food for thought

sadhuji

There was a knock at the door. I opened it and there stood Mollah Naseeruddin with that imp of a boy named Swami from Malgudi in tow; the mischievous eyes of the kid stared in awe at the TV screen that was, at that moment, taking a break by displaying a whole range of consumer goods. These breaks are necessary so that viewers can finish their important work at hand in between without losing out on the plot as it gathers momentum. This break allowed me and my wife to keep the dishes in the sink, wash our hands, have a drink of cold water and return to the comforts of the couch to take in the newest escapades of the Bahu who tries to get the better of her Saas. It is a perennial face-off. Volumes have been written on the subject, kilometers of celluloid have been devoted to present the theme and dialogue writers have exhausted their stock punch lines like ‘kaan khol kar sun lo’ or ‘mujhse bura koi nehi hoga’ or ‘mein tujhe barbaad karoonga’. It has been established that saas-bahu confrontation is a theme that sells. What is never explained is why people who are used to speaking in terms of crores of rupees never realize the pits that their near and dear ones are digging for them.

That is why Mullah Naseeruddin came to me. He wanted to know whether his days will return. Poor Swami of Malgudi was crestfallen. His playful and innocent antics kept us thrilled in the days of Doordarshan, today he is a non-entity. There was Mungeri Lal with his beautiful dreams, the happy-go-lucky characters of Nukkad and those wonderful short stories of Katha Sagar. Each of them had a message to convey. For variety, we had comedy serials like Ghar Jamai or educative ones like Bharat – ek khoj. There were hardly any interruptions for ads of biscuits or of cold drinks or toothpaste or washing soap. Episodes used to be of half hour duration each, well packaged and presented – the sponsors had their say in the beginning or at the end.

Unfortunately, today’s serials are thrust upon us. Since we live in a cosmopolitan setup we get to see serials in different languages and, irrespective of the language, the theme remains more or less the same – every where each one is out to get the better of another, cultural revolutions are taking place and people are breaking the taboos.

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mooning over a moon journey