No noise, no outage, no calls to cable operators and plenty of Kindle — that’s how I would describe the last five years of my life without TV. No, I do not live under a rock, but I choose what I watch!My son is an expert. We suddenly decided to watch the T20 World Cup finals last week — well, apparently it’s the done thing, even if you don’t watch cricket, to watch your country do stuff on TV. But we had no cable, no dish and no account. He managed to get a live telecast on his mobile phone and then he ‘screencast’ it to the TV set. Every alternate moment the picture refreshed itself, so you actually saw Chaplin-type movements jerking across the screen. Not cricket! After a bit more fiddling, he got a Tab to work and we watched the match in all its 11-inch glory with the excitement ramped up through a Bluetooth speaker. Why this primitive engineering, I hear you cry. Why not just watch it on Disney+Hotstar or Star Sports? Here’s the backstory.
Around the end of 2018 when my kids declared their independence from my opinion and their dependence on their mobile phones, I realised that the TV subscription was relatively useless
Around the end of 2018 when my kids declared their independence from my opinion and their dependence on their mobile phones, I realised that the TV subscription was relatively useless. After a few problems with the DTH operators, mostly non-availability of signals when you are stuck at home in the rain, I stopped paying. I did send them a polite letter which went into the circular file. The service died. And no one noticed. The set top box was relegated to the cupboard top. A brief flirtation with the Cable Guy (wink!) convinced us that investing in a stronger wi-fi would be more fruitful. After a little cold turkey, largely revolving around switching on a dead screen and wondering why, all of us got into our own alternative devices and never missed traditional TV again.
A brief flirtation with the Cable Guy (wink!) convinced us that investing in a stronger wi-fi would be more fruitful Shutterstock
You have a multiplex in your hands! We watched the New Empire-Lighthouse combine gradually give way to a shopping complex, various other cinema halls reluctantly forced to shut doors, and the blossoming of multiplexes, multi screens and multi-rupee popcorn packs. We knew we would shortly be spoilt for choice, and then came OTT on your smartphone and smarter TVs. Everyone has their own phone and everyone decides what they want to do with it — gaming, largely, I’m told. Facebook and Instagram — reels and stories which make scrolling addictive. Yes, I know that I’m probably missing all the new stuff that I don’t know about yet. And WhatsApp is the official news service for many. The point is that we now have individual choices. We can advertise our successes and failures, what we eat or are about to eat, where we are, our cats or dogs, and when we plan to return from a holiday so the burglars can plan their break in.
What I used to miss about TV is the family fight during prime time — which channel to watch? Cartoon Network, Pogo and Discovery Channel, those electronic nannies, charted the intellectual growth of kids at home. Negotiations and consensus were probably the big corporate learnings out of this. Even the maid had her prime time during dusting hours. In the good old days when we watched Bangladesh TV, with those 11-element antennas, we would all be home to watch some particular show like Shogun. Not anymore. Everyone watches their own shows on their mobiles, ears firmly plugged, ignoring calls for dinner, or the bus conductor calling “Phari” to remind you where you get off.
What I used to miss about TV is the family fight during prime time — which channel to watch? Shutterstock
I also miss the ads. They kept me informed about how deprived a life I was leading without those amazing gadgets and amenities that were always at 10% off for a limited period which never ended. All washing powders were “new”, “improved”, “with power boosters”. Yellowish shirts went into the magic bucket and came out whiter than they were manufactured. Chocolate starred as a teenage love potion as well as a smear for stain removers to do their thing. Ageing film stars shared the secret of their beauty by promoting RO water filters. Onscreen neighbours compared how long their paint lasted, or tried to break down walls made impregnable with TMT bars or cement. Girls could now dance or cycle for those few days due to whispered protection!
‘I didn’t get the full experience since I was watching the advertisement on my little, old, 22 inch, just-about-colour TV, with a monophonic tweeter’ Shutterstock
I can never forget the confusion of watching advertisements for TV sets. They demonstrated 56-inch diagonal, 50 million colours, HD TV and sound blaster speakers! Unfortunately, I didn’t get the full experience since I was watching the advertisement on my little, old, 22 inch, just-about-colour TV, with a monophonic tweeter. I really don’t miss the ads that would pop up when watching any kind of game. The moment there was an action replay we would be treated to the benefits of products that were sponsoring the event. And TV spoiled us. We now go to the stadium for live matches and hope to see action replays live!
Just to remain relevant, and more for YouTube learning during the lockdown, I ordered a FireStick on Amazon along with a Prime account. Ah, for a moment those TV days were back. But now we can binge-watch serials at our leisure. Music is available round the clock. And you can forward-rewind or pause like the good old cassette tape days.
The biggest upshot of this No-TV decision is that my evenings are filled with reading, meeting people, listening to and playing music and writing, of course! FOMO? No more.
It’s been an interesting journey for me. When a friend visits me today, we are not glued to the latest episode of a serial, the time dictated by the broadcaster. We can switch off and be there in the here and now. There was a time when visiting a friend meant turning your chair to face the TV and exchanging pleasantries during the ad breaks, which were mercifully plentiful. Important final matches like the one mentioned earlier are still an issue if you are not tuned in. But the excitement continues for days to come with the expert opinions and videos on each stroke, catch, dribble or goal inundating social media. Occasionally, in a spurt of longing for news, or a bout of masochism, I switch to Channel Rowdy on my device —- that’s the one where the rancour-anchor uses decibels to make a point. The volume control or earphones help in saving me from noise pollution complaints from the neighbours.
The biggest upshot of this No-TV decision is that my evenings are filled with reading, meeting people, listening to and playing music and writing, of course! FOMO? No more. And I have never watched Netflix, I confess!
