Kahaan gaye woh Log - The end of innocence !



One of lifes simple unadulterated pleasures is to '€˜out of the blue'€™ chance upon something that you have been searching for long and have given up of ever finding. The title tracks of Bharat Ek Khoj -€“ the landmark TV series on Doordarshan have been one such search for me. And imagine ones delight on finding them here.

A zillion thanks to Ram and whoever had the heart to record and digitise the tracks. May his tribe grow! May there be music in his life !!

Listen to the title track of the epoch serial



And the end credits



Finding the video of the absolutely endearing 'ek chidiya anek chidiyaan' video here was an added bonus.

Never thought the silly yet cloyingly sweet ‘public message’ after all these years would affect me with such a yearning for a bygone era. The channel wars that liberalisation unleashed on an unsuspecting nation signalled the end of innocence for Indian television transforming it into the cesspool that it is today. While one has never agreed with commie spoilsports on their arcane views on free markets, the outcry that liberalisation is a cultural death star partially makes sense when you consider the effect the channel wars have had on television in India.. The fact that my mother, a saas bahu serial addict vowed not to watch the regressive stuff again on realising that she is being taken for a ride should be an indicator of how bad the situation is. It was sheer disgust that prompted me to dump my 15 quid a month Star and Sony connection.

Ah those were the days… when a master film maker like Benegal would translate the likes of O Henry, Chekhov and Tolstoy in his Katha Sagar, when theatre veteran Vijaya Mehta made a series called Lifeline set in Mumbais Breach candy Hospital with stalwarts of Bombays theatre scene. (can never forget the title track...trademark Vanraj Bhatia) Those were the days when powerful images from Govind Nihalanis ‘Tamas’ seared a nation’s conscience warning us against forgetting history.
(If a kind soul has the haunting title track of tamas please please send it to me.Shall remain indebted to you all my life)

And of course the childlike warmth that Yeh Jo hai zindagi, Nukkad, Circus etc exuded. Remember the regional movie slot at 1:30 pm that exposed one to the masterpieces of Ray, Mani Ratnam, Jabbar Patel, Girish Kasaravalli,etc. And then there was that sensitively shot series on Sharat Chandras charitraheen – probably the only screen interpretation of the classic.

Somebody needs to tell the babus at Mandi House that they are sitting on a mine house of masterpieces,that would fetch them a small fortune if released on DVD. Yes Doordarshan needs to take a clue from Channel 4 and BBC and release some of their premium stuff on DVD.(that is if the tapes haven’t been destroyed in their junk yards)

Some golden oldies I would grab on DVD are
1.Bharat Ek Khoj
2.Lifeline
3.Chanakya
4.Tamas
5.Mirza Ghalib
6.Nukkad
7.Victor Banerjees documentary on the Indian Railways

Bring back the good old days.I for one would endure any amounts of 'rukaawat ke liye khed hai' and matrons as announcers for one hour of quality television.