Satellite vs Moonlight

I was never an ardent TV watcher, probably because from childhood TV meant doing something and watching simultaneously. Watching TV alone was a sheer waste of time for me. Well, nothing ever got me so engrossed that I could stare at the idiot box for hours together, cricket matches between India and Pakistan were probably the only exceptions! Understandably, we didn't think of Satellite TV for a long time. Now that we have mum-in-law here, we have had to consider her free time and longings for the unending MEGA-serials on Sun-TV and decided to get the connection. Now that we have the luxury of watching Tamil and Hindi programs being away from home, I seem to be leaning towards becoming a couch potato myself.

Earlier we used to go for walks after dinner and enjoy the moonlight and the fresh air, but now it is more like what is the next program? Oh! Is it Ramya Krishnan in "Thanga Vettai" or is it Amitabh Bachchan in "Don". Surfing channels was not a problem earlier since it was a unanimous (read as one and only) choice. Be it Deperate Housewives or House, I would just watch (partially) what was running without complaining, but now we have to satisfy the demands of 3 adults, which quite imaginably isn't the easiest. Thankfully we haven't got hooked to the MEGA-serials yet. I would really be worried of my mental condition if that ever happened to me! Wonder how people can get so obsessed with sob stories when real life is so stressful. I have heard that MEGA-serials are a hit in India because they are based around common man's problems, but imagine sitting through the same day-to-day issues that you have been facing the whole day even on television. Phew! sounds crazy to me...

I used to be surprised when people back home refused to go out during specific timings. Even if guests visited during these times, they would hardly get the attention. Only during commercial breaks would the guests and hosts see each other and the topic of dicussion is usually about what the protagonist of the mega-serial is going through and what a poor thing he/she is. I hope they realise that the hero/heroine is making a lot of money in the process and is not really a poor thing. Some people even live their life based on these serials. How much worse could it get?

It struck me funny how they have named it satellite television. Moon is a satellite of earth and used to be the center of one too many poet's description of beauty. But, now with satellite TV, we hardly get to admire the beauty of earth's only natural satellite! Looks like satellites are competing against each other for man's desire. What a pity...