Durga Puja and cultural programs

Durga Puja today is celebrated on a grand scale in Kolkata and anyone remotely connected with the celebrations invariably enjoy the fruits of labor in the form of fringe benefits. It happens irrespective of the size. I remember in our township where it was on a scale much smaller than that in Kolkata but large by local standards.
The venue was fixed – it used to be in an open space that the organizers covered up to ensure sitting spaces for those who would come to enjoy the entertainment programs in the evening.
I am talking of the period of the 1970s when TV was an object of desire that was available in only a few selected houses. The TV set was B&W and the programs were only from Doordarshan.

Anyway, in those days, the organizers of the Pujas in township would make arrangements to have one entertainment program every evening for all the four days. Due to the proximity with Mumbai, volunteers would go there and contact orchestra groups and reputed drama groups. The intention was to have programs that would appeal to different sections of society. The entertainment would be Bollywood based with artistes who would sing, dance, and perform mimicry. The drama would be Marathi. And, then, there would be a local program where local talent would go on stage.
Obviously, all these involved finance and, since the number of Bengalis was limited, the organizers had to reach out to others. Volunteers would fan out beyond township and collect donations. Everyone who donated would be given passes to attend the entertainment programs in the evenings and arrangements would be made to request the MSRTC buses for special trips at the end of the show.
However, all good things do not last for long and, in this case also, the social scenario gradually underwent a sea change – the reason was the arrival of color TV and a variety of entertainment channels. The days of ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ on Doordarshan was over, it was replaced by serials like Hum Log and Buniyaad. (to be continued …)
Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-
Online buyers beware: Flipkart in trouble – is it handling stolen goods?

Ramdev graduates from yoga-guru to marketing guru to capture Maggi’s market

Pepsi to withdraw from sponsorship of IPL because of spot fixing scandal


Shabana Azmi, Cate Blanchett, Freida Pinto to share their thoughts at Women in the World India Summit in Delhi

Sidharth Malhotra to be first Indian ambassador for Tourism New Zealand

Selena Gomez says her absence was not due to drugs but chemotherapy for lupus


Life imprisonment for 15-year-old British boy who plotted Anzac Day massacre in Melbourne

France joins the fight against the ISIS – bombs targets in Raqqa

Double suicide bombing in Turkish peace rally leaves 97 dead, more than 400 injured


Foodies build-up tempo to the Durga Pujas

Durga Puja today is a commercial venture

Durga Puja provides thousands of jobs for months

TV serials mean daily twist in the tail to keep the audience guessing

When television first came on the Indian scene, it was supposed to be an audio visual medium that was meant to inform and educate the masses. The only agency to undertake such a stupendous task was the Doordarshan and it has the onus responsibility to cater to different tastes of the viewer.
Since it was a government project, it had to follow a whole lot of dos and don’ts and spread various types of messages down to the grass roots. The newsreaders had to abide by strict codes of not only dress bit also of appearances and they were supposed to display bland faces with no sign of any emotion. They had to even suppress any hint of a smile!!

It was not that smiles were not there but, those were kept reserved for comedy serials like Wagle ki duniya or Ghar-jamai or Hum Paanch or Sarabhai versus Sarabhai or Mungeri Lal ki haseen sapne etcetera. It was mostly tongue-in-cheek humor that tickled the senses but there was no guffaw.
Most of the TV serials on Doordarshan used to be a single episode every week and the length used to be restricted to 13 episodes. As a result, the interest was maintained and there was satisfaction all around. Moreover, Doordarshan in those days was not a 24X7 channel but wound up transmission at 11pm.
Anyway, when new TV channels came on the scene, the competition for survival was intense and it became a mad rush to gather eyeballs and retain supremacy. Cable networks started up in the cities and spread to every nook and corner. And, with the growth of channels the whole scene transformed drastically.
In order to cater to the changing tastes, there emerged reality shows – beginning from antarakshis and music shows, it went on to dance shows and comedy shows. Many of the shows were adaptations of foreign similar shows.
And, the TV serials of today have become a never-ending affair – the scenes get padded up to any extent with repetition of words and phrases and the cameras zooming in on individual faces of the actors and actresses and the villains. These do make for painful viewing. But, then, the TV serials are all about the daily twists at the end of the day that keep the audience guessing and spellbound. (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Skinny jeans a health hazard as an Adelaide woman found out in the park

