NDTV were good at start, but now they are hovering at the verge of sensationalism and always try to show their opinion rather than what the actual news is. And too much of celebrity gupshup also reduces its status as a news channel. Many important news is just skipped or ignored and only the ones which can grab eyeballs are shown.

I also dont think highly of some of the regional channels especially the Sun network stuff. For any festival , Surya in Malayalam and Sun inTamil broadcast interviews with film stars; some obscure ones at that through out the day. And of course some very stupid movie will be playing that day.There is not even a program on why the festival is celebrated or what the common man thinks about it.

I may be wrong in criticising these channels, but I feel they should stop being all glitter and glamour and too 'filmy' and infuse some amount of simplicity in their programs. I am fed up of seeing people dressed in weird costumes anchoring shows with a weird Hinglish accent. I also am fed up of seeing people getting touchy and crying in talent shows and all the hype surrounding it.Is this what our kids should see and grow up. Or they should see some programs that enable them to think and enjoy at the same time.

Just see DD once. It would be a refreshing break from all this hype and hoopla of all other channels.And we get to relive the easygoing days of our childhood where simplicity was the norm!