Confessions of a telly addict
Empty vessels make noise. That may be so but they also wield the remote control. After wielding the remote, I confess I have become a TV junkie, a telly addict. I have tried remaining sober but when you put a reformed alcoholic into a bar, he is bound to go back to the bottle. So having been house bound and home alone for many a month after recurring health problems, I’ve taken to the bottle like fish to water. Oops! I mean to the Television set. Looking around, I find that I am not alone. Now I can safely say that Marconi’s (the TV inventor who died ignomously) brood will always have one permanent member: me.
Every morning when I get up, my hands itch to reach the remote. I resist the temptation. Just. Even a chair-warmer, idler has certain daily chores that cannot be ignored. But at the earliest, my TV set is on. Each day there are times, which cannot be missed. Just like a devout who cannot miss his prayer times, these serials cannot be missed. To do this, schedules have to be cleverly manoeuvred. If I have to go out I ensure that I return home in time for my serial. As soon as the lock is opened I go straight to the TV. I often try to manipulate visits by relative and guests. Unscheduled drop-ins are really a pain. If I can hustle them off so as to get back to my precious programmes, it is indeed a triumph for the inveterate telly watcher.
I so love the ‘idiot box’, as some would say derisively, that I often keep surfing even if there is hardly anything worth watching. (Which is often. But then I am not a fair weather fan, am I?). 1, 2, 3, 4….56, 57 and back. Those are the channels. This much practice out doors would have surely put me in the leagues of Rathore at the recent Olympics. All I need to fear now is a tennis wrist like Sachin’s tennis elbow.
There is always some fare dished out by all those creative people in the Television industry. Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discovery, some news channels are even improving my IQ for a measly Rs 200 per month. Of course even I, a confessed addict, would not stoop so low as to watch the ‘Saas-Bahu’ serials or the ‘K’ serials. But it is a losing battle. Between prime time slots on all major channels and a whole re-run channel dedicated to Madame Ekta, you hardly have a choice. So in that respect I am very, very picky. After all one addicted to McDowell’s will take a glass of ‘tharra’ only on the sly or if you run out of money as a result of your devotion to your addiction. .
So what does future hold for me, and others like me after continued and consistent substance abuse, you might muse. Will I face wasting of my body, mind, and soul? Will I become a recluse, social outcast or worse still a danger to society and myself? Well some channels (yes TV channels) inform me that my brain cells are being damaged; my body is losing muscle power and predisposing me for spinal problems and obesity. In kids of tender ages it is making them more restless and decreasing their powers of memory. On the social front, it is making kids and adults more prone to violence, lowering tolerance and increasing consumerism.
I do have the option of starting a support group for recovering addicts or even a club for TV lovers. Which one, I am undecided but now it is time for me to go check the 9 pm programmes: ‘Astitva’ till the re-run of the ‘Sex and the City’ in about two hours.
Every morning when I get up, my hands itch to reach the remote. I resist the temptation. Just. Even a chair-warmer, idler has certain daily chores that cannot be ignored. But at the earliest, my TV set is on. Each day there are times, which cannot be missed. Just like a devout who cannot miss his prayer times, these serials cannot be missed. To do this, schedules have to be cleverly manoeuvred. If I have to go out I ensure that I return home in time for my serial. As soon as the lock is opened I go straight to the TV. I often try to manipulate visits by relative and guests. Unscheduled drop-ins are really a pain. If I can hustle them off so as to get back to my precious programmes, it is indeed a triumph for the inveterate telly watcher.
I so love the ‘idiot box’, as some would say derisively, that I often keep surfing even if there is hardly anything worth watching. (Which is often. But then I am not a fair weather fan, am I?). 1, 2, 3, 4….56, 57 and back. Those are the channels. This much practice out doors would have surely put me in the leagues of Rathore at the recent Olympics. All I need to fear now is a tennis wrist like Sachin’s tennis elbow.
There is always some fare dished out by all those creative people in the Television industry. Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discovery, some news channels are even improving my IQ for a measly Rs 200 per month. Of course even I, a confessed addict, would not stoop so low as to watch the ‘Saas-Bahu’ serials or the ‘K’ serials. But it is a losing battle. Between prime time slots on all major channels and a whole re-run channel dedicated to Madame Ekta, you hardly have a choice. So in that respect I am very, very picky. After all one addicted to McDowell’s will take a glass of ‘tharra’ only on the sly or if you run out of money as a result of your devotion to your addiction. .
So what does future hold for me, and others like me after continued and consistent substance abuse, you might muse. Will I face wasting of my body, mind, and soul? Will I become a recluse, social outcast or worse still a danger to society and myself? Well some channels (yes TV channels) inform me that my brain cells are being damaged; my body is losing muscle power and predisposing me for spinal problems and obesity. In kids of tender ages it is making them more restless and decreasing their powers of memory. On the social front, it is making kids and adults more prone to violence, lowering tolerance and increasing consumerism.
I do have the option of starting a support group for recovering addicts or even a club for TV lovers. Which one, I am undecided but now it is time for me to go check the 9 pm programmes: ‘Astitva’ till the re-run of the ‘Sex and the City’ in about two hours.
posted by varada @ 1:45 AM
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