Sawaal-Jawaab
Around 15 years back, few houses had a Cable TV connection. Even the Cable TV channels were very few. So most of the people used to tune into Doordarshan. Doordarshan used to broadcast a number of very good programmes. And some programmes had a long lasting relationship with the viewers. They enjoyed huge viewer base, high TRPs which no present TV programmes can even dream of. They created a niche around them.
One of my favourites among them are Surabhi, Malgudi Days, Vyomkesh Bakshi. These programmes were very different from one another. One of them was a Cultural Magazine, one based on RK Narayan's collection of stories and one India's Sherlock Holmes.
Surabhi has been highly successful, running for over a decade. It used to be fresh in every episode. It was a collection of small documentaries on India's Culture, Dance, Music, Forests, Wildlife, Cinema, Cuisine ...... Two charming people used to anchor the show, the majestic Siddharth Kak and the charming Renuka Shahane, with her 10kW smile. They had a good chemistry between them. The anchors were also highly responsible for the success of Surabhi. I think in between the anchors got changed and the TRPs went down, later Siddharth and Renuka came back to anchor the show.
People of India were shown the treasures of India, which were unknown to most of us. Surabhi had stories from North to South, East to West, from even Lakshadweep and Andaman Nicobars, where they even met the native people who are still away from the modern world. In the later part, they also showed the very unknown Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kenya, Turkey... They were not the usual Travel Documentaries, where they will show the Hotels, Lodges... The documentaries used to concentrate of the Life, Culture, Cuisine of those places.
Surabhi was connected to the people with its Sawaal-Jawaab, the question and answer section, which was a new concept then when there were no mobile phones, no SMSs. People answered the questions with 15p post card, which was later replaced by a competition post card. I used to answer with atleast four cards, each one carrying the names of the four family members. Later, with the competition post cards, it got reduced to one or two. But I did not win in any of the lucky draws. But still there was a hope every time with the next Sawaal-Jawaab.
Later Surabhi started a section called 'Gyan-Vigyan', where people could ask answers for their questions in science which will be answered by Prof. Yash Pal and win prizes. This seemed to be a silver lining for me, who has been unlucky, to win by writing answers. I had sent a question, which was infact suggested to me by my sister. The question was 'When we feel sleepy, why do we yawn?'. In Gyan-Vigyan section of one of the episodes, the question was read out by the anchor to Professor. I was so sure of my unluck that I thought some one else has also sent the same question I sent. When they later turned the post card, I saw my name and I became so excited that I even forgot to listen to the answer. I was Jumping around with joy. They sent four books of the Cultural Magazine - Marg. I have only seen the huge pictures in those books multiple times, though havent read any of them yet.
All those days are gone only to remember and cherish. Though Surabhi TV did not continue on TV, it gave rise to a movement with the name - India Surabhi. I still wish Surabhi comes back on TV, with the same team of Siddharth Kak, Renuka Shahane and others.
Some of the episodes can be watched at Amul.tv
One of my favourites among them are Surabhi, Malgudi Days, Vyomkesh Bakshi. These programmes were very different from one another. One of them was a Cultural Magazine, one based on RK Narayan's collection of stories and one India's Sherlock Holmes.
Surabhi has been highly successful, running for over a decade. It used to be fresh in every episode. It was a collection of small documentaries on India's Culture, Dance, Music, Forests, Wildlife, Cinema, Cuisine ...... Two charming people used to anchor the show, the majestic Siddharth Kak and the charming Renuka Shahane, with her 10kW smile. They had a good chemistry between them. The anchors were also highly responsible for the success of Surabhi. I think in between the anchors got changed and the TRPs went down, later Siddharth and Renuka came back to anchor the show.
People of India were shown the treasures of India, which were unknown to most of us. Surabhi had stories from North to South, East to West, from even Lakshadweep and Andaman Nicobars, where they even met the native people who are still away from the modern world. In the later part, they also showed the very unknown Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kenya, Turkey... They were not the usual Travel Documentaries, where they will show the Hotels, Lodges... The documentaries used to concentrate of the Life, Culture, Cuisine of those places.
Surabhi was connected to the people with its Sawaal-Jawaab, the question and answer section, which was a new concept then when there were no mobile phones, no SMSs. People answered the questions with 15p post card, which was later replaced by a competition post card. I used to answer with atleast four cards, each one carrying the names of the four family members. Later, with the competition post cards, it got reduced to one or two. But I did not win in any of the lucky draws. But still there was a hope every time with the next Sawaal-Jawaab.
Later Surabhi started a section called 'Gyan-Vigyan', where people could ask answers for their questions in science which will be answered by Prof. Yash Pal and win prizes. This seemed to be a silver lining for me, who has been unlucky, to win by writing answers. I had sent a question, which was infact suggested to me by my sister. The question was 'When we feel sleepy, why do we yawn?'. In Gyan-Vigyan section of one of the episodes, the question was read out by the anchor to Professor. I was so sure of my unluck that I thought some one else has also sent the same question I sent. When they later turned the post card, I saw my name and I became so excited that I even forgot to listen to the answer. I was Jumping around with joy. They sent four books of the Cultural Magazine - Marg. I have only seen the huge pictures in those books multiple times, though havent read any of them yet.
All those days are gone only to remember and cherish. Though Surabhi TV did not continue on TV, it gave rise to a movement with the name - India Surabhi. I still wish Surabhi comes back on TV, with the same team of Siddharth Kak, Renuka Shahane and others.
Some of the episodes can be watched at Amul.tv
posted by Vinay at
9:03 PM
2 Comments:
Those were the days! Yeah, even I used to send out those post cards - used to be fun - no Google and all that. The quality of programmes on just DD used to be great, unlike the present situation - lots of channels with lots of low quality programming - 24 hrs a day. *SIGH*
I share the same feelings and I was one of the persons whose question was picked up but unfortunately, I was not able to watch that episode and the next morning my teacher told me that my question was selected. I am still searching for that episode. My question was "Why do we blink our eyes"
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