Sundays...

---

Sundays meant, as far back as I can remember, The Telegraph Colour Magazine. I loved it the most and that magazine was the best part of my Sundays. I was born in 1982 and from the late 80's this magazine became my Sunday best friend. Throughout the week I would look forward and count seconds for the arrival of this magazine. In the 90's, if I remember correctly, The Telegraph used to have weekly supplements like KnowHow on mondays, CareerGraph on wednesdays, TeleKids on thursdays, ETC on fridays, Weekend on saturdays etc.  

From my childhood days I have always loved the smell of the morning newspaper. On Sunday mornings I used to get up early and wait for The Telegraph. The man who delivered the paper used to come on a bicycle and roll the newspaper in a cylindrical shape, tie a thread around it and then throw it upwards towards our second floor balcony. As a child I was always fascinated by the accuracy of his throws. He never missed. The man was pot-bellied and was a bit bald and therefore used to wear a cap. As a child I used to wonder what that man did all day after he was finished with newspaper deliveries. Later on I found out that his name was Phoolchand Tiwary and he used to work as a peon in the State Bus Garage in our Lake Gardens area. Sadly he is no more with us in this world. 

Sundays meant that I would read the entire newspaper from the very first word to the very last one. But special attention was always given to The Telegraph Colour Magazine which was tasty, delicious and luscious.  

For the sake of this Blog-Post, I searched through the nook and crannies of Calcutta and left no stone or pebble unturned to get hold of these old 80's and 90's magazines. Finally I succeeded to collect around 50 such vintage issues. I just love the smell of old newspapers and magazines. The moment the magazines came in my hands after all these years, the first thing that I did was to smell them. They smelt of my childhood Sundays. Going through them made me weep silently as these magazines became like Time-Machines which helped me to relive and relish those golden Sun-days, hours, minutes and seconds.  

I used to read the comic-strips first. In the 80's, they consisted of Blondie, followed by Archie, The Lockhorns, Mandrake, The Adventures of Legionnaire Beau Peep and He Man and the Masters of the Universe. Initially every comic-strip was in black and white. Then He-Man came out in colour. 

Later the Blondie logo was changed and finally it came out in colour too and is still going strong.  

The 1st January 1989 issue of The Telegraph Colour Magazine had the cover story titled Calcutta 300 : A tribute to the city in its tercentenary year. Apart from interesting cover stories every week, the Magazine started with Post Mortem, where letters from the readers were published regarding the previous week's issue, and moved on to Focus, Panorama, Rainbow, Heads and Tails by Maneka Gandhi, Ruskin Bond's Column, Gillian Wright's Column, extracts from novels, biographies, autobiographies and other literary works, Pin Up, Candid Camera and many such brilliant pages. The Magazine had Rathin Mitra's page titled Heritage :

Quiz by Neil O'Brien :

Astrological predictions for the upcoming week on the page named Inner Eye, first by M.B. Raman and then by Bejan Daruwalla :

7 Days featuring show timings and venues of hindi, bengali and english films. Also the page featured special events : 

Fiction selected by Khushwant Singh : 

Poetry selected by Jayanta Mahapatra : 

Rasoi by Jiggs Kalra : 

Celebrity Interviews in First Person :

Time Table of trains and planes. Apart from Air India and Indian Airlines, there was a third one named Vayudoot :

A very interesting page titled Wonderland featuring an even more interesting segment titled Barter Bank. People would write in and express desire to exchange things with absolute strangers through the help to this page. As a child I always wondered whether some of these transactions actually took place. For many years now I haven't seen anything like this anywhere else. Here are a few examples :

"I offer a new 32" carrom board for two pocket video games". 

"I offer 50 foreign stamps for Zaheer Abbas' autobiography". 

"I offer a collection of 50 large format illustrated books on art, history and mythology for an advanced 35mm SLR camera (Cannon, Nikon, Olympus or Minolta) or anything of corresponding value". 

And my most favourite page was Junior Whirl by Hal Kaufman. It was like an obsession to spot the six differences in the Hocus Focus boxes : 

Sundays also meant The Statesman's Miscellany and Amrita Bazar Patrika's Sunday Magazine. In Miscellany, apart from the Cover Story, the other segments were Environment, Focus, Women, Children, Literary, Report, Sport and Pastime, Leisure etc. The Comic-Strips consisted of Star Wars, Archie and Hubert. The Sunday Magazine of Amrita Bazar Patrika consisted of pages titled Capital View, Special Report, Around The World, Books, Science, Debate, This Week (Zodiac predictions), Chess, Bridge, Quiz, Language Please, Fairy Tale etc. However even both of them combined was no match for The Telegraph Colour Magazine. 

