Boob Tube

For those wondering, what the boob-tube is, its another name for a thing called television.

As I switch on the boob tube, am amazed at the innumerable options that I am presented with. As I surf the channels, I always get scolded for changing the channels so much, but unless I do that, how am I to know or even decide what to see. An easy way is to go through the TV schedule in the morning paper with a tooth-pick and see what good programmes there shall be at various times.

But all in all, I am amazed at the quantum leap in the number of channels in the past decade. And with the advent of DTH and Tata Sky, the viewers are being spoilt for choice. I remember the first time cable TV made its foray into our household, I was captivated by a cartoon called Shazam. And as time passed, I moved on to sitcoms like Full House, Centurions and Johnny Quest. Though have to say, the boob tube is real addictive and you can pass hours at a go, without even noticing the time.

I remember the time during which the saas-bahu sitcoms were real popular(they still are). All you could hear at gatherings of mothers or even sisters, were the possible events that could happen that night. And you couldn’t see a trace of human life out on the road after 10 at night, when these sitcoms began. The day that Mihir Virani (he was a very popular character on Kyon Ki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi ), was killed in the show, was like heartbreak for the whole country. Debates raged in the news channels and also in the papers as to why he was killed, and the day he made a comeback to the show, was like giving a life to a breathless man. I guess it goes with the culture of our country where we get hooked on to the heroes as potrayed by these characters.And as reality programmes now captivate the Indian public, many people can compare themselves with the people taking part on the shows. Kudos to Ekta Kapoor, in general though.

But as to the innumerable choices available to today’s viewer, it has become common to have disagreements amongst family members, as to the choice of programme to watch. Families are having 2-3 TV sets, just to avoid this kind of problem. A working husband might want to catch up on the news of the day, when his wife wants to catch up with the saas-bahu soaps, after working hard all day. Oh, aint this the situation in lakhs of Indian households? Though many people might argue that they aren’t fascinated by the boob tube. In fact as social networking has gained popularity, word is that the youth are preferring to spend an hour in front of the computer, rather than watch Tom and Jerry. A stark contrast to our childhood.

I found a new software in the past few days called SOPCAST, where you can watch TV over the internet. It served my purpose very nicely in the hostel room, but the trouble was to choose what to see. The channel list had sports, entertainment, news, movies and god knows what else as categories. I counted a minimum of 50 channels once in the channel list, and they ranged from Chinese, Korean, Brazilian and any other language you can imagine. The boob tube has made such an advent across all spheres, giving the viewers such a lot of choices, it is scary to think of what the future holds. Already we hear of TV’s with features that can show 2 channels at once, hard to believe actually.

The modern man has become so accustomed to comfort, the boob tube hasn’t lagged far behind in ensuring the comfort. And as I watch the latest craze, The Indian Premier League, with all its glitter and glamour, cant help wondering what movie is being shown on the other channel, or even what is being shown on the other sports channel, my hands itch to change the channel. So till then, long live the boob tube.