comparison of tv viewing between two generations
A review of TV channels (for kids)
When I was a kid, of Jiya’s age, I remember that…..we did not have a TV.
I was in 2nd or 3rd standard when our home was adorned with one!!!!
And till I reached 9th standard, we had only Doordarshan and this implies a rationed dose of cartoons and kids programmes that too on Sundays… only. The rest of weekdays meant dinner time TV viewing which included news at 8:40 p.m and then a weekly serial (no daily soap), followed by English news at 10 p.m. And that’s it!!!!!
Yes!! Sundays also meant an evening Hindi movie which our whole family eagerly awaited.
This grim situation improved a bit when I reached my 9th standard and when whole of my class already had cable connections and friends would discuss Tara and Banegi apni baat and sometimes Bold and the Beautiful. But this cable connection was subject to one condition that the above mentioned serials will never be seen in our home. And there was a blanket ban on Mtv (I think Vtv did not existed then, and if it did, we were not allowed to watch that too).
There were made other related changes too. Like the TV was moved from the drawing room to the angan to ensure a continuous and intense censorship by my mother and grandfather .
Waise bhi it was my mid of 9th class and the self-imposed fierce competition with Nitin and Anurag left me with no time or intentions for distractions. (On an hindsight, now I feel that those very restrictions were necessary for the very same purpose).
Here at this point of discussion, I feel tempted to digress a little at the risk of breaking the flow of conversation, for the good of student-anity (derived just like humanity from human and sanity from sane) (you can add it to rakhi-ology’s terminology). There is one deep conspiracy garnered and nurtured by parents and it percolates very effectively from generation to generation. I mean when you become a parent you tell the same lie to your kid ........but more effectively than your parents told you when you were a kid-student.
And it goes as…my dear student-friends as follows:
When you come close to your 10th board exams you will be told that they are the most important exams of your life, your future academic career depends on these results, you carry your tenth class marks sheet throughout your life, these marks will decide how, what and (sometimes) where will you study further.
But as soon as the results are out and no sooner than the celebrations/consolations are over, you will be told that these tenth exams were just a rehearsal for the real thing and that is the approaching 12th exam. The reasons cited will be more or less the same as earlier ones with the added pressure of securing a seat in a good college, which by now you will start to understand as quiet important as well.
The trauma is not over yet!!! Lucky you if you just want to do a simple graduation and settle down, which rarely is the case. So, even before your 12th results are out, the ghosts of JEE, PET and CPMT, PE (I) rankings will start haunting you. By now you will be mature enough to realize the importance of these and you will seriously wonder what to do with your tenth and twelfth mark sheet.
The agony is if you had known the outcomes from the very beginning you could have enjoyed your earlier boards better.
The reality is, your parents were never lying to you intentionally, they told you what they genuinely believed would be good for you. As they donned the cap of a parent, they just forgot their own experiences as a kid/adolescent.
There is a sub-plot as well. If you are a girl and after marriage choose family over your job/profession, you seriously wonder ....would not have it been more fruitful to have learnt to make a rounder chapatti and stitch a torn pyjama- tshirt, instead of burning your mid-night oils in acquiring degrees which now you have sacrificed for the betterment of your family and kid.
Enough of the diversions now!!!!!
Before that I was reminiscing about the style of my TV viewing and comparing it with the quantity and quality of TV viewed by my daughter who happens to be five months short of five years.
Whole of the last of week, she was confined at home because of the swine flu scare. But she never seemed to complain lack of friends or activities as long as I allowed her hands on the tv remote. (No, I have not yet introduced her to internet and video games). As of now this Tv seems to be too much of an irritant for me to handle……
With the advent of multiple channels, now you can watch tv non-stop, there is good lot of variety in terms of content. And this holds true for all age groups and just not kids in particular. With the stepping in of DTH now you can set reminders as well and choose to decide what you want to watch in future and use it as a negotiation tool.
While we sat on the bargaining table with her, I realized that, just not throughout the day but at a single time slot as well, you have multiple options to choose from!!!!!!
Earlier she used to watch advertisements with lots of interest, now she simply changes the channel to watch another programme of her choice.
Indirectly though, it helps my daughter from falling into the marketing trap. Once I had to buy a Sunfeast Pasta just because chak de uncle says that ‘it is very tasty and healthy’. Once she complained why don’t we have the Airtel digital connection because Ta Ra Rum Pum uncle and Jab we met auntie would have come to our house otherwise.!!!!!!!!
I do not know a thing about adult/woman oriented programmes. Be it Balika vadhu or Rakhi ka swayamvar or Ladies Special or Na ana is des lado, I know just their names.
But I have become sort of an expert in the ‘kiddies’ channel’ genre and intend to do a thesis on ‘kids programmes liked by kids’.