Sundays meant watching TV all morning. It started with Rangoli and then the action shifted to cartoons. Rangoli on Sundays and Chitrahaar on wednesdays at 8pm were our weekly musical ambrosia. Rangoli is still continuing even today. The Sunday cartoons over the years consisted of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry, Duck-Tales, Tales-Spin, The Jungle Book, Danu Danasur, Alice in Wonderland and many more such fascinating memories. Those innocent wonderful mornings when as children we didn't care about the difference between Melody and Mala-D! 

Sunday mornings also meant Ramayana, Mahabharata, Chanakya, Chandrakanta, Bible Ki Kahaniya (where Kabir Bedi played the role of Abraham and this serial also featured Urmila Matondkar), The Sword of Tipu Sultan and many more epics. During the telecast of Ramayana and Mahabharata, the entire country used to come to a virtual stop. The Ramayana consisted of 78 episodes and originally ran from 25th January 1987 to 31st July 1988. As a child I absolutely loved those cosmic battle scenes with flying arrows in multi-coloured backgrounds with nerve-wrecking music. 

Mahabharata was mindblowing and mindbending in all senses and this 94 episode series originally ran from 2nd October 1988 to 24th June 1990. Below is the picture of Harish Bhimani who was the voice of Samay. We all still remember those famous words - Mein Samay Hoon. I loved Mahabharata more than Ramayana. The latter was somewhat slow and boring while the former was engrossing, riveting and had that Bollywood-blockbusterish-aura.      

Sunday afternoons were for the best of Indian regional cinema. When Mani Ratnam's controversial 'Roja' had released in 1992, I wanted to watch it very badly. But I had to wait for a few more years and finally a censored version was shown on Doordarshan one Sunday afternoon. Also Doordarshan in late 80's and early 90's meant the constant nagging Rukawat Ke Liye Khed Hai and Sorry for the Interruption screensavers. I hated them the most. And in those days, just like sunrise and sunset, Load-Shedding too was a daily certainty in Calcutta!  

Sundays meant, as a child, memorizing tables in the afternoon. I would lie down with this book in hand. Though I never went beyond the tables of ten. I hated memorizing tables. Infact I hate memorizing anything.

Sometimes on Sunday afternoons I used to draw and paint. I still have my old drawing books and I still go through them every once in a while. In those days I used to collect those one, two, five, ten, twenty and twenty-five paise coins. Also those one, two, five and ten rupee notes. Counting this money used to make me feel rich. During that time I also used to collect stamps and stickers. There were little stickers available of Mahabharata's characters. I collected all and pasted them on my sticker-book. Here are three of them : 

Sundays meant, also reading story books throughout the entire afternoon. I would go to bed with a story book but never fell asleep. Usually the afternoons were reserved for Feluda, Professor Shonku and Tarini-khuro. Then came Hardy Boys, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Nancy Drew etc. Later came the Classics. 

Sunday evenings were for bengali films on DD, especially those Uttam-Suchitra gems. I loved watching these old bengali movies while drinking evening tea. I have been drinking tea twice a day from the age of seven. In the winters I used to drink coffee. And many times it would also be Chafee which is coffee mixed in tea and it is heavenly as it contains the best of both the worlds. 

Once Saat Paakey Bandha was shown. I remember as a child, wondering why Uttam Kumar didn't play Soumitro Chatterji's role. 

Throughout the 90's I was a huge fan of Anjan Dutta. I had all his cassettes and listened to them day in day out. During my school life it seemed that Anjan Dutta was singing exactly my thoughts. I had Suman Chattopadhyay's and Nachiketa Chakraborty's all albums too. Later with maturity I started understanding the greatness of the prophetic Suman. 

