Let us not forget?
Posted On Saturday, August 11, 2007 at at 12:20 by rk rishikesh sinhaNEW DELHI,INDIA
In the 1980's the Indian Television means Doordarshan
This post will be nostalgic for those people who used to watch Doordarshan in their childhood days and still remember the old Mile Sur Mera Tumhara and all those Doordarshan programmes.
Once in a lifetime one gets an opportunity to jot down his/ her early memories. And 
this post would be the one amongst them. I am in the state of elysium to go down into my sweet memory lane.
I remember my first black and white image that I saw in “our” television set, it was the umbrella cloud that aroused after the Nagasaki and Hiroshima nuclear bomb explosion. If I remember correctly, the year was 1984 – 1985. I used the word “our” inside apostrophe because in those times your television isn’t yours but is of neighbours.
The television was brought after constant nagging on my part of my mother after she 
failed to stop me going to neighbour’s drawing room. We kids at that time had some favorite serials that included Vikram Aur Betal (vikram.. vikram.. vikram..betal… betal… betal…- you remember), Chitrahaar, Appu Aur Pappu (Appu aur pappu ki dekho yaari…- you remember), Aa Bail Mujhe Maar, Ek Do Teen Char (Title song: Ek do teen char, chaaro mil ke saath chale to karde chamatkar). Around these programmes our world used to revolve. All these programmes used to come at Sunday, if my memory is correct.
With all these programmes stacked on Sunday; the day had a different meaning altogether, the zest and gusto had a similar touch to that of festivals and have had the part of the ritual - taking bathe and breakfast early and completing household chores before the signature tune of Doodarshan starts.
In those days, the advertisement were that of Nirma (Washing powder powder Nirma..NIRMA), Kayam Churen, Rooh Afza, Rasna (I Love You Rasana!!), Cinkara (hamdard ka tonic CINKARAAA…), Fevicol (elephant tug of war), Liril (the girl under water fall), and Surf (lalita ji!!!).
Something you remember…
1. Ohho Dipika ji... aaiye aaiye... dipikaji takes a washing soap... lekin aap to hamesha woh mehngi wali tikiya... dipikaji says jab wohi safedi kam daam mein mile to koi woh kyu le, yeh na le... maan gaye... dipikaji says kisey?... aapki parkhi nazar aur nirma super dono ko...
2. Yu to hamesha taiyaar rehte ho... aaj kaha hai tumhara dibba... yeh lijiye... ek hi pouch se kya sab ko khilaoge... to aap do lijiye... aur mere liye?...
3. Raam laxman bulb dena... aisa koi bulb nahi aata... aata hai main kal hi leke gaya... ohho aapko laxman silveniya bulb chahiye... ha magar ek nahi chhey... chhey?... poore ghar ke badal dalunga...
4.Khaitan ke pankhe - Rajendranath as customer(flies when fan speed is on high) and Parikshit sahni as salesman.
5.Pan parag - Shammi kapoor and Ashok kumar. Hum bas itna chahte hai ke baratiyo ka swagat... pan parag se ho... ohho ho ho paan paraag... humein kya maloom aap bhi pan parag ke shaukeen hai... yeh lijiye pan parag.
If you remember any other advertisement to that period, do comment!!
I don’t know about others, I remember and it is in my consciousness I used to pay Rs 
2 to watch Doordarshan’s Sunday movie. And that was after proper hygiene checking after that I was allowed to take the seat, very often on the floor. If I am coming directly from the playground, it was absolutely NO…NO…The auntijee used to say “Tumhare pao gande he, pura mitthi laga hua he..ghar se pao do ke aao…fir film dekhna..” Friends you could imagine …in no time the auntijee turned out to be villain. The movie I last saw was Monoj Kumar’s Upkaar in my favourite auntie’s house.
Friends, I have the privilege, you remember the programmes – Night Rider and Street Hawk, to watch before the Indian viewers could enjoy. I watched these entertaining programmes of magical car and of the bike in the Bangladesh television, and that in the English and not in the hindi.
How one could forget Wednesday 8 o’clock Chitrahaar? Ho nahi sakta ….kadapi nahin ho sakta ..ki koi bhul jaye…Not possible to forget since it come as the only window to the world of filmi songs. It was the only dose for entertainment in the weekdays.
At that time there was misconception prevailing that a television in home was a nuisance, disturbing the studies of children. No prize for guessing, the television we had had a wooden window with lock facility. Friends!! That Weston television set is still in the running condition without any glitch in my relative’s home. If you want to buy it, please do contact. It will be sold to the highest bidder. Just kidding.!!!