Keep reading this space for my expert comments!!!!!!!
When I was a kid, of Jiya’s age, I remember that…..we did not have a TV.
I was in 2nd or 3rd standard when our home was adorned with one!!!!
And till I reached 9th standard, we had only Doordarshan and this implies a rationed dose of cartoons and kids programmes that too on Sundays… only. The rest of weekdays meant dinner time TV viewing which included news at 8:40 p.m and then a weekly serial (no daily soap), followed by English news at 10 p.m. And that’s it!!!!!
Yes!! Sundays also meant an evening Hindi movie which our whole family eagerly awaited.
This grim situation improved a bit when I reached my 9th standard and when whole of my class already had cable connections and friends would discuss Tara and Banegi apni baat and sometimes Bold and the Beautiful. But this cable connection was subject to one condition that the above mentioned serials will never be seen in our home. And there was a blanket ban on Mtv (I think Vtv did not existed then, and if it did, we were not allowed to watch that too).
There were made other related changes too. Like the TV was moved from the drawing room to the angan to ensure a continuous and intense censorship by my mother and grandfather .
Waise bhi it was my mid of 9th class and the self-imposed fierce competition with Nitin and Anurag left me with no time or intentions for distractions. (On an hindsight, now I feel that those very restrictions were necessary for the very same purpose).
Here at this point of discussion, I feel tempted to digress a little at the risk of breaking the flow of conversation, for the good of student-anity (derived just like humanity from human and sanity from sane) (you can add it to rakhi-ology’s terminology). There is one deep conspiracy garnered and nurtured by parents and it percolates very effectively from generation to generation. I mean when you become a parent you tell the same lie to your kid ........but more effectively than your parents told you when you were a kid-student.
And it goes as…my dear student-friends as follows:
When you come close to your 10th board exams you will be told that they are the most important exams of your life, your future academic career depends on these results, you carry your tenth class marks sheet throughout your life, these marks will decide how, what and (sometimes) where will you study further.
But as soon as the results are out and no sooner than the celebrations/consolations are over, you will be told that these tenth exams were just a rehearsal for the real thing and that is the approaching 12th exam. The reasons cited will be more or less the same as earlier ones with the added pressure of securing a seat in a good college, which by now you will start to understand as quiet important as well.
The trauma is not over yet!!! Lucky you if you just want to do a simple graduation and settle down, which rarely is the case. So, even before your 12th results are out, the ghosts of JEE, PET and CPMT, PE (I) rankings will start haunting you. By now you will be mature enough to realize the importance of these and you will seriously wonder what to do with your tenth and twelfth mark sheet.
The agony is if you had known the outcomes from the very beginning you could have enjoyed your earlier boards better.
The reality is, your parents were never lying to you intentionally, they told you what they genuinely believed would be good for you. As they donned the cap of a parent, they just forgot their own experiences as a kid/adolescent.
There is a sub-plot as well. If you are a girl and after marriage choose family over your job/profession, you seriously wonder ....would not have it been more fruitful to have learnt to make a rounder chapatti and stitch a torn pyjama- tshirt, instead of burning your mid-night oils in acquiring degrees which now you have sacrificed for the betterment of your family and kid.
Enough of the diversions now!!!!!
Before that I was reminiscing about the style of my TV viewing and comparing it with the quantity and quality of TV viewed by my daughter who happens to be five months short of five years.
Whole of the last of week, she was confined at home because of the swine flu scare. But she never seemed to complain lack of friends or activities as long as I allowed her hands on the tv remote. (No, I have not yet introduced her to internet and video games). As of now this Tv seems to be too much of an irritant for me to handle……
With the advent of multiple channels, now you can watch tv non-stop, there is good lot of variety in terms of content. And this holds true for all age groups and just not kids in particular. With the stepping in of DTH now you can set reminders as well and choose to decide what you want to watch in future and use it as a negotiation tool.
While we sat on the bargaining table with her, I realized that, just not throughout the day but at a single time slot as well, you have multiple options to choose from!!!!!!
Earlier she used to watch advertisements with lots of interest, now she simply changes the channel to watch another programme of her choice.
Indirectly though, it helps my daughter from falling into the marketing trap. Once I had to buy a Sunfeast Pasta just because chak de uncle says that ‘it is very tasty and healthy’. Once she complained why don’t we have the Airtel digital connection because Ta Ra Rum Pum uncle and Jab we met auntie would have come to our house otherwise.!!!!!!!!
I do not know a thing about adult/woman oriented programmes. Be it Balika vadhu or Rakhi ka swayamvar or Ladies Special or Na ana is des lado, I know just their names.
But I have become sort of an expert in the ‘kiddies’ channel’ genre and intend to do a thesis on ‘kids programmes liked by kids’.
Keep reading this space for my expert comments!!!!!!!
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