Also had Shilajit Majumdar's albums and most of the Bangla Bands of that time. I was the proud owner of Nogor Philomel's cassette which was and still is very rare and hard to find. Anjan Dutta occupies a lion's share of my 90's childhood. Once on a Sunday evening Mrinal Sen's Kharij was shown and I was pleasantly surprised to see him in the lead role. This 1997 cassette was my most favourite :

  

 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 9th May 1982 :

06:00 pm  - Bengali News Headlines 
06:05 pm  - Jana Ajana 
06:15 pm  - Saptahiki 
06:30 pm  - Hindi Feature Film 
08:00 pm  - Bengali News 
08:10 pm  - Hindi Feature Film (contd) 
09:20 pm  - The News 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 21st August 1983 :

04:00 pm  - World of Sport 
05:15 pm  - Bengali News Headlines 
05:30 pm  - Hindi Feature Film 
07:25 pm  - Saptahiki 
07:35 pm  - Bengali News 
07:45 pm  - Hindi Feature Film (contd) 
08:30 pm  - Samachar 
08:45 pm  - Focus 
09:15 pm  - Kerala Carnival 
09:45 pm  - The News 
10:00 pm  - Close Down 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 3rd June 1984 :

11:30 pm  - Show Theme 
12:00 pm  - Different Strokes 
02:00 pm  - Regional Film 
04:00 pm  - SportLight 
04:30 pm  - World of Sport 
06:00 pm  - Bengali News Headlines 
06:02 pm  - Commercial News 
06:15 pm  - Hindi Feature Film 
09:00 pm  - Samachar 
09:20 pm  - Focus 
09:50 pm  - The News 
10:10 pm  - Bazm-e-Qaqalli 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 8th September 1985 :

10:30 am  - Star Trek (English Serial) 
11:15 pm  - Bawaji Ka Bioscope (Hindi Serial) 
11:40 pm  - Rajni (Hindi Serial) 
12:15 pm  - Dekho Magar Pyaar Se (Hindi Serial) 
12:40 pm  - Darpan : Short Stories 
01:00 pm  - Paying Guest (Hindi Serial) 
01:30 pm  - Wah Janab (Hindi Serial) 
01:55 pm  - U.S. Open Tennis Championship 
05:45 pm  - Hindi Film (Haamari Yaad Aayegi) 
08:40 pm  - Samachar 
09:00 pm  - Quiz Time 
09:30 pm  - The News 
10:00 pm  - Focus 
10:30 pm  - Krishna Janmabhoomi 
10:45 pm  - Hunger Relief Benefit Concert 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 12th October 1986 :

10:00 am  - Famous Five (English Serial) 
10:30 am  - Aarohi : Programme of Light Music 
11:00 am  - Aapne Aap : Do It Yourself 
11:15 pm  - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 
12:00 pm  - Khel Khel Mein (Hindi Serial) 
12:30 pm  - Chhoti Badi Baten (Hindi Serial) 
12:50 pm  - Khazana (Hindi Serial) 
01:20 pm  - Regional Film 
03:45 pm  - World of Sport 
05:45 pm  - Hindi Film (Andaaz) 
08:40 pm  - Samachar 
09:00 pm  - Quiz Time 
09:30 pm  - The News 
10:00 pm  - Focus 
10:20 pm  - Dussehra Celebrations 
10:40 pm  - Customs and Traditions of India 
11:00 pm  - Ram Bhajans  

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 22nd November 1987 :

07:30 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Samachar 
                   NCC Day Programme 
                   Keep Fit  
                   The News 
09:00 am  - He Man and the Masters of the Universe 
09:30 am  - Ramayan 
10:15 am  - Aur Bhi Hai Rahen (Hindi Serial) 
10:40 am  - Aapne Paraye (Hindi Serial) 
11:15 am  - Munshi Premchand Ki Amar Kahaniyan 
11:40 pm  - Mathemagic Show 
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:30 pm  - Regional Film 
03:50 pm  - World of Sport 
05:10 pm  - You Just Wait (English Serial) 
05:20 pm  - The World of Survival (English Serial) 
05:45 pm  - Hindi Film (Raaste Pyaar Ke) 
08:40 pm  - Samachar 
09:00 pm  - Great Expectations (English Serial) 
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Focus 
10:20 pm  - South Asian Federation Games 
10:50 pm  - Japan Festival 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 4th December 1988 :