Then came the Ramayana fever of the great epic. Its popularity reached such a zenith point that the entire nation and that of our locality used to come to a virtual stop. Our drawing room used to draw football of near-neighbours, nearest-neighbours and the farthest-neighbours. It is not that I know each and every one; there were many whom I don’t know they were passerby who dropped after listening the signature tune of the Ramayana or I suppose by its timings. Anyway they dropped, our door was always kept open for them, and irrespective of what their religious inclination they had. I remember my Muslims friends vociferously watching Ramayana and enjoying them to the last arrow fired.
You remember, TA NA NA NA NA NA …!! Yes, Malgudi Days. How was it? Krishi Darshan - 
Agriculture based show. Shanti - Mandira bedi. Vyomkesh Bakshi. Sigma. Indradhanush. Fauji, Humlog, Buniyaad, Chunauthi, Circus, He-man, Mungerilal, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Udaan, Yogi. Surabhi (Sidharth Kak or Renuka Sahani), Samtahiki, Bharat Kee Khoj, and The Sword Of Tipu Sultan.
How was the “Gumshuda Talaash Kendra” short programme? Hehehehheehhee…National integration programme like "Ek Anak Aur Ekta" cartoon, Mile Sur Mera tumhara. The news for the hearing impaired. I distinctly recollect her expression on .. somebody is killed or has passed away...
And how was School Chale Hum.. Param Vir Chakra, Ducktales, Mickey And Mouse, Gul Gulshan Gulfaam, Hello Zindagi, Khali Haath, The World This Week, Alice in Wonderland.And at last the Mahabharata.
In addition to all these, how was the news? Frankly it was for me the most disrespected programme put on air. I hated like anything.
Well, the newsreaders were - Neethi Ravindran, Minu, Rini Khanna, Sukanya balakrishnan, Sangeetha Bedi, Komal GB Singh, Salma Sultana, Manjari Jothi, Raman, Ved Prakash, Tejeshwar Singh, Uday Bir Saran Das, Nirmal Andrews, Bhaskar Bhattacharjee, CM Mathews, Pankaj Mohan, Preet KS Bedi.
Lot of old stuff coming back for some strange reason. Isn’t? Let us not forget all these enchanting programmes in today’s world of television cacophony. Those were really our golden days.
I feel like crying.
DO COMMENT IF I HAVE FORGETTEN SOMETHING….
Listen and Download mp3 (sign up for eSnips.com)- Malgudi Days
Listen and Download mp3(sign up for eSnips.com)- Jungle Book
HERE IS the old Mile Sur Mera Tumhara SONG.
Ek Anek Hindi Commercial - Doordarshan -DD
BHARAT EK KHOJ
MALGUDI DAYS VIDEO
Malgudi Days MPEG Song
Doordarshan Advertisemnt
THE HERO OF 80'S - MITHUN CHAKROBORTY
Nostalgic... Chandrakantha, Alif laila, Tehkikaat,Dekh bhai dekh,Rangoli were some of my favourites...
Fantastic post dude. simply outstanding. even i wrote something lk this few days back on my blog.
read it here:
http://supernova-justlikethat.blogspot.com/2007/08/idiot-box-and-me-decade-back.html
This is one of your best..........Very nice post, I must say. Carry the good work on.........
You made me nostalgic....
This is one of your best..........Very nice post, I must say. Carry the good work on.........
You made me nostalgic....
Actually, a great post.. Walking down to the memory lane, it is treat to read this post. Another thing I must admit.....your memory is really very sharp. All those pictures were depicted in your mind so vividly! surprising....I was bound to read this post for the second time....Good work must go on...
Definitely one of your best write ups! What surprised me the most while reading this post was how you remember every single advertisement or program that was aired during the rightly called'golden period'. Some memory you have!
I didn't get to pass through that time..but i vaguely remember doordarshan being a fad among all generations before cable corrupted the inncent joy it brought to us..dekh bhai dekh, chitrahar, krishna kathaye,donald duck, ummm tons of others...that was some time..did someone say nostalgic..you bet!
P.S- have to rush now..in a hurry..to read the post once again!
Gosh you're making me remember everything...!!! Those good old days...our golden childhood glory fresh as ever. Courtesy our very own Doordarshan. The programmes still lie afresh in the deepest corner of my nostalgic heart.
