Those Doordarshan days!

I don’t know how but the other day suddenly those days came to my mind when only one TV channel existed in India-Doordarshan! Not like the present day when scores of channels are available on a press of a tiny button.

I remember when a huge TV transmission tower in my home-town started beaming first ever signals of the only channel called "Doodarshan", there was only one small black and white TV (months later a coloured screen-half red and half green was put to give an impression of colour TV!) in the Govt colony we use to live. Luckily the proud owner happened to be my friend’s father! Needless to say I use to spend full time watching whatever was shown (even the ones related to agricultural seeds and manure!). Full time here does not mean 24 hrs. There were only morning and evening sessions of three hrs each!

Big crowd used to gather as if it was a cinema hall. The crowd was huge and unmanageable in the small room (many use to b e far away near the entrance, I wonder what they will be able to see!) particularly on the day when it was time for CHITRAHAR, weekly Hindi movie (like Jai Santoshi Maa) on Sunday evenings (saw many old ladies praying in front of TV screen!) etc.

By the time my 2-3 friends' father also purchased TV and the crowd got distributed! Request to my father to purchase one fell in deaf ears as he had apprehension that my studies will be effected. On my insisting that all my friends have TV, which puts me in quite an embarrassing situation, he laughed and said, “ok, v’ll get only an antenna installed on terrace, so that ur friends will think u have TV”! (In those days a big antenna, set in a particular direction, comprising of 2-3 straight and one U-shaped bar was required to receive signals. Many times watching TV was at the mercy of crows and other birds which use to sit and rotate or tilt the antenna thus resulting in "no signal". Antenna then has to be reset in right direction with lot of trial and error to get signal). Finally we purchased TV after almost everybody else in the colony had one!

FOLLOWING ADDED AFTER THE ABOVE LINES WERE PUBLISHED

Also remember people watching those colourful vertical lines patiently waiting for programmes to start. And who will forget that irritating caption “rukawat ke liye khed hai" (meaning “sorry for inconvenience caused”). This happened too often and lasted several minutes, even more than half-an hour at times; but people use to stare at screen wondering that only God knows when signal will be back!

Closer to Shave

In reply to a post on :-

http://www.satadru.in/2008/03/shaving-implements.html

A very interesting read indeed!

While reading the post, everything passed in front of my eyes - right from my first shave to till date...! Talks with my friends from time to time on the topic revealed that each has a different version to say!

Coincidently, many of our preferences match! My first shave was possibly in the 12th std when I used my father’s razor (a Gillette product which was send from a friend in Australia) when he was not home! Needless to say that I was caught the next morning! My father simply said, “U used my razor, right?” There was no use telling a lie as my father already knew the fact. Seeing that he is not angry, I gathered courage to mutter, “Yes, but how u came to know?” He smiled and said, “The number is changed. (The thing is, in that razor, there was a numbering system on the handle rim. This number can be adjusted depending on the newness of blade, type of skin etc. I choose the minimum number, not even knowing wht it meant!)

Then he said laughing, “I think now it’s time to get one for u too!” Well, that day we searched all the shops and he presented me the same one, though it was quite costly. Later he explained me all fundas about the numbering system.

That razor lasted for several years. Then I switched to Gillette Mach 3 based on recommendations of my colleagues.

As for cream, I prefer one by EMAMI (as my father still does), but is not always readily available. In that case I try other ones also, new one every time! In particular, I liked the Gillette Gel which gives large amount of lather even with tiny amount of gel. But next I’ll try the dettol one as it is strongly suggested by you and I’ve not got a chance to use it.

As for Aftershave, the DENIM one given by my friends on my birthday is still balance. Will pick the one from ur list when it is finished!

Think before u act

Some things are not what they seem…

The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly with the workingmen and women and young college guys and gals. Near the window, seated a old man with his 30-year-old son. As the train moves by, the son is overwhelmed with joy as he was thrilled with the scenery outside..

" See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful"

This behavior from a thirty-year-old made the other people feels strange about him. Every one started murmuring something or other about this guy. "This guy seems to be insane," whispered a guy to his wife.

Suddenly it started raining... Raindrops fell on the travelers through the opened window. The Thirty year old man, filled with joy shrieked " see dad, how beautiful the rain is.."

A lady passenger got irritated with the raindrops spoiling her new dress.

The annoyed young passenger addressed the old man and said," cant you see its raining, mister? If your son is not feeling well get him admitted to a mental asylum and don’t disturb public henceforth".

The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied "We are on the way back from hospital, my son got discharged today morning, he was blind by birth, last week only he got his vision, these rain and nature are new to his eyes.. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused..."

The things we see may be right from our perspective until we know the truth. But when we know the truth our reaction to that will hurt even us.

So try to understand the problem better before taking a harsh action.

Who is good?

Often we hear ppl saying, “He or she is not like me. He or she shd do as I do.” In the context of workplace, it relates to, say, way of working.

Now, this is the point which starts problems. Everyone thinks that he is right and the others should work exactly as he does. But this is impossible as each individual is different. One employee can be good at one thing and the other may be at other. We can’t expect everyone to be equally good.

Like, everyone can’t be rich. If all r rich than then who will be called poor? The persons towards the bottom of the list! It is a relative term. Same applies to the efficiency of ppl.