Un Dino ki Baaten
…. Down Memory Lane
Currently my
daughter and the Missus are hooked on to a serial being aired on Sony TV … Yeh Un
Dino Ki Baaten. I too have caught up some of the episodes , looks interesting .
The story revolves around bunch of teen aged kids guys and girls in a school in Ahmadabad. The plot moves with their crushes, classroom rivalries some
background stories all set in the the ’90’s period. A period of television boom
, friends get together’s ,watching movies on VCR , their emotional turmoil’s . Depicted
in the 90’s setting perfectly.
Watching the
episodes got me thinking of my own memories from an even before nostalgic times
of the 80’s. I still remember watching the episodes of the first India Soap
Opera and the longest running serial on Indian Television – “Hum Log” on the
only channel available “Doordashan” , the state owned television channel. Hum
Log’s story revolved around daily struggles and aspirations of a typical lower
middle class family in Delhi with veteran character artist Vinod Nagpal as the
head of the family Basesar Ram . A alcoholic who has lost his zeal for life.
His wife Bhagawanti played by Joyshree Arora as the mother who holds the home
together inspite of the struggles and depressing conditions all around. The
four kids eldest one Lallu (Rajesh Puri) a loveable and affable character and
little naïve and dumb evoking a much needed humour in the story line , Bhadki
(Seema Bhargav nee Pahwa , last seen in the movie Shubhmangal as the mother of
actress Bhoomi Pednekar explaining the birds and bees with a hilarious analogy
of Alibaba and 40 chor) the strong willed elder daughter willing to sacrifice
her life and ambitions for the family , taking care of the younger two siblings
the dashing Nanhe (Abhinav Chaturvedi ) an aspiring Cricketer and fire brand
Chutki ( Loveleen Mishra) aspiring to be a doctor. The episodes were light
hearted and sometimes serious a perfect mix of the every day life of a family
in India which the viewers could relate to. The icing on the cake was a
flawless synopsis at the end of each episode by the vertan Dada Muni – Ashok
Kumar in his trade mark style of soft and slow talking and the punch line .. To
kal phir dekhen Aage kya hota hai “Hum
Log”
Those were
the days of just a single channel of Doordashan entertaining the entire country
.I still remember the black and white strips across the TV screen with a sharp
screeching noise every time when the TV was put ON and the television
programming was still broadcast. Then as if magic the revolving logo of
Doordarshan moving across the screen and finally the pictures started streaming
IN.
(Paste the link below in yur browser to enjoy the nostalgia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7JmGB9BRA
The programming was also very limited , it would start in the early morning
around 6.30am with prayers or bhajans followed by a capsule of News in Hindi
followed by the same news repeated in English. This was followed by regional
programming like in case of Maharashtra
in Marathi. A few childrens programs and some in Hindi. Later in the evening
you had special childrens programs like “Kilbil” a little drama , some songs ,
some puppetry all in Marathi and focused on children in the age group of 3-12.
Some Hindi
dubbed programs for children also included the Japanese adventures of “Johnny Sokko & his Flying Robot” a Giant Robot controlled through a watch in the hands of special child
agents Johnny Sokko alias U9 and his friend U7 giving orders to fly , fight with rockets from his finger tips
, a flame thrower in his palm etc. Each episode they would battle some evil
enemies who looked like aliens from another planet
Later in the
day you would even have agriculture based program like “Aamch Mati Amchi Mansa” giving information on agriculture , crop
science , fertilizers and animal husbandry. I used to watch them just for the
fun of it also you get an idea how India’s rural population lived and how they
worked in the fields so that we urbanites could have a good square meal on out
dinning tables in our cozy homes.
I still
remember the regional programming in Marathi had such gem of a programs like
Hasra Gajra a comic episodes with stalwarts like Dilip Prabhawalkar , Ashok
Saraf and the king of slapstick Laxmikant Berde. Each episode was really
humours and filled with true sarcasm making you laugh from the core of your
belly. Much later when Color programming started the best ever stand up comedy
was presented by none other than the prolific Marathi theater playwright ,
humorist presenting his deeply stroked and etched out characters from his
famous book Vyakti Ani Valli . The humour with touch of tongue in cheek sarcasm
could bowl you over and strung your heart. Laughing and crying with the
humorist famously known and Pu La talking on stage with a standard speakers
podium and a Tambya ( waoter jug) for company.
