I woke up sharp at 3:45...happy with myself that i was well on time for this year's Mahalaya, as in all other years as far as i can remember. Pawan and Baby were fast asleep. I did not wish to wake them up...it was my time with the reverend Television!
The clock struck 4 and i promptly put on the TV. Last night, after a feverish search for all possible Bangla channels across all 104 or 5 channel that we have here, I had mentally noted down the numbers. So here I was sitting all crouched in my sofa...surfing channel after channel, hoping to catch a glimpse of Devi Durga, errrr some of the pretty faces from Tollywood.
...and this is how my experience goes...
Doordarshan - All music recitals
Doordarshan (Kolkata) - all possible artists trying their vocal cords
ETV Bangla - no chance Boss, its yet not time
Akash Bangla - thankfully they had begun something but wait a minute...this programme people had actally conceptualised Mahalaya in the background of a completely new story - that of a grandma trying to save her ancentral home from going to the hands of a builder and her reminiscence of all those years when Durga Puja was a prime event there. She narrates the tale of Durga to her grandchildren. Trust me, this reads good but all those dance sequences and poor performing artists were giving me a headache.
Zee Bangla - not telecast at our place
Some other two-penny channel - I guess the movie they were airing then was a telugu one dubbed in Bangla.
I could endure all this nonsense no more than an hour. I put off the TV and went back to sleep, all dejected.
I may have been trying to catch on to Mahalaya at the wrong time but for all i remember, I have always woken up at 4 each year for this. How come this year, the Bangla channel world ditched me???
Never mind, next year on I will have to get on my tech-savvy attitude on track, buy some DVDs of Mahalaya and watch them at 4 a.m. (i feel this is the best time that makes up the mood for the same, no other time).
