Some days back there was a voice message on my answering machine. In a male Indian sounding voice it said, that now Direct TV viewers had free access to Doordarshan India. Imagine that ! Doordarshan in the good old United States ! I am delighted to say the least, although I’m not sure I’ll actually watch it. I mean DDs been there forever, like from the begining of time. When there was TV, there was DD. The kids gasp when I tell them that at one point in time there WAS NO TV (And you were alive then, Mom ?)
So I flip over to DD last night, and I see a very nice looking, gracefully sari-clad newsreader (Sangeeta Rai, I think) reading news in “shudh” Hindi. So “shudh” that my Star News corrupted ears didn’t actually understand the pesticide (“keetnashak” in Hindi) story until later. But really it was the purest form of Hindi – extremely soothing to the (y)ears . Like one of those Vedic chants; you should get it but you don’t but it’s nice to hear anyways. The kind of Hindi I’d like to hear and get used to, to avoid Hindi hell post-life, from years of having my ears bombarded with the mutated language now used in most “newer” channels. The news was classy too, they didn’t make cheap digs at anyone, didn’t berate, didn’t lament. Reportage pure and simple. Plus I didn’t see any of the overt “flattery” newspieces featuring the ruling party honchos, which were so common before. Like no mention of Sonia and her clan, no obligatory stories on the Congress Leaders etc. Of course that’s just one day.
Still, having DD is nice. I identify DD with India. It is of India, by it, from it. Yes, it reminds me of how bureacracy (mis)functions, and the various flaws that I associate with governance in India. But it also reminds me of good things, like not everything can be commercialised and spit out for the good of the elite rich.
It’s good to have DD at my fingertips, good to know that I can watch boring old programming in shudh Hindi pumped right out of the TV in my bedroom. India within reach. Like having a tenuous link restored (and you didn’t even know that it existed).
Categories : _india , _television
Amodini,
Thank you for sharing this information! I’m laughing at your kids astonishment.
I’m a DirectTV subscriber too – can you tell me the channel number?
gg
What a beautiful post! You capture bitter-sweet relation of everybody who grew in 80s with Doordarshan.
nice post Amodini.
i don’t know where you’re located, but around five or six years ago i was in new jersey, and over there you could pick up doordarshan on public access tv. it was a channel called ‘dd world’. needless to say, it was quite an enjoyable blast from the past!
it, of course, included the hindi newsreaders, and the quintessential sunday afternoon hindi movie, replete with all the 80s classics, from dd in its heyday.
best,
the great ganesha
I used to love to watch DD2 in India before the cable tv thing started.
Good to know you can watch DD even in the US.
ggop,
Thank You ! My kids (and kids in general) say the funniest things. The Channel number is 2025. Tried to access your blog, but can’t get to it.
The great Ganesha,
I’m in TX, and have never had access to DD. So you can imagine my joy 🙂 .
Swapna,
Thanks for coming by !
Aashish, Thanks !
Useful info.
I was just considering options to move from my Comcast cable to one of the staellite Tv networks. This info certainly helps in my decision making.
Aaah, the good old DD. It can’t get any more Indian than this. Thanks.
rbc72,
Glad that helped. Now there’s Sahara Filmy too, see my latest post for more info.