There were
special boolywood music programs “Chitrahaar” and “Chayaageet” much like the Top
10 songs on today’s channels like 9XM , Zee Music or Masti . Each Wednesday and
Friday these programs would beam out around 8pm and take you through the
lilting melodies of Bollywood classics from composers like S D Burman , Hemant
Kumar , Naushad, and sung by greats like Rafi , Kishore Kumar , Manna Dey ,
Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bosale in Chaya Geet and latest 80’s songs from movies
of Govinda , Amir Khan , Rishi Kapoor in Chitrahaar. We used to look forward to
listening these back to back songs in those programs.
During the
nights you had Indian classical programs both Instrumental and Songs from
stalwarts like Pt. Bhimsem Joshi , Pt. Jasraj , Prabha Atre , Kishori Amonkar and
Parveen Sultana . Listening to their melodious voices would transport you to a
differnt realm altogether . You would feel as if in a trance. Sometimes and
mostly on weekend we used to watch Classic films from noted directors like
Satyajit Ray or Adoor Gopalkrihnan , films in Bengali and Malyalam / Tamil with
sub-titles. Films like Pather Panchali , The Appu Trilogy , Agantuk , Ghere Baire
were content rich and made us aware of different cultures and traditions and of
diversities in our country.All these have
greatly impacted me and have made me aficionado of our Indian Classical Music
and regional language movies.
Saturday
evenings were reserved for watching Marathi movies in the evening be it black
and white classics like Mohityanchi Manjula , Maratha Tituka Melavava and other
movies depicting Maratha Valour. And some time the whole hearted comedy movies
from Sachin Pilgoankar and Mahesh Kothari’s stables with Ashok Saraf and
Lakshmikant Berde in the leads . Movies like Gamat Jamat , Ashi Hi Banva Banvi
, Dhadakebaaz , Dhoomdadaka made you roll in the aile with their funny stories
and one liners hitting home spot on.
In late 80’s you had foreign serials which gained
popularity . I still remember laughing to the slap stick comedy of Didi’s Comedy
Show a German comedy television show created by and starring Dieter Hallervorden 'DiDi' dubbed in English . Didi
was a bumbling detective who is struck by "brilliant" ideas which
turn out disastrously; he eventually comes out on top, however.
The show is based partly on Didi's comedic antics, many of which
would be impossible in real life. For example, he takes part in a hammer
throwing competition at a police sports event, forgets to let go of the
hammer, and is pulled by centrifugal force into the skies; he is saved by
hanging on to an aeroplane. It was quite popular in India as a comedy
show on the national television station doordarshan.
Then there was the other German Crime
thriller Old Fox much before the Crime Patrol’s and CID’s of today ruled the
roost as crime / detective serials
The Old Fox (original German title "Der
Alte", lit. "The Old Man") was a German crime
drama created by Helmut Ringelmann. The series was part of the Friday
Crime Night of the network.
It depicted the crime solving activities of four police
detectives, Chief Inspector Erwin
Köster, played by Siegfried Lowitzuntil .Humble and unassuming in
appearance, chief detective Köster is the "Old Fox". By understanding
the psychological make-up of his suspect, the "Old Fox" craftily
leads the criminal into his own trap, to the great surprise of his often perplexed
staff. The "Old Fox" had his own way of working. Wearied by the
negative elements he has witnessed so often in society, the "Old Fox"
provided a unique insight into human nature. Armed with the wisdom of age and
experience, the "Old Fox" hunted down criminals in Munich, assisted
by his colleagues.
Much later in the early Nineties on
Sunday mornings you had the lavishly mounted Mythlogical serials like Ramayan
and Mahabharat giving insights into Hindu Philosophy with stories that mesmerized
the viewers with the in camera special effects which were new and astonishing
in those days. During the war between Lord Ram and Rakshasa King Ravan , arrows
would be fired with special effects like a halo or sparkling effects or
lighning bolts. All giving the story a magical effect. The costumes and sets in
Mahabharata were lavish the dialog were in chaste Hindi – Do you remember the
heavy words like Bhratrashri , Mamashri and Pitamah ..
Serials like Surabhi a weekly show on Indian
culture and unique traditions crafts and episodes on artisans of India hooked you
with their intellectual content. Or the weekly News show The World This Week
anchored by the Psephologist and senior journalist Pranoy Roy under whose tutelage
the current lot of TV journalist like Arnab Goswami , Srinivasan Jain , Rajdeep
Sardesai , Vikram Chandra and Barkha Dutt gained prime time experience in news
presentation.
Those were the days much before the television
explosion of the mid to late Nineties when nearly 100 channels crowded the TV and
made you spoilt for choices.
Those
were the best days of our lives and It all seems just like yesterday….Truly Un
dino ke baton ka jawab nahi…Woh majaa hi kuch aur tha….
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