A Screen is a screen is a...what the heck?
Just got back from an electronics store, and my jaw hurts. Yeah, after the drool-behave; impulse-resist; plastic itch-don’t scratch fest, I dragged myself home – a tad sad, but not any poorer. O Ganga mayya!! The TVs they manufacture now!! Makes my current TV look like a handheld, and me a peasant who doesn’t know his EDTV from HDTV, or DLP from XBR for that matter. Growing up, I remember there were only 2 kinds of TVs – Colour and Black & White. I knew them both, could tell them apart, and was at the helm of technology.
Flashback:
The first colour TVs in the neighbourhood obviously had to be owned by the most annoying kids with runny noses, and you had to make the call if cricket in colour was worth giving them the home ground advantage, and enduring the mucus marathon. It was either that or trying to slide open the mammoth wooden doors of the “TV box” without waking up grandpa…yeah, right! NoGo on the latter, even ninjas couldn’t get past the man who slept with his eyes, mouth and ears open. So, getting “Muked” was the only way to cricket in colour. I did try to drop some hints by taking a kerchief along, feigning a cold and WIPING…just so that the Mukemen could see, learn, and apply. Tough luck!
Anyway, coming back to the TV scene, it’s raining new models. I guess I completely missed one whole generation of TV technology. Maybe because I spend more time in front of the computer…until recently that is. We added Zee TV to our already inflated cable bill, and I’ve been doing some serious watching to make up for it. The best part? – Commercials! Ajmeri Baba promising to solve all your problems in 7 days or your money back, Himesh Nasalmmiya promoting his tour- word by word between blasts of “tera tera tera suroooooor” and “ek baar aaja aaja aaja aaja aaaaja!!”
Most interesting program so far – Indian version of Fear Factor+Ripleys – “Shabaash India.” Misnomer! Unless we want to be praised for uhh…read on. This program provides a platform for weird dudes trying…well, their normal stuff. Like this one dude who ate 5 freakinluscent tube lights in 9 minutes…spitting out blood and bits of his tongue, followed by a dude who painted with his face (actually a mask contraption) while doing handstands, and then this young guy who walked on a beam 2 inches wide to get from one building to the other (I think it was 8 storeys high, although IMO he needed to do at least 80…without a harness to beat the craziness of the tubelight fella.)
That’s the update. Will blog soon…maybe from my own island! After all, all my problems will be solved in just two more days. Yeah, I called Ajmeri Baba 5 days ago!
The first colour TVs in the neighbourhood obviously had to be owned by the most annoying kids with runny noses, and you had to make the call if cricket in colour was worth giving them the home ground advantage, and enduring the mucus marathon. It was either that or trying to slide open the mammoth wooden doors of the “TV box” without waking up grandpa…yeah, right! NoGo on the latter, even ninjas couldn’t get past the man who slept with his eyes, mouth and ears open. So, getting “Muked” was the only way to cricket in colour. I did try to drop some hints by taking a kerchief along, feigning a cold and WIPING…just so that the Mukemen could see, learn, and apply. Tough luck!
Anyway, coming back to the TV scene, it’s raining new models. I guess I completely missed one whole generation of TV technology. Maybe because I spend more time in front of the computer…until recently that is. We added Zee TV to our already inflated cable bill, and I’ve been doing some serious watching to make up for it. The best part? – Commercials! Ajmeri Baba promising to solve all your problems in 7 days or your money back, Himesh Nasalmmiya promoting his tour- word by word between blasts of “tera tera tera suroooooor” and “ek baar aaja aaja aaja aaja aaaaja!!”
Most interesting program so far – Indian version of Fear Factor+Ripleys – “Shabaash India.” Misnomer! Unless we want to be praised for uhh…read on. This program provides a platform for weird dudes trying…well, their normal stuff. Like this one dude who ate 5 freakinluscent tube lights in 9 minutes…spitting out blood and bits of his tongue, followed by a dude who painted with his face (actually a mask contraption) while doing handstands, and then this young guy who walked on a beam 2 inches wide to get from one building to the other (I think it was 8 storeys high, although IMO he needed to do at least 80…without a harness to beat the craziness of the tubelight fella.)
That’s the update. Will blog soon…maybe from my own island! After all, all my problems will be solved in just two more days. Yeah, I called Ajmeri Baba 5 days ago!
7 Comments:
I just fell in love with that Panasonic 50" LCD TV. My vote's for the TV hands down and not the MacBook. :D
And oh! We had one of those TVs with the wooden door. I think it was a Dyanora. Lol!
My first TV "growing-up" (and I use that term loosely) was when I was in the 4th grade... a black & white BPL which my dad soon exchanged for a color TV of the same brand to watch the cricket world series. This TV lasted about 10 yrs before we bought our next one. The only change in technology, in ten years, was the amout of channels you could program (99 max.) and a remote control (clicker for all you texans out there). But these days, the technology is changing with a blink of an eye. I personally went in for my 3rd TV, a digi light processor 2 months ago and I 've never been this impressed with the picture quality. I now have to pound on TimeWarner cable to get the reception fixed. Cable monopoly sucks!!! Z
LOL!!!! Muked, huh? Hahahaha :-)). My first movie on our B&W TV was "Baharon ke sapne". And I can even remember the expression on Asha Parekh's face when she sings "Aaja piya..." to the stonefaced Rajesh Khanna.
The only Indian channel I watch nowadays in NDTV. The rest suck, plain and simple.
So hv Ajmeri baba's words come out true as yet and yah...O Ganga mayya!! :))
Was fun reading your recount. You definitely have a way with words, m3 – it planted a smile right back on my face. :) I love the Plasma TV – it has good visuals and a wide viewing angle unlike LCDs but they cost an arm and a leg! After all was said and done, did you get a new TV??
Stop experimenting....Buy a new TV...plzzzz
@TF: All in due time, first lady.
@Z: Araama? Hope you got all your cable issues untangled.
@DW: Nice memory!...and I agree - the channels back home aren't the same anymore.
@SW: That rascal Ajmeri!! :-)
@Cher: Thank you! No new TV yet. Looking for deals.
@SM: Yes ma'am!
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