Good news from the Cold War front – Putin rings up Obama in the White House

Agra Railway Police sends 109 persons to jail for committing nuisance on railway property

Thieves in UP steal nine buffaloes from BJP MLA’s farmhouse

No more cold drinks or junk food for Amarnath Yatra


Six women vanish from Ohio – suspected to be victims of serial killing

France paralyzed by taxi drivers strike – grouse against Uber cabs lead to chaos

Two girl suicide bombers kill at least 30 in Nigerian market


Disguises in Indian movies and TV

Movies on rebirth – hot favorites of Bollywood

News on TV channels go from dull to attractive

Dishing out news has always been an important part of any TV channel but, over the years the method of serving the news has changed considerably with plenty of sophistication. TV was considered to be an audio-visual medium meant to report happenings from not just within the country but also from abroad.
When TV took off in India, Doordarshan was the only channel and it had set certain high standards for its news readers. They had to adhere to specific dress codes, had to always maintain a straight face and were forbidden to express their feelings. And, the number of newsreaders were limited.

In those golden olden days, commercial ads were also there but they were limited and the interruptions used to carry an apology of sorts – ‘rukawat ke liye khed hai’. Today, ads go on and on, sometimes the same set of ads keep being repeated. As a friend remarked, such time gaps can be used to finish pending jobs in the kitchen or making a phone call that you had been keeping pending.
However, all of a sudden, the air space was invaded with a whole lot of new entities and television emerged in new avatars – some were devoted to entertainment, others to movies or to sports while still others dealt with only news. For the children, there were cartoons channels and for those who wanted to add to their knowledge, there were channels like the National Geographic.
Obviously, television spawned a whole new range of professions which in turn gave rise to grooming schools – and, all of these helped the cause of reducing unemployment. With the advent of reality shows of music, the grooming was not confined to just brushing up on the sa-re-ga-ma-pa but also on how to present oneself on stage, how to face the media, how to reply to questions, how to interact with people etcetera.
This was all the more important because the concept of on-the-spot reporting blossomed and OBVs brought the latest news from the location within minutes of it happening.
Once upon a time seats in University courses like journalism or mass communication used to go a-begging, today these are much sought after. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Airbus to showcase its E-Fan 2.0 silent plane in Paris Air Show

Music is a great healer – listen to classical music and lower your blood pressure

Taxi strike in Kolkata opens the doors for Uber and Ola cabs

Pickles and yoghurt help youngsters to tackle social anxiety


MI5 warns – extremists on the prowl in the streets of Britain

ISIS militants ambush and kill Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

British would-be jihadists are making detour to Syria via Canada to avoid detection


How retired persons keep themselves busy

Learn to embrace the mall culture

Time weighs down heavily on retired men

The changed face of TV serials

Indian TV depicts unbelievable lifestyles of the rich – millionaire families in the serials have only one servant to take care of a household of around ten highly influential individuals who always remain dressed from head to toe in all their finery? They can make things happen in the twinkling of an eye. The city they live in boasts of only one road, one hospital, and one temple.
And, in the family, the heroine is the medicine for all evil even though she continues to earn the wrath of some of the characters. She wants to help anyone in the family who has a problem but her noble intentions are not allowed to take fruit thanks to some evil characters who plot to spoil her party.