National 
07:00 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Yoga for Everyone 
                   Samachar 
                   Rangoli 
                   The News 
Calcutta
08:00 am  - Rabindrasangeet by Purabi Dutta  
08:15 am  - Bichitra 
08:45 am  - Folk Songs by Bishnupada Das 
National
09:00 am  - He Man and the Masters of the Universe 
09:30 am  - Mahabharat 
10:30 am  - Ek Samay Ki Baat (Hindi Serial) 
11:00 am  - Bheem Bhawani (Hindi Serial) 
11:30 am  - Aapni Aapni Laadai (Telefilm)  
12:10 pm  - Heritage of India  
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
02:40 pm  - South India Motor Rally  
05:00 pm  - National Geographic Special 
05:30 pm  - Hindi Film (Sajan Bina Suhagan) 
08:00 pm  - Guindy National Park 
Calcutta
06:30 pm  - Khayal and Dhrupad  
07:00 pm  - Shoe String (English Serial) 
07:50 pm  - Suswasthya 
08:20 pm  - Folk Songs by Dulal Chandra Kahar  
National
09:00 pm  - Quiz Time  
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Focus  
10:20 pm  - Rashtra Gourav Rajendra Prasad 
10:50 pm  - National Programme of Dance  

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 1st January 1989 :

National 
07:00 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Yoga for Everyone 
                   Samachar 
                   Rangoli 
                   The News 
Calcutta
08:00 am  - Rabindrasangeet by Nilima Sen 
08:15 am  - Bichitra 
08:45 am  - Folk Songs by Kamal Gupta
National
09:00 am  - He Man and the Masters of the Universe 
09:30 am  - Mahabharat 
10:30 am  - Ek Samay Ki Baat 
11:00 am  - Bheem Bhawani (Serial) 
11:30 am  - Bharat Ek Khoj 
12:30 pm  - Supermen of Soccer 
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:30 pm  - Regional Film 
03:40 pm  - World of Sport 
05:00 pm  - Zoo 2000 
05:30 pm  - The Wind in the Willow 
05:45 pm  - Hindi Film (Pyaar Ki Jeet)
Calcutta
06:30 pm  - Khayal and Dadra by M.R. Gautam 
07:00 pm  - Shoe String (English Serial) 
07:50 pm  - Suswasthya 
08:20 pm  - Folk Songs by Swapan Roy 
National
09:00 pm  - SAARC audio visual programme 
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Quiz Time 
10:30 pm  - Focus 
11:00 pm  - BharatNatyam by Sujata Srinivasan 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 4th February 1990 : 

National 
07:00 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Thought of the Day 
                   Samachar 
                   Rangoli 
                   The News 
Calcutta
08:00 am  - Rabindrasangeet by Kanika Banerjee  
08:10 am  - Saptahiki
08:30 am  - Telescope
National
09:00 am  - Mahabharat 
10:10 am  - Lekhu (Serial) 
10:30 am  - Glo Friends (Serial) 
11:00 am  - Yeh Gulistan Hamara 
11:40 am  - Saving the Tiger 
12:15 pm  - Bhajan by Anuradha Paudwal  
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:30 pm  - Regional Film 
03:45 pm  - World of Sport 
05:20 pm  - Looking Beyond with 
                   Hugh & Collen Gantzer 
05:45 pm  - Hindi Film (Alag Alag)
Calcutta
07:30 pm  - Classical Music  
07:50 pm  - Jane Eyre (English Serial) 
08:40 pm  - Samachar 
09:00 pm  - Adhunik by Manabendra Mukherjee
09:15 pm  - Suswasthya 
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Prakriti Paduar Abhijan (Bengali Serial)
10:20 pm  - Sambad  
National 
08:40 pm  - Samachar 
09:00 pm  - Pop Time featuring Louis Banks  
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Focus  
10:20 pm  - India Vs New Zealand Cricket highlights 
10:50 pm  - National Programme of Dance 

  

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 3rd March 1991 :

National 

07:00 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Thought of the Day 
                   Samachar 
                   Rangoli 
                   The News 
Calcutta
08:00 am  - Rabindrasangeet by Purabi Mukherjee  
08:10 am  - Saptahiki
08:30 am  - Women Courage (Play in English)
National
09:00 am  - The Sword of Tipu Sultan   
10:00 am  - Humse Seekho (Serial) 
10:30 am  - Sport Light (Serial) 
11:00 am  - Samachar  
11:05 am  - Guinness Book of World Records 
11:30 am  - Kunwar Sahab (Hindi Serial) 
11:55 am  - Punjabi Folk Song 
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:30 pm  - Regional Film 
04:15 pm  - World of Sport 
Calcutta 
05:30 pm  - Bengali Film (Bratacharini) 
08:20 pm  - Adhunik by Jaganmoy Mitra 
National 
09:00 pm  - Itihas Ke Gawah (Hindi Serial) 
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Focus 
10:20 pm  - National Programme of Dance 
10:50 pm  - 2nd Northeast Youth Festival 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 5th April 1992 : 

