Five vs Fifty Five

I am witness to a tug of war between two generations at our home these days. Belonging to a generation that does not qualify to participate in this “competition”, I have been reduced to being a mere spectator, but I’m not complaining! I’m referring to the “Battle for the TV Remote” between my five year old son and my sixty-something mother-in-law. While the former cannot comprehend why there even exist channels that do not show cartoons and choose to show real people instead, the latter’s blood pressure shoots up with every episode of her favorite soap that she misses. And the fact that my mother-in-law does not have “a” favorite soap, but plenty of them…actually as many as a 24-hour window would permit only complicates matters.

If I contrast this with my childhood it makes me realize what a pampered lot our children really are. We purchased our first television set when I was about ten years old and the only “choice” of channel was our state owned Doordarshan. The quality of programming notwithstanding, we were still glued to the television just for the sheer novelty value it brought into our lives. It was a matter of pride to me that we actually owned a television at home. I still vividly remember how people from my neighborhood flocked to our home just to watch funeral processions of famous political leaders - it supposedly offered such visual treat, more like what a reality show offers these days!

I apologize for the mini digression…so coming back to the battle for the remote. This problem reaches acute proportions especially during dinner time. Not a single grain of food can make it’s way into the little one’s mouth if the channel name on the top right corner does not look familiar to him. He still cannot read whole words, but knows enough to call his grandma’s bluff should she try to pass off “her” channel as “his”! It goes without saying that evenings are when some of the more popular soaps are on air and it’s quite a sight to watch the grandmother pleading with her grandson to let her have the remote. And the little one refuses to budge…not even during the commercial breaks!

Sometimes I try to get in the mix and suggest some not-so-controversial options (with a vested interest of course), like “news” or “cricket”…and that’s it. All hell breaks loose. I will be viewed as an intruder…more like the United States trying to mediate between India and Pakistan! So after a brief cameo appearance like this one, I invariably find solace in the day’s newspaper which I can usually lay my hands on without so much of a fight.

Lady Luck has never considered it worth her while to knock on my door. But I finally managed to break this jinx when I won a lucky dip at a shopping outlet and guess what the grand prize was…a color television. I was such a relieved man. I thanked the Almighty for taking pity on our plight and for His timely intervention in preventing what was definitely the Third World War in the making!! Not that I did not have the means to buy another television set, but that qualified as an outrageous thought, an unnecessary expenditure which we could very well do without. So even the slightest suggestion along those lines will be promptly vetoed by my dear wife, who incidentally is also a Finance professional!!

So when the free TV arrived, we installed it in our bedroom and struck a deal with our son. He will watch his cartoons in the bedroom and the main TV in the living room would cater to the rest of the family. It goes without saying that my mother-in-law is the dominant stakeholder when it comes to the living room TV, but I also have my way sometimes. I am allowed a sneak peek into the world of cricket and current affairs whenever the “best soaps” (what an oxymoron!) are not on air. I realize that this is as good as it gets and one must not overly complain…the war at my home may be over but the battle rages on in many other households…

Introduction

Welcome to "Coherent Thoughts, Incoherent Topics" ... a bold attempt at speaking my mind out loud. As the title suggests, any topic I feel strongly about will find a mention here. Hopefully it all makes sense ...