Childhood Stories: The Story of the Silent TV
My father was in the Army – which meant that we got transferred to a new city every two to three years. Army officers are usually packed off to areas furthest away from their homes and being from Punjab, we invariably found ourselves in far-flung states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. When television came to India, most of the content was in the local language, except for some time in the evening, when it was time for National programming. We therefore could not convince our dad to make the substantial investment in a television for so little returns. Consequently, we came late to the party, having bought our first TV in 1986, while vacationing in Patiala just after I had completed my Class X. It was a Binatone Colour TV, quite fancy with prominent speakers on either side, and we were all very proud of it. Right after that vacation, my dad, mom, my sister and I were to travel to Bishnupur in West Bengal, where my father was headed for a new posting for a duration of 2 ...