National 
07:00 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Thought of the Day 
                   Samachar 
                   Rangoli 
                   The News 
07:50 am  - Laurel and Hardy 
08:15 am  - The News 
09:00 am  - Chanakya 
10:00 am  - Cartoon Show by Children's Film Society 
10:30 am  - Cricket with Amarnath 
11:00 am  - Tom and Jerry 
11:15 am  - National Geographic Special 
12:00 pm  - Bharat Ke Shaheed 
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:30 pm  - Regional Film 
03:45 pm  - World of Sport 
Calcutta 
05:35 pm  - Bengali Film (Aparajito) 
08:00 pm  - A Programme on Id-Ul-Fitr 
National 
08:40 pm  - Samachar 
09:00 pm  - Ras Rang 
09:30 pm  - The News 
09:50 pm  - Focus 
10:20 pm  - National Programme of Dance 
10:50 pm  - Special Programme on Id-Ul-Fitr 
11:20 pm  - Maritime Heritage 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 9th May 1993 : 

National 
07:00 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Thought of the Day 
                   Samachar 
                   Rangoli 
07:50 am  - Tom and Jerry 
08:15 am  - The News 
Calcutta
08:30 am  - Sara Prithibir Roopkatha 
National
09:00 am  - Bible Ki Kahaniyan 
10:00 am  - Jungle Book 
11:15 am  - Music and Dance Programme 
11:30 am  - Sport Light 
12:00 pm  - Ekas Ke Hum Barik 
12:30 pm  - Shankar Shad Mushaira 
01:15 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:30 pm  - Regional Film 
03:50 pm  - World of Sport 
04:45 pm  - Programme on Indo-Japanese expedition 
Calcutta 
05:15 pm  - Bengali Film (Megh O Roudra) 
07:45 pm  - Saptahiki 
National 
08:45 pm  - Bharat Ek Khoj 
09:45 pm  - The News 
10:00 pm  - Focus 
10:30 pm  - Chitrangada 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 19th June 1994 : 

National 
05:00 am  - World Cup Football 
                   (Colombia Vs Romania) 
07:00 am  - Samachar 
07:10 am  - Rangoli 
08:10 am  - The News 
08:20 am  - The World News 
09:00 am  - Chandrakanta 
10:00 am  - Alice In Wonderland 
10:30 am  - Disney Adventures 
11:30 am  - Sports Special 
01:00 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:15 pm  - Regional Film 
04:00 pm  - World of Sport 
04:30 pm  - Sports Special 
Calcutta 
05:00 pm  - Bengali Film (Sagarika) 
07:30 pm  - Sambad 
08:15 pm  - Clean and Pure Ganga 
National 
09:00 pm  - Alif Laila 
09:30 pm  - Hot Spot : Pop Music 
10:00 pm  - The News 
10:30 pm  - World Cup Football 
                   (Belgium Vs Morocco) 
DD METRO 
07:00 am  - Metro Diary 
07:15 am  - Secrets of the Sea 
07:45 am  - The Whys and the Wherefores 
08:00 am  - The Breakfast Show 
08:30 am  - Light Music 
09:15 am  - Telesoccer 
09:30 am  - Palace on Wheels 
10:00 am  - Zameen Aasmaan 
10:30 am  - Rajni 
11:00 am  - Aadharshila 
11:30 am  - Guinness Book of World Records 
12:00 pm  - Harekarakamba 
12:30 pm  - Korak 
01:00 pm  - Western Music 
01:30 pm  - Kathay Kathay 
02:00 pm  - Samachar 
02:20 pm  - Hindi Film (Daulat Ki Jung) 
05:00 pm  - Expedition to the Animal Kingdom 
05:30 pm  - Gillette World of Sports 
06:00 pm  - Tarang 
06:30 pm  - Youth Fire 
06:55 pm  - Light Music (Ghulam Ali) 
07:30 pm  - Jungle Book 
08:00 pm  - Cibaca Geet Mala 
08:30 pm  - Shri Krishna (Dubbed in Bengali) 
09:00 pm  - Superhit Muqabla 
10:00 pm  - Ramdhanu 
10:30 pm  - Sambad 
10:40 pm  - Question Forum 
11:10 pm  - English Film (Anna Karenina) 

Here is the Sunday Doordarshan schedule of 23rd July 1995 : 

