It all began in the summer of 87, long before we were crazy for products starting with ‘i’ to hit the market, the TV had made it’s grand entry into the Indian market
.
“Neighbors envy and owners pride,” the friendly devil announced in the ad. It truly was our pride and the envy of the entire village. 19” Onida colour TV kept in our 'nav ghar' That part of the house was recently built. Probably the first TV in our village, it changed the way people ate, slept and talked. Every Sunday morning the whole galli would assemble in our ‘nav ghar’ to watch Ramayana. Ram became popular overnight and out of nowhere BJP rose to prominence.
It was one of those days when I started seeing this other TV which no one else saw. Was I special, I kept thinking. I had a hard time focusing on one of them and even if I could, I saw blurred images. Watching the TV had become a dreadful experience. And I was scared. Was something wrong with me.? Very soon I found that one of the TVs would vanish if I closed one of my eyes. And my miseries were over for then, until one day mom noticed my closed eye.
“Why have you closed your eye?” my mom asked me.
“I see two TVs mamma. Which one should I watch?”
D N H O B U C
“This looks better.”
“ D.... R... No.. Thats H.. “
“Okay. Good”, said Dr Patwardhan.”Go ahead”.
“L…. E…. N”
“Good, the next line.”
“C .. T.. P.. B. L.. U..”
And the test ended there even though I read it wrongly. It was true, I was born with special powers. The doctor scribbled some numbers on the paper and within a few days mummy gave me thick glasses in thick frames and I was told to wear them all the time. Of course I didn’t sleep wearing them.
My world became more clear after that. I could also see the sparks coming out of Ram’s special arrows.
Over the years I have seen through them all. I have seen them evolve from the thick glasses with thick rims to small fibre glasses without rims. And between them came glasses in all shapes and sizes. Square ones, oval ones, round ones – like Mahatma Gandhi, silver colored metal rims, golden ones.
And they became so much a part of me. Sometimes I search for my glasses while I have them on. And always was part of a taunt or a joke and the usual sympathy.
“Tereko chaar aakhein hai, phir bhi nahi dikhta.”
“Yeh kitna hai.” Someone would say holding 2 open fingers. And it didn’t matter what I answered. They said I was always wrong and then giggled.
“Itni choti umar me chashma lag gaya. Bechara.”
My heart broke every time they broke – it could be a cricket ball, football, a punch, a collision, someone would sit over or just stamp on them. My world would become blurred again and the other TV appeared, until I got a replacement.
Last year my glasses broke again. I was watching the same 19” ONIDA TV in our ‘nav ghar’. Yes, 25 years later we still call it the ‘nav ghar’.
The other TV did not appear. I had lost the special powers, may be forever.
I know the eye chart by-heart from top to bottom but in my annual eye checkup, I have never been able to get beyond the
.
“Neighbors envy and owners pride,” the friendly devil announced in the ad. It truly was our pride and the envy of the entire village. 19” Onida colour TV kept in our 'nav ghar' That part of the house was recently built. Probably the first TV in our village, it changed the way people ate, slept and talked. Every Sunday morning the whole galli would assemble in our ‘nav ghar’ to watch Ramayana. Ram became popular overnight and out of nowhere BJP rose to prominence.
It was one of those days when I started seeing this other TV which no one else saw. Was I special, I kept thinking. I had a hard time focusing on one of them and even if I could, I saw blurred images. Watching the TV had become a dreadful experience. And I was scared. Was something wrong with me.? Very soon I found that one of the TVs would vanish if I closed one of my eyes. And my miseries were over for then, until one day mom noticed my closed eye.
“Why have you closed your eye?” my mom asked me.
“I see two TVs mamma. Which one should I watch?”
D H L E N
C T P A L O
D N H O B U C
“Is this better than the previous one?” asked Dr. Patwardhan as he changed the lens again. The trial and error session was on for the last 20 mins.
“This looks better.”
“ D.... R... No.. Thats H.. “
“Okay. Good”, said Dr Patwardhan.”Go ahead”.
“L…. E…. N”
“Good, the next line.”
“C .. T.. P.. B. L.. U..”
And the test ended there even though I read it wrongly. It was true, I was born with special powers. The doctor scribbled some numbers on the paper and within a few days mummy gave me thick glasses in thick frames and I was told to wear them all the time. Of course I didn’t sleep wearing them.
My world became more clear after that. I could also see the sparks coming out of Ram’s special arrows.
Over the years I have seen through them all. I have seen them evolve from the thick glasses with thick rims to small fibre glasses without rims. And between them came glasses in all shapes and sizes. Square ones, oval ones, round ones – like Mahatma Gandhi, silver colored metal rims, golden ones.
And they became so much a part of me. Sometimes I search for my glasses while I have them on. And always was part of a taunt or a joke and the usual sympathy.
“Tereko chaar aakhein hai, phir bhi nahi dikhta.”
“Yeh kitna hai.” Someone would say holding 2 open fingers. And it didn’t matter what I answered. They said I was always wrong and then giggled.
“Itni choti umar me chashma lag gaya. Bechara.”
My heart broke every time they broke – it could be a cricket ball, football, a punch, a collision, someone would sit over or just stamp on them. My world would become blurred again and the other TV appeared, until I got a replacement.
Last year my glasses broke again. I was watching the same 19” ONIDA TV in our ‘nav ghar’. Yes, 25 years later we still call it the ‘nav ghar’.
The other TV did not appear. I had lost the special powers, may be forever.
I know the eye chart by-heart from top to bottom but in my annual eye checkup, I have never been able to get beyond the
C T P A L O
13 comments:
Matlab teri teesri aur chauthi aankh chali gayi.. Achcha likha jo bhi likha hai.. Lekin kyon likha hai.. Yeh jo bhi likha hai.. Tujhe khushi ho rahi hai ya dukh ho raha hai.. Pata hi nahi chal raha hai.. Subah subah mujhe kaam karne ka mann nahi kiya isliye tera dimag khaane k liye yeh comment.. Nice one.. :)
Yun ki yeh kaun bola ?
Yeh hum ne bola.. :)
well written roh... u have put down ur feeling so neatly.... liked it rather loved it....
Nice one Rohan.
Just random thoughts put in nice way....
I have one technical question: How can you see through something you can see because of? Jaun thali mein khate hain, usi mein ched?
@Shilpa - No reason to write it. Just wrote it. I was neither sad nor happy.
@Mounish - Nice observation. No explanation.
Kaun Shilpa.. Kahaan ki Shilpa..
Hi Rohan...
Was fun reading it..
Yeh kitna hai.” Someone would say holding 2.......
I remember doing this when we saw ur specs for the first time.. and reading it now I fell off my chair.. Very nicely written..
A beautifull ending.. The best one till date..
"My heart broke every time they broke" Well said...
Enjoyed reading it... Keep writing..
Still waiting for a friction..
goood one pintu...............
good memories :)....I remember cable tv was considered evil in my house when I was growing up.
Remember how we used to await impatiently every week for those serials that they would show on Doordarshan?
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