I was thinking about my general disinterest in watching TV, and wondering where it came from. Given the kind of television programming there is, I am not surprised at my current loathing of TV (in general). But the fact is that I have never been a TV fan since my late childhood. I would always rather just read a book.
I am old enough to have grown up when TV was not as ubiquitous as it is now. In fact, my family got our first TV when I was around 6 years old, and then our first color TV when I was around 10. At that time, all we had was Doordarshan, with limited programming. Cable TV came to India when I was probably in my teens. It was an awe inspiring jaw dropping deal at the time. So I guess the really young age when kids get addicted to cartoons, I did not have a TV at home. And then later, there were books to read, and games to play, and gossip to gossip, and lastly, studies as well ;-) TV kind of took a backseat in my life.
I went to undergrad hostel, where there was enough squabbling at any time about what to see on the one TV set in the entire hostel- in our TV room. While the majority always won, I was never invested enough to sit there in those uncomfortable plastic chairs and be a passive observer. Besides, this was college- a whole new life to be lived, and a whole new set of people to gossip about. The same more than held true at my graduate school too.
At home, my mom ruled the roost when it came to TV viewing. I could not bring myself to see all those regressive saas-bahu/ joint family soaps that dominate Indian television. Ohh, I tried, but found the tripe indigestible. Then I came to the US, and did not own a TV for the next five years.
It has been a mixture of not having access or having limited access to TV, coupled with a general dislike of what is being aired, coupled with a love of books- and I now have very little interest in actually watching TV. I feel it is the most massive passive waste of time. TV is usually my last resort, sometimes not even that.
I have tried being interested in shows. But nothing captures and retains my attention long enough. I can read books big enough to weigh a ton, but can never sustain interest in a half-hour TV show. That is how I am. Which is lucky in our house, because there are no fights for the remote!
(Image source: http://evelynparham.com/2011/10/20/5-reasons-why-i-hate-fitness-infomercials/)
3 comments:
here I share your dislike for TV. Though I watch sporadically for news. May be again in my case too, my love for reading is the culprit.
@Meenakshi- welcome to the blog! I agree, if you love reading, one does prefer it over other forms of entertainment.
I Completely agree with your article. Coming generations must think about this....You can use your precious time to do a lot of other thing ...That's is truly a Idiot Box.
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