DD 1 
05:55 am  - Vande Mataram 
                   Thought of the Day 
06:00 am  - For the Universities 
07:00 am  - Samachar 
07:10 am  - Rangoli 
08:10 am  - The News 
09:00 am  - Chandrakanta 
10:00 am  - Potli Baba Ki 
10:30 am  - Women of India 
11:00 am  - Documentary 
11:30 am  - Spirit of Unity Concerts 
12:30 pm  - Sheila (Serial) 
01:00 pm  - News Magazine for the Hearing Impaired 
01:15 pm  - News in Sanskrit 
01:25 pm  - Regional Film 
04:00 pm  - Bengali Film (Dewa Neya) 
06:25 pm  - Chikitsa Sankat 
07:00 pm  - Sambad 
07:50 pm  - Current Affairs 
08:30 pm  - Living On The Edge 
09:00 pm  - India Quiz by Siddhartha Basu 
09:30 pm  - Surabhi 
10:00 pm  - Reporter (Serial) 
10:30 pm  - Imtihaan (Serial) 
11:00 pm  - The World This Week 
DD 2 
06:55 am  - Bhajans 
07:25 am  - Secrets of the Sea 
07:55 am  - Keep Fit 
08:10 am  - Dart 
08:20 am  - Career Watch 
08:30 am  - Animals of the Farthing Wood 
09:00 am  - Phulwari Bachchon Ki 
09:30 am  - Light Music 
10:00 am  - Disney Club 
10:30 am  - Dennis the Menace 
11:00 am  - Mahabharat (Re-run) 
12:00 pm  - Kabir (Bengali Drama) 
01:00 pm  - Chitra (Serial) 
01:30 pm  - Money Monitor 
02:00 pm  - Hindi Film (Dhund) 
05:00 pm  - Sports Special 
05:30 pm  - MTV 
07:00 pm  - Mirch Masala 
07:25 pm  - Nazaare 
07:30 pm  - Show Theme 
08:00 pm  - Chouke Pe Chhakka 
08:30 pm  - Shri Krishna (Dubbed in Bengali) 
09:00 pm  - Superhit Muqabla 
10:00 pm  - Sambad 
10:10 pm  - Eyewitness 
10:35 pm  - Barbara Walter's Interview of a Lifetime 
11:00 pm  - Motor Sports 
11:35 pm  - Brazil Vs Uruguay 
12:00 am  - MTV Midnight Hour 

I hope most of you will remember most of the above mentioned shows. Cable TV was fascinating but our good old Doordarshan was still holding its own. In the 80's we had a black and white TV with a machher kata type antenna on our rooftop. In the 90's we got a Videocon colour TV which didn't even have a remote!    

In those days we didn't have cable TV at our home. So when some of the MTV shows were telecast on Doordarshan on Sunday evenings on DD2, it was really something refreshing and energizing. To watch cable TV I used to go to our cousin's place. In those days, trust me I swear on God, MTV and Channel V used to show music videos and used to focus totally on music related content, however strange and unbelievable it may sound today!

Sometimes my cousins would come over and then Sunday evenings meant playing cricket on our terrace with a tennis ball. We still have that cricket bat which we had bought from a Sports shop at Bhowanipore. 

Sunday nights meant Superhit Muqabla on DD Metro. This musical Countdown Show was one of the most commercially successful shows in the history of Television and had instantly become a cultural phenomenon. Especially youngsters were glued to their TV sets from 9pm to 10pm on Sundays. 

This was the brainchild of Harish Thawani of the Nimbus Group. In those days there were no sms-es and therefore the number one song every week was selected through, hold your breath, Postcard-polls. Even I once sent a postcard. In those days Baba Sehgal, as a VJ in this musical countdown show, had become the most popular entertainer in India. He rocked us with the song Dil Dhadke and its music video featuring Pooja Bedi had become a rage. Baba Sehgal with his fast-talks, raps and his sense of humour became a phenomenal success in the early 90's. Even Shah Rukh Khan as a VJ with all his tomfoolery was no match for Baba Sehgal! 

Then there was Apache Indian too. 

Also some obscure guy named Style-Bhai had become a one hit wonder. Daler Mehndi gave us the earthy rustic feel of rural Punjab. The music director Biddu was back with newer music videos of old songs. Remakes and remixes were the order of the day. And then Alisha Chinoy created history with Made in India. 

