The good old Malgudi Days- 2

So here I am again, waiting to get back into those “glorious days” of Dordarshan. 🙂 Thanks to the fantastic readers, we have had a lot of well-deserving suggestions for the part-2. (If you haven’t read Part-1, read it here)  While I am happy that my Ghajjinisia isn’t contagious, the scores of options had me thinking about part-3 of this series as well! (only if my audience never minds 🙂 )

Let’s get started with Bricks n bats… Who can ever forget (except for me of course) the never-ending thrashing, crashing, tongue twisting, body mincing and teeth tittering episodes of Tom n Jerry (a thunderclap here). Kicking off the dust with a roaring lion, was the story of treacheries, deception and mockery of two interwoven souls, a shrewd mouse and an angry cat :P… A laugh riot gripped us; this is one cartoon that everybody loved, AGE NO BAR! Mom, dad, friends, granddad, the toddler, just everybody! Although it’s still alive and kicking on cartoon network, watching it on Doordarshan was something perceptively different.

Tom n Jerry

Phir Wahi Talash telecasted at Sunday noons, was another interesting love story that gripped memories during the 90’s era. There were two different stories on the screenplay, and both were equally intriguing. And as mentioned by a fellow blogger “It was directed by Mr. Lekh Tandon, Raveena Tandon’s father and starring Shahid Kapoor’s Mom, Ms. Neelima Azeem…” Another thing that I remember from the serial is the title song, a ghazal by Mr. Chandan Das!

Naa jee bhar ke dekha, na kuch baat ki,

Badi arzoo thi mulaqat ki…

Next on the list is an all time favorite “Shrimaan Shrimati”, the story of two neighbors vying to get the attention of each other’s wife! “Ghar ki biwi daal ke jaisi, Aur ki biwi lagti hai murgi” 😛 LOL. The characters Keshav, Prema Shalini, DIlbura uncle, chintu, Koki-ji and Mr. Gokhale, (Gokhale yaar kuch idea soch) all were a class apart :D. The hanging garden hand of DIlbura oops Dilruba, and the smirks of Keshav, and not to forget the “Takla” boss 😀   Jhakass!

Shrimaan_Shrimati

Holidays were bliss, especially when they were a 10 day elongated “Dussehra vacations”. A month or two before Diwali, we had broadcastings of Ramanand Sagar’s “Ramayana”, and in my opinion there can’t be any better sequel! Every evening 7-10, those three hours, eyes glued to the T.V sets and I was lost thinking, wish I was like “Shri Rama”! My favorite part was when we had two heavily laden and celestial powered arrows crashing against each other in the magnitude of bright colorful lights :).

The Ramayana

The message that it conveyed, the adventures that it showcased, and not to forget the casting, everything was simply superb! I also remember playing along wooden swords, Bows n arrows, and the mighty “Gada” with my elder brother! 🙂 Dussera to me also meant, eating heart-full of Jalebis 😀  What golden days….sigh!!

Hmm… I know I would be stretching too far after this (you can yawn once I’m done! :P) I have a lot to write, and lot to express, but everything can’t be mentioned in the limited space that I have! So are we expecting a part-3? That’s my question to you!

If you think we’re up for another part, do let me know! And yes, don’t forget to mention your share of good days, and your favorite series 🙂 Keep reading this space for more…

Till the next time, it’s ADIOS

Tanananananana…tananananaananaa

The good old Malgudi Days – 1

There are some stories that you just can’t just forget, no matter how many decades go by…. Swami and his friends, The Mithaiwala, A Horse and Two Goats are some episodes from “Malgudi Days”, embedded like scriptures in my mind. I remember as a kid, how I used to wait for this very program with my friends and then we used to humm the magical tone “Tananananananaaa….tanannaaanannnaaa”  in sync with the mystical flute. 🙂 🙂

What characters were those, so simple yet so everlasting! Stories of common people from a common village with extraordinary direction and acting, Mr. Shankar Nag did a very fine job there!

90’s was an era that was golden and twinkling, we just had Doordarshan and yet we have endless memories of the few options that were available.” Byomkesh Bakshi”, the detective thriller that had your mind’s eye running the James Bond way. “Mitti ke rang” showcased the reverberatingly different aspects of life, every single episode illustrated a new situation, a new story!

Sunday mornings weren’t a half-sleepy, half frenzied fiasco… Duck tales with Uncle Scrudge McDuck and his nephews Huey, Duey and Luey marked start of the day, swimming in a heap of gold coins to count wealth, new treasure hunts and what not!

This was followed by Talespin, with Ballu and his stereoscopic “Chakkar-ghinni udaan” and Madame Mahalingam. Then came the Jungle Book, and we were all lost in the expeditions of Mowgli “the chaddi boy”-as we called him, bhalu, bageera, sher khan, akdu-bakdu, leela, tabaki….. <3

Weekends had special paranthas on the menu, and not to forget sweets and cookies. Yummy! 😛 Overflowing tummies and an extravagant dream frenzy then led us to the favorite Indian time pass during the 90’s: CRICKET. If I say it in my buddy Avijit’s wordings “Bwoy we loved it!” 😀 This is one game that every Indian must have played through his childhood, and we would play this ad infinitum until the sun declared a ceasefire. 😛

Back home there were scores of fiction stories still waiting with Vikram-Betaal, The Little Mermaid, I Dream of Jeannie, Karamchand and Chota Jadugar… New movie songs ruled the dinner time with Chitrahaar and all the best. I still remember laying a bet on what would be the no.1 song for the week 🙂 Personal favorite being the invisible dancer song “Muqabla-Muqabla”, which inadvertently led the charts for over 6 months…  : )

As a result I was always out-standing on Mondays, as homework never bothered me! 😀

Oh yes I forgot to mention “Taaro”, that came Saturday mornings, with a tagline song dragon ka beta taaro 🙂 simply loved it!

Crap, I forgot another one “Nukkad”, one of the most adored shows of all time! (Seems I am suffering from Ghajjinisia : ) )

Today we do have a large pile up of channels, but no story worth the talk, no characters that make us think “wish life was like that”, accompanied by scarcity of dreamland!

We do have the TRP doodling, so-called “Reality Shows” where there is nothing bona fide! Khoadies, Raakhi ka khatam-var, Rahul ki Vidaai, Spits-ville, Big Loss…Man!! All big bhoolshit…

The other Soap operas we have are the likes of Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi, utran, bartan and more such crap where almost every “Gharelu” lady has 3 husbands… one dies, another comes and then sometimes an additional lover…or it’s the other way round the “Perfect Pati” has 2 or more wives along with a complimentary girlfriend sometimes kids. Gimme a break!!!  A spiced up vamp with overt makeup and some unreal acting (unreal as in fake), accompanied by some futile camera moments and off-course some horror-ifying music make it a perfect “Hogwash Package

That’s it for now, had enough beep-beep… We’ll take more digs in the next post  : )

Just to make sure that nothing goes beyond limits, this has a part-2 : ) So, if you think you loved the euphoric 90’s and that my Ghajjinisia has missed some memorable stuff… Do let me know, it’s surely going to be there in the next part!

Till then “Tananananananaaa….tanannaaanannnaaa” 🙂

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