If I can recollect right, almost all the serials of that dynamic phase have left their evergreen images. Courtesy Doordarshan again. How can I forget Vikram Aur Vetaal? Or Appu Aur Pappu? There's that cute boy and his rock-solid friendship with the 'Stoneboy' (anyone remembers it? ). Katha Sagar, Hema Malini and Kabeer Bedi's romance in Nupoor, the unbreakable Malavika Tiwari in Kashish, Nutan's unforgettable Ramgarh ki Bahu. Remember the versatile Pankaj Kapoor on Fatichar, Karamchand and Kab Tak Pukaroon? There's also an English serial based on the famous fairy tales and bed time stories which used to be aired on Sundays (forgot its name).
Go down memory lane, you'll find a sea of names and characters come alive. Playing hide and seek. Rolling up and down. That's a different taste of life. Sweet as ever. Lively as life.
this article has really created nostalgic feelings of watching doordarshan of 80s.-RAJNEESH (http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=98978&tid=2548630904830769253&start=1)
nice article..... i too like the programme Chitrahaar very much.... bcoz that is the only show... which give us entertainment. Their is another show at that time in Sunday morning called Rangoli... NABARUN (http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=98978&tid=2548630904830769253&start=1)
awesome post..
though i was born in 90..tv to me meant only doordarshan for atleasy 8years...i used to watch ramayana,mahabharata,chitrahaar,rangoli..
i can never forget those days..this is one of your THE best post
keep up the good work:)
10:40(8 minutes ago) 8/10...
i give u 9.5/10 for ur "let us not forget?" post
http://vinodhscorner.blogspot.com/
nice article..... i too like the programme Chitrahaar very much.... bcoz that is the only show... which give us entertainment. Their is another show at that time in Sunday morning called Rangoli...
hey axis!!!! you've rekindled some sleeping memories, dude!!!! thanks dude
Fabulous Work!!!!!!!!!
I must say.......... and the main attraction was Mile Sur Mera Tumhara video.....I wanted to watch that song since sooo many years..... Finally I've got to see and hear it!!!!!!!
Hey call it an uncanny coincidence but just yesterday my friends and I were having a discussion on this very topic. We were trying to recall all the programmes on DD as well as the ads like Dipakaji...and now reading this post has brought a big smile to my face. Very correctly said..those indeed were the golden days of our childhood which children of today are greatly missing out!!!
This post is really outstanding....reading this post my memory is polished and i remember each and every program of that period....DD programs are more dear to me because in the year 1985 i met with an accident and was bed ridden for 3 months...that time my sole companion was DD....right fm Krishi darshan i used to watch till the programs end....and this post of urs freshened all my memories and the most lovely thing in this post is the song EK Chidia which was my favourite....thanks for such a lovely post....wish u all success in life....ranita
man u really made me nostalgic.. used to love ramayana, mahabharata, and mile sur mera tumhara , how can i forget th.. one of my favourite songs.....
Deepakaji..is damn funnny....
Rocking post dude!!!
Dude you are the best. The way you have summarize entire Doordarshan saga is highly appreciable. And specially those pics around each glance makes it Live.
Well there were few of my Fav's :- JUNGLE BOOK (Jungle Jungle Pata Chala Hai, Chadi Pahan Kai ......; That Shekhan's Roar, Bagira , Kak , MOAGLI ...), Then comes CHANAKYA - Jiski Niti (Chanakya Niti) Aaj bhi Loag mante hai….Just to name a few. Thanks dude :-)
Perused your article about delineation of Tv programmes of by-gone period while i was mere a child of 4-5 yrs old.However I have a faint memory.Your writing is so vivacious which restored the faint memory and thrust me to the childhood days.Hence your article is reminiscent.This is undoubtedly an enjoyable article.
thanks rini and deepak for liking the post. the intention of the post was to take u to ur heydays.
Well, the article sure brings back memories...
chitrahar.. every wednesday and Friday,
Neev...Udran....i really miss those real soaps...(read serials)
Wonderfully presented...
(Rishi..Dont you get bored of me praising you always.. Get used to it dude.. they will come along quite often)
hey friend , that was just cool .....
it brought back all memories of good old B&W doordarshan ....
hey thers few progms which remember
GIANT ROBOT ( kids prgm in the eavening , man all used to get together to see that )
A STORY BASED ON A STEEL BALL , which eats all lot of things , and a kid taking care of that , finaly it goes back to its alian ship where
thers 1000s of stell ball .