The answer is – yes, TV serials of today in India dream up even more weird situations. These are contrived by the story writers to garner TRPs and remain on top of the charts of popularity.
And, the episodes keep coming and the audience is kept glued to the TV sets waiting for the next turn of events. At times, for a change, the team is taken out of the make believe sets to some foreign location for variety. Who knows – the heroine might have suddenly insisted that if she is not taken to Australia, she will leave the serial!!
In comparison, the TV serials of yore aired on Doordarshan were treats to watch – usually, each serial was of 13 episodes and these were weekly shows. There were a couple of exceptions like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata – these were morning slots while other serials occupied evening slots.
Doordarshan was, in those good old days, the only TV channel available till other brands invaded the space and made TV a 24X7 affair with increase in the number of couch potatoes.
How one longs for serials like Udaan, Airhostess, Mungeri Lal ki haseen sapney, Hum Paanch, Buniyaad, Wagle ki duniya, Ghar jamai, Malgudi days etcetera. Each of these had plausible story lines and the viewer could relate himself with the characters.
Alas, today there is no story line and new twists are introduced on a regular basis to ensure that the serial goes on and on from 1000 episodes to 5000 episodes. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Airbus to showcase its E-Fan 2.0 silent plane in Paris Air Show

Music is a great healer – listen to classical music and lower your blood pressure

Taxi strike in Kolkata opens the doors for Uber and Ola cabs

Pickles and yoghurt help youngsters to tackle social anxiety


MI5 warns – extremists on the prowl in the streets of Britain

ISIS militants ambush and kill Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

British would-be jihadists are making detour to Syria via Canada to avoid detection


How retired persons keep themselves busy

Learn to embrace the mall culture

Time weighs down heavily on retired men

Today TV dictates our lifestyle

It is a sad state of affairs that today, the unrealistic TV soaps dictate our lifestyles and a new social structure is gradually evolving where everything is make believe. Right from commercial ads of products that range from Deodorants to washing powders, health drinks and biscuits – each of these are painted in glorious colors and presented with attractive models from those sweet kids to gorgeous girls and women who do not hesitate to flaunt their bodies.
While the commercial ads with enticing images and jingles play on the innermost desires of the audience, the reality shows act as influencing factors. Many of the women-centric reality shows or shows meant for children bring to the forefront new products in the form of prizes. Obviously, the viewer hooks on to a new product that he or she sees for the first time and visits the shop to see it firsthand. If it can be bought, fine - else, there rises the hidden desire to acquire it.

Right now, majority of the TV ad-time is taken up by ads that pertain to new mobile handsets of different brands and, youngsters are so impressed that they want to own the latest brand by any means. Some of the brands are available on EMI basis.
The same applies to kitchen appliances and accessories – these are showcased not only by TV channels that are devoted to Food and Cooking but also in TV reality shows connected to cooking. The products are shown in a matter-of-fact way and not advertised as such but, once someone sees a product that he has not seen earlier, he wants to learn more about it. And, get one for his own kitchen.
Macho men promote undergarments, attractive girls in bikinis promote soaps that keep the body cool, sweet looking damsels promote intimate cosmetics and pregnancy-testing kits while fresh looking teens are roped in to promote sanitary napkins and celebrities of the screen promote freshness creams that make a man look fresh.
In this connection, one very popular product health product bears a mention – from a single product, it has diversified to several products with specific uses to selected targets. It begins with expectant mothers, then goes on to tiny-tots up to three-years, then from three to six-years, then for children in general, and then it graduates to women in their 30s and 40s who may be suffering from bone problems. The consumer markets are huge and must be tapped by any means. Ethics can take a back seat. (to be continued …)

A few more must reads -
Airbus to showcase its E-Fan 2.0 silent plane in Paris Air Show

Music is a great healer – listen to classical music and lower your blood pressure

Taxi strike in Kolkata opens the doors for Uber and Ola cabs

Pickles and yoghurt help youngsters to tackle social anxiety


MI5 warns – extremists on the prowl in the streets of Britain

ISIS militants ambush and kill Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

British would-be jihadists are making detour to Syria via Canada to avoid detection


How retired persons keep themselves busy

Learn to embrace the mall culture

Time weighs down heavily on retired men