Writing after a long while is certainly a pleasure. Not very much into the idiot box anymore (after the year 2008 or so), I may not be the right person posting this but after all this space is mine. So let me have the the opportunity to elucidate the series of events that pushed me towards this painful activity.
I lived a normal life with all the modern facilities (the internet, basically), food and water (for thirst as I have always maintained, is a very dangerous thing) till one day when the internet started behaving human. As the world comprises of much more smarter people today than ever before, I reckon it is unessential to elaborate the working of the internet and servers on which it works. By the way, I think that even I might get confused in the process of explanation. So, in the vernacular of the common man, the servers were down. I looked behind to ensure that the food and water were safe enough. For a couple of minutes, I played with the idea of dozing off for the whole day but it wouldn't be fruitful as the pain of separation from all the three essentialities would be unbearable. Hence, I looked for alternatives. In the vicinity, I heard a sound, a strange but familiar one. I tried to recollect where I had heard this one. In a flash, it occurred to me that it 'might' be the television. I still remember watching it ... in the days when people believed cartoons were real, and cellphones were mythological instruments of communication (I am good with exaggerations).
So I decided to live, only to die another day as James Bond would have said it. A long battle with the family members earned me the remote control. The remote control is one fine instrument and hence the battle, I must add. Within no time, I saw myself surfing through the channels. There were a lot of them, sports channels, entertainment channels, kids' channels, music channels, channels airing bull-shit, yes literally, it was certainly there on some channel that egotistically called itself an Animal Planet. Fascinated, I watched them, one after the other. Something called "daily soap" was very interesting. From that old lady who must have been in her grave by now to the kid who created all the nonsense that the show required, the supposed thirty minute show was something inexplicable. Why the middle aged woman cried was a mystery and the child artist's over-acting was history (perhaps in the making). Then I chanced upon something new, a Discovery in the sense of the word. There were humans, there was science, there were animals and there was a battle among the three. Nobody won, except the commercials in between. Commercials were categorical : boring, intriguing, funny, and some meaningless, nonetheless. I missed watching cartoon serials, the ones I used to see as a kid, but the best part came from a familiar territory, that of music. I listened to some good music that was occasionally interrupted again by commercial advertisements. Sports channels put up a dismal performance as there was nothing LIVE on them. There were movies on some entertainment channels but I didn't have the required time to spare.
And hence ended my tryst with the television. It may have sounded like a lifetime but I'm afraid (elated, rather) that it lasted not more than two hours. I do chance upon to see the television once in a while now. We are good friends now but not the best and none of us really care, I guess, for both have busier schedules now. For such a post, a perfect conclusion can do wonders but I am in no mood for any further extravaganzas. I would only like to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson for the ending as :
We aim above the mark, to hit the mark. Every act hath some falsehood of exaggeration in it.