ON SUNDays there use to b a serial based on some space ship , where thers a forbidden place , if visited a RED sponge like thing would get
attch to humans face or body and i belieave it was painful as they had a bad time removing it with some kinda syringe or so .. again kids
progm
chitrahar reminds me of AAGAYA AAGAYA HALWA WALA AAGAYA song .. dont know the movie
then ZUBI ZUBI ZUPEEEE song
OSHIM ( a japanese serial dubbed in hindi , a mother telling her story to her son , story of a small girl how she lived and things like
that ) my mom and i use to watch this regularly it was realy nice ...
TENALI RAMAN ( i hope all remember this too )
then there was an adv for SUITACASE i guess its VIP , where customer picks one the handle comes off , then lock comes of another one ,
atlast the keeper gives VIP suitcase and hits hard on it like breaking it to 2 pieaces , and nothing happnes ,,,
thn a old fellow playing badminton and chewing on something , i thik CHAVANAPRASHAM .
MR GOLD ( presented by anupam kher , he ask funny yet intresting questions and give a gold coin to those who could ans it correctly .
few questions were
1) difference betwn TABLE FAN and CEAILING FAN
ans: one turns CLOACK wise and the other ANTI cloack wise
2) to say the months in reverse order
3) to say " OONT OONCHI , OONT KI POONCH OONCHI , OONCHI POONCH OONT KI fast
( rough translation , CAMEL IS TALL , CAMELS TAIL IS TALL , TALL IS TAIL OF CAMEL )
it was a nice prgm since anupam realy made it funny
then REPORTER starring SHEKAR SUMAN ( some crime investigation kind )
then finaly there was a comedy prgm called COMEDY SHOW , characters were JASPAL BHATTi and his wife , ( in real life those couple r bro and
sis ) their neighbour is also a funny guy , its title song was realy coool ....
some hip hop like but made in a funny way ..with the sound of barking of dog and things like that ...
there was also a realy cute news reader , i guess her name is MANDEEP KAUR , she used to read english news ....
i just admired the lady who read the news through hand actions , ( a lady with a large forehead , a large lady )
take care friend , and keep blogging such nice stuffs ...
Oh My friend !!!!!!!!!!! you really took me back to my good old days of my childhood and school life.
The fantastic news readers you remember it right. sharing alternate days JV Ramana and Ved Prakash, Shammi Narang with a red handkey in his blazer and unforgettable AvinashKaur Sareen, Sarala Maheshwari,Rini Simon-khanna, Geetanjali Aiyyar, ... I recollect really.......it was a great time.
Dabur Chyawanprash with Sriram Lagoo.." Dadaji Badminton Khelen???"
Melody--"Melody Khao Khud Jaan Jao"
Tappad !!!!!!!!
'Shaadi Aur Tumse Kabhi nahin'
Pand Pasand ---Pan Masala Pan Pasand.........
Vigil bathing soap with Dilip VengSarkar..
Fresca bathing soap....
Sundrop superfine...Sunflower oil...The boy who somersaults to eat puri!!!
Lifebuoy hai jahaan Tandurusti hai wahan...
Zing Thing Goldspot
Singar kumkum
Mango Frooti Fresh N Juicy !!!
Its Vadilal IceCream !!!!
I still remember lot further, but let me stop here on this...
The other serials like Hum Log, Buniad, Chunauti, Farmaan, Jeevan Rekha and the Heart Beat sound, Hum Hindustani, Fauzi, Circus, Honee Anhonee, Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, Doosri Kewal
But somebody really reminded me of Appu Aur Pappu, Fauzi, Ramayan, Malgudi Days, Byomkesh Bakshi, Giant Robot, Street Hawk, ... and the Power of Energy 'He-Man', Donald Duck..Ek do Teen Char on Satrudays afternoon with their splendid dog, Delhi Doordarshan Ki Prastuti on Wednesdays and Bombay doordarshan ki Prastuti on Fridays of Chitrhaar...... Ever lasting Rangoli which goes on the week specials like Independece Day, Holi, Rakhi...MasterMinds, world this Week, Fairy Tales, Intezar, wagle ki duniya , Adalat, Mr.Yogi, Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne.....
And RK you are absolutely fantastic in recollecting the great works.....
My God.............I still remember and I'm very happy to know there are my freinds of my contemporary young days!!!!!!!!
I need to tell this to my best friend as well.
These days I mean at least for the past 4 yrs I havn't been much on to net except just to check my mails that too once in a week or fortnight and I could not go through all these fantastic stuff..
Keep going buddy, You are really Great !!!!!!!!!! Cheers !!!!!!
