Door Darshan - the old faithful

I guess Door Darshan should have a new slogan.  In Indian English -  Take no tension, watch Door Darshan.

No screaming anchors, no disturbing visuals... news read in the same monotone.  In the 55th year of its existence, I have begun watching the channel again.  You can let it go on in the background and read a book peacefully.  Off and on, glancing up to take in the news.  It indeed is tranquil.  And there is no sarcasm here. Years ago, I was criticising it for just the very reasons !

They do not even give you the schedule of programmes.  And one is sometimes pleasantly surprised when there is a telecast of a good debate, good music, a good film. Which, believe me is quite often.  Door Darshan has the best archives of music, film, new reels and features.  And just as you get immersed in it, there is an abrupt halt and time for the next show.  Perhaps, if they really had a well thought of schedule, they would let the public know !

Door Darshan brings back memories of the family getting together in the TV room.  It was bonding time. From my old grandmother to the family help, and the dog.  Children on the mat.  The swirling logo and music that Hritik Roshan made fun of in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - which my daughter would call the Dumtaka music - would bring all other activities in the house to a standstill.  Right from the agriculture programmes that began at 6 pm to the end with the news at night.  After which everyone dispersed to bed. Nothing was 24/7 those days.  The term did not exist.

Which brings me to the present.  The ongoing 2014 Asian Games at South Korea.  Door Darshan is indeed telecasting the Asian Games.  The 2011 edition.

What is the medal tally ?  Ignorance is bliss. 

Back to Blogging...I hope

This blog has been dormant too long... I may not have any readers left.  But then, what better to way to record your thoughts and get down to writing.

I was away from home for six months.  When I got back we had a new government at the centre, a new one at the state... which was fine.  I even got back to a new state, which was rather sad.  I have no idea if it will have any impact on the development of the region.  But it seems a part of me has been snatched away.  This place is no longer home.

Which brings me back to the book I am reading , Prison and Chocolate Cake by Nayantara Sahgal, the introductory chapter made so much sense to me.  Especially since all these changes in the past few months upset me.  No one else seems duly concerned, so why me, I wonder ?  At least the author echoes similar sentiments.  The book was initially published in 1954.  And later on in the reprinted version, she elected to keep the footnotes and not unnecessarily update it, which would have meant erasing the signs of the past.   She rightly mentions that updaters have done it with history.  Road names, town names are changed so very frequently. Statues are demolished and replaced.  For what she asks, to say that history began today ? That every generation has only a updated version of events not knowing what one went through to arrive at the present ? To wipe out traces would be to pretend they never existed.

Every time I am away even if it is for a month, I come back to find a building brought down, landmarks vanishing.  And I can find nothing in the city that I can associate with my youth.

Which is why, perhaps, I like to see anything that looks like it has been around a long long time. In London, I saw this milestone that was on one of our regular walking routes .

 So I looked up for it and came across this site - English Heritage - It says - Milestone - Cast Iron with an arched head. Retains the founders mark RU & J Barret 1834.

They even have a Milestone Society that has a record of all of them.

What I like best is, that it is there on the street.  No one has defaced it. No XX loves YY.  No pamphlets pasted over it. It might go unnoticed by many... but  it has been there since 1834 !

I even read that some of the earliest milestones are those erected by the Mughals and they were close to Agra.  Some have tried going in search for it, but the tourist guides have no clue of their location.  I can very well believe that.  Another relic disappeared like so many others.

I will sit and contemplate.  Go back to reading the book.  Like my blog posts, I had put aside books for more light and easy reading.  My success with both will be recorded here. Another post.. another milestone.