Saturday, June 7, 2008

No television

I have come to the feeling about television the way I do about hamburgers: I eat a lot of hamburgers and I don't remember a single one of them. -John Barrow

If you are reading this post probably theres a high probability that you own a television and watch it daily, not the case with the writer of this blog. Not to point out or say that its a big thing to do but I think 25 yrs was a sufficient time for me to understand the reality of wasting my time seeing the illusions (blended with reality) through a television set. No doubt I still revel and cherish the memories of my favourite programmes I used to watch during my teens when there was only one channel 'Doordarshan' which did not give us much choice as the programmes were so few in number yet I don't think it was late when reality struck on me and I decided not to purchase television when I started living alone around 7 years back. Since then I haven't felt any strong desire to own a set. Any passing thought of owing one is followed by bouts of thoughts of the mess it will make (or I will make) if I bought one. In fact my living alone makes up a strong case for me to own one.Quite often it surprises people around me when I tell them that I don't own a t.v all the while expecting me to give my views on a particular program they have watched. As it happened twice today it compelled me to write this post.

I won't call it an idiot box as the term is often coined to it. In fact it has benefited the society in many ways. Little children and old people who may have denied access to the wonderful world of reading and activities due to their physical inabilities surely benefit. Professionals in the busy corporate world get a chance to have a look at the happenings around them during their short break through
television. But this is not the case with everyone. Its only that we people who have been brought up on the diet of television watching which has now become an integral part of our daily lives don't really know how the other side is as they haven't walked into it.All of us accept the fact that too much of everything is bad.But when it comes to implementing it in case of watching too much television we simply don't show the guts.

Next time just try to watch out the time you devote to surfing channels (which are at least a hundred in the city I live). This time excludes the time you actually devote to a program you find interesting (or not interesting) before u switch to the main channel you are watching.
No doubt the images get registered into our mind much fast than the written word but the written word provides us to think on different dimensions.The places and histories we can visit through our imagination through the written media provide us with an infinite field which the stuffy media fails to showcase us. Only then the essence of our imagination can be realised. The retention of data of voice and images from television in our mind is very less. Moreover in spite of there being so many channels the choice of what to beam solely rest on the channel producers for whom we are just one more product.

Yes I do understand that news and informative live programs (be it live news or sports) and science channels do hold an edge over other mediums of information yet I m sure and confirm that if one is not 'crazy' enough and if one just tries to identify and pick up some other sources and mediums he can really nullify the losses. Moreover what I have found out is that even the news that we watch only a small percentage is actually what we retain or want to retain.The same goes for science channels.Certainly I have to miss live events (in my case live cricket) but that price is worth paying for.

The real life offers more wonderful things for relaxation and adventure that can't be offered through the square box in our living room.In my case if I had television I don't think I would have found time to learn guitar which I think I have started a little late in my life.A morning or evening walk through the serene nature,an open mind to know the events around you, and a realization about the things that will make you happy in the real life will be more rewarding than the pleasure and knowledge offered to you by the television set. We can leave the television for others in our family who need. It is not necessary that we have to constrain ourselves from something that pleases us the most. We will find time to meet our loved ones and build our relationships. Not making TV an essential part of life will make us to experience the essentials of our life. Moreover with the passing of time we will come to understand that life without television is not a mishappening, but something closer to LIFE.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have really let the TV go in our home. We used to have 3 TV's Now we have one. Which is hardly on. I cover it up most of the time. I would get rid of it but I have a husband who enjoys some shows.

Peace