Wow Rishi, that was a wonderful post. You just took me reeling towards down memory lane of the magical Doordarshan days of eighties and early nineties. Lemme recall some ads. I still remember the highly stylized sexy background voice of a unseen lady rendering “Kya doond rahe he Kapil Sahab, Palmolive Shaving Cream;” other Kapil Dev wonders were ads of “Rapidex English Fast Speaking Course” and I guess Hero Cycles.
What about the “GoldSpot the Zing Thing” ad. That was sleek. The Limca ads were also cool but I don’t recall the lines.
The Amul Chocolate ad. It used to go something like this. “I am too old for Comics but too young for Novels.” Then another fellow says “But I guess you are just right for Amul Chocolate.” Then comes the punchline “Amul Chocolate a gift for someone you love.”
Mummy mummy bhook lagi he….do minute…..maggi maggi maggi,
What’s On. It’s Uptron.
I love this lines of an ad of late nineties. It goes something like “Dhire Dhire hole hole ab to tumko kiya kiya bole…….. Zor ka Jhatka Dhire Se Lage.
Coming back to Television shows, I remember watching Jimmy and the Magic Torch, Giant Robot, Star Stek, grovvy characters of Bapa Papa as a 7 or 8 year old kid. Later as I grew up I was hooked to Enid Blyton’s “Famous Five” television series. I also remember watching Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot’s detective mysteries although I must admit that was a tad too heavy. Many folks don’t remember but there was some nice English detective serials like Target, ShoesString which I really enjoyed. In the early nineties there was a German detective show (dubbed in English) called “The Old Fox” which was shown regularly in the morning transmission. I watched it regularly before going to school. Now now how can I forget Karamchand and his famous punchline “Shut Up Kitty;” I remember it vividly because I had to display huge fits and tantrums and almost bring the roof down before my parents allow me to watch it because it used come at an ungodly hour of 10:30 or 11:00 pm. Offcourse my dad has no problem with me watching the Friday 10:30 pm show “The World This Week” as it was deemed educative.
In the midst of all wonderful programmes and especially on a Sunday movie dishum dishum Dharmendra special comes the dreaded Samachar and The News. The 30 minute news would seem like a 30 hour holdup. My view changed after I watched Sangeeta Bedi presenting the English news. Boy I had a huge huge crush on her after my Social Studies teacher.
Do you remember when a national dignitary or a leader died, Doordarshan would stop the regular shows as a gesture of national mourning and would torment us for nearly a month with religious rituals like Qurbanis, religious discourse of Geeta, Quran and Bible. It used to drive me crazy but at a later time Doordarshan changed track and also added a programme call “Secrets of the Sea.” I never got the connection of the programme with national mourning but I thoroughly used to enjoy the show. It was a real life adventure of an old French Scientist explorer (don’t recall his name) whose shipped battled storms and high waves, icy cold winds of the Antarctic and so on. The fella showcased the world of penguins and deep seas with its exotic species long before Discovery and National Geographic captured our imagination. That old man really had lot of spunk. I believe he died two year ago.
Hey Rishi, I can go on an on but rather should not and bore the lot. I need to wake up from this state of zen as I had to catch up with the job at hand.
Regards,
Lots of them to name actually... There was osheen, turning point (with Dr Yashpal sharma coming in at the end after Girish Karnad's part to answer reader's questions) and "The Spirit of Musical Concert for National Integration" on Sunday mornings, duck tales, chutti chutti..
And how can anyone forget Surabhi...Er..Amul Surabhi..What sticks out more than anything else even after decades are the tracks..
I've put up a number of these up... You can find them at
http://vinayak-k.blogspot.com/2008/07/nostalgia.html
hey, can you give me a link to download the song "manzil rasta karwan, har ghadi hai intehan" from the serial Zameen Aasman? I shall be grateful if you do. You can send it to my mail id skc_mimi@rediffmail.com
It's all serial is my favorite and i also miss that days and life
Sunday Wednesday din ka intzar hota tha karamchand serial our ek nukad serial (khopadi) ka kirdar sab aacha lagta tha
Thanks to remember me
It's all serial is my favorite and i also miss that days and life
Sunday Wednesday din ka intzar hota tha karamchand serial our ek nukad serial (khopadi) ka kirdar sab aacha lagta tha
Thanks to remember me
Also there was a serial named " Laddo Singh Taxiwala " which was enacted by Mr. Paintal...our most popular filmy comedian of that era. And who can forget the two beautiful lady newsreaders of Lucknow Doordarshan Ms.Shobhna Jagdish and Ms. Nirmala Kumari. That was a golden era of our times. No one can re-wind those memories of our golden times childhood.