I hear the Gran adjusting her
footwear outside – it must be time. She calls out to me – expecting the
technological support. I follow her silently and switch the television on for
her and adjust the volume. No, I do not have to ask her what channel and what
serial. In her case – the choice is actually no choice. One serial, one
channel. If they ever gave an award for serial loyalty, I am pretty sure, Gran
could get a nomination. Anyways, the television springs to life. And then for
another half an hour, she forgets I am there.
Half an hour later – she sighs
with sadness – she will have to wait till tomorrow – in expectation and
anticipation.
This happens daily without fail.
The clock strikes 8 every evening
without fail.
And Gran positions herself before
the television – every evening without fail.
Half of the time, I do not even
check the clock to confirm if it is about time.
I know it will be. Plus minus a
few minutes. And most of the time, it is minus.
Yes, the body clock works so
perfectly.
All this because, Gran is
addicted to the daily soap opera “Balika Vadhu” on Colors.
Every evening, she waits eagerly and
religiously for the program to begin.
At that time all the mundane
things cease to exist – and - the important matters stand postponed. All is fair at 8 P.M.
All day long, she talks about the
life of protagonist. She so totally believes in the reality of that serial. She
thinks the wedding, the ditching by Anandi’s husband, her family crying – is all
real. I wonder if she knows as much about our neighbors as she does about this
girl Anandi.
Hundreds of time, we have tried
explaining to her that this is all make believe. Hundreds of time we have
failed. If it were up to her, she would not let go of any advertisement, any repeat
telecast of the program. So, we have all come to accept the fact that Anandi is
there to stay in her heart - along with all of us – nothing doing. She is as
much a family to her as we all are.
Trust me; it is like watching a
kid getting all excited about his favorite movie or getting a bag full of
candies – or may be losing oneself in the world of video games or books.
Now I
know how my craze of The Twilight series, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings or the likes of them might sound.
Yeah Granny, that makes two of us
– you with your Balika Vadhu and me with – well ,err – the list is long.
Great narrative. I can picture your gran and her loyal viewing and discussing of the lives she watching on TV.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carver.
DeleteI had to give up General Hospital for lent once.. because.. I was that bad. My mind kept wandering over during my day to characters that are not real who could care less about me. I tried to tell myself that I watch it because I like the hairstyles or clothes, but I knew better.. I was obsessed in an unhealthy way. I had to separate myself from it and in the words of Vanilla Sky.. "Live a REAL life.."
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear that you gave up the addiction finally.
DeleteI had to smile at this because I have the fondest memories of watching serials with my grandmother. Often they had subtitles and we picked up new words in other languages that way. I have a favorite book series too and while I know it's not real it hasn't stopped me from reading it 24 (!) times now. (Ok, over a span of 24 years but still.)
ReplyDeleteYeah these are truly some of the fondest memories. When she is not around, we really do miss this routine. I am so glad we both share similar thoughts.
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