TV and A 90's Indian Kid

Phase I:  DD channels

TV has been a part of probably everyone's life. Me being the son of a Cable Operator, TV was an essential part of life. Today there a probably more than a 100 cartoon channels at the disposal of the Kids, but back when I was a kid as of I remember there was this one channel I remember and that is DD National, I used to wait the whole week for Sunday, because after the whole week of boring news and sports, Sunday was finally the day for 'Shaktimaan' and 'Junior G'. 

I even remember some verses of the this famous Indian Superhero's intro as of today. I remember me and all my cousins all sitting together on a hot summer afternoon, under the comfort of the table fan and singing the intro together as the show started. 

Phase II: Color Channels 

However, there was this sudden burst of color channels and then 'Shaktimaan' slowly faded out of our lives. Now since, there were so many cartoon channels to watch one need not to wait for that one Sunday afternoon to watch that one superhero show.

As I grew older, my cousin sisters use to gather at my house on a Sunday afternoon but this time it was not for Shaktimaan or Junior G but for the Sunday Matinee Show, where there was this Bengali Channel ETV Bangla (now Colors Bangla) that used to show Bengali Movies and usually the protagonist would be "Ranjit Mallick". 

I must say, at some point of time I doubted that 'Ranjit Mallick' was stronger than 'Shaktimaan', because his punches would make the bad guys fly high in skies and thereafter, when they used to fall, they used to break through walls. Sometimes, I was like why did 'Shaktimaan' did all the Yagya for, he isn't even stronger than 'Ranjit Mallick'.

On the other days , I used to watch cartoons like 'Tom and Jerry', 'Ed Edd and Eddy', 'Blue', 'Dragon Tales', 'Johnny Bravo', 'Dexter's Laboratory' and the endless list goes on and on and on. The funny thing is I used to watch so much of cartoons, my Tuition Sir, nicknamed me 'Cartoon Network'. 

Phase III: Internet

By the time I reached Grade 6, Internet was a common thing in the market, and all other cable operators were providing broadband services along with cable, so my father decided to do the same. 

The perks of providing Broadband is you get Internet for free - facebook, youtube, movies and what not for free. I know right it sounds amazing right, let me tell you what's not so amazing about it. In-spite of watching a 50 cartoons my Grades never went low, but this time it did. I came down to grades which I never imagined of falling into. I am not blaming Internet for it, nor am I blaming my father for this new business, I am blaming myself, I was foolish and I brought my own downfall. Anyways, my parents supported me at this time and I was able to recover from this situation and soon my Grades started improving. 

By this day I watch very less of TV and spend more time on internet like most other people. I sometimes do wonder that  the one idiot box, which consumed my most of the time , is no more a part of my life anymore, except for the time of exams when even the most boring of the Daily TV Soaps that your mother watches, seems the most interesting stuff in the world.