I also loved Colonial-Cousins very much. From the 80's, Doordarshan showcased the talents of names like Sharon Prabhakar, Gurdaas Mann, Penaz Masani etc. With the 90's, names like Ila Arun, Anaida, Suchitra Krishnamurthi, Suneeta Rao, Shaan and Sagarika, Rageshwari, Shweta Shetty, Bally Sagoo and many more came up. Palash Sen made us euphoric with his band. And finally there was the one and only Amitabh Bachchan with Aby Baby. Remember Ek Rahen Eer?  

During the early part of the 90's, Michael Jackson was supposed to come to India and perform at Bombay. India was witnessing Michael-mania in anticipation of his arrival. Kruttika Desai as a VJ of Superhit Muqabla was damn smoking hot. In one funny scripted episode, most probably shot in Singapore, she was trying very hard to get an interview of Michael Jackson. She even 'pataoed' MJ's bodyguard. However she failed to gain access for the interview. She came back to her hotel room, got sad, depressed and kept on sulking. Suddenly she saw Michael Jackson standing at her door. She fainted! 

However this India tour was later cancelled by MJ due to health reasons and subsequently many Indian hearts were broken, including mine. Found this picture in the internet : 

Here are some of my favourite non-filmi songs which I used to relish on Superhit Muqabla : 

And here is an interesting trivia. Superhit Muqabla used to play only Bollywood and Indipop songs. But only once the show had included the title track of a Doordarshan serial named Kismat in its countdown. But it could not have been a coincidence that the serial was produced by the same company that made the countdown show. Here is that soulful song sung by Sanu : 

Here are some of my most favourite ads of that bygone era : 

 

And, my all-time favourite statement, and my present mobile ring-tone, Kya Swaad Hai Zindagi Mein... : 

And here are just some of Doordarshan's Foreign Goods : 

Around 2004/2005, Sunday evenings meant Formula One Races. I never missed a single race. In those days I knew each and every detail regarding those races. I used to enjoy them a lot and never changed the TV channel during these F1 showdowns. I was passionate and obsessed with Formula One races during that period.     

Sundays meant, around 2007/2008, Friends FM Radio. I used to religiously listen to the programme on Rabindranath Tagore by Soumitro Chatterjee from 10am to 12 noon. Then I used to listen to Srikanto Acharya's programme from 12 noon to 2pm. After dusk, I used to listen to Anjan Dutta from 8pm to 10pm and then Rupam On The Rocks from 10pm to 12 midnight. Once in 2007 during the height of the Nandigram movement, Rupam Islam did a show at C.U. Institute Hall in favour of Sonachura Hospital. Later that night however his radio programme on Friends FM was mysteriously stopped around 11:30pm and old hindi songs started playing in its place. This kind of a thing had never ever happened before or since that day. 

Sundays, for the last few years, mean buying each and every english and bengali newspaper available. AnandaBazar Patrika's Robibashoriyo and Ekdin's Nabapatrika are good. But nowadays I hate The Telegraph's Graphiti and especially Suhel Seth's column Survival Strategies. I really miss the old Telegraph Magazine very very very much. However today my favourite Sunday magazine is Sangbad Pratidin's Robbar. 

During my school years, Sundays were the best part of my existence. I hated going to school. I wanted every day of my life to be like a Sunday. During my college years, Sundays were again the best part of my existence. I loved college, but hated attending classes. I studied Political Science at St. Xavier's College. During those Xaverian years, saturday nights usually meant Some-Place-Else, Tantra, and sometimes Venom. Entire saturday nights were spent at and around Park Street. Sunday dawns usually meant tea at road side tea stalls. Then I would come back home and go straight to sleep. Wake up around 2pm or 3pm. Take a bath, have lunch and go to Park Street Barista on evenings which did not have F1 races. In those days Barista used to be on the opposite side of the road from where it is today, closer to the Airtel Customer Care office. Cafe-Coffee-Day used to be next to Peter Cat. Sunday evenings at Park Street were really special. Also Sunday evenings were spent at College Street Coffee House. This iconic place on Sundays opens in the morning, closes in the afternoon and again opens in the evening around 5pm. Sundays meant, and it still means, Peace, Happiness and Nirvana... 

PS : Thanks to The Telegraph Colour Magazine for making my Sundays so Special. 

PPS : Thanks to Doordarshan for making my Sundays extraordinarily Special. 

PPPS : I will keep on updating this Blog-Post with newer materials every now and then... 



---