THE IDIOT BOX

THE IDIOT BOX

The first time I saw a television set was when I joined Indian Air Force in 1970. On the first day itself, I found a crowd of people sitting in the recreation hall in our camp watching a small screen. I did not know then that it was a television set. I wondered why the screen was so small. I looked back to see the projector room and the rays coming from it, as happens in a cinema hall.  But, there were none. I could not ask anyone on the mystery as all were sitting or standing with their eyes glued on the screen. The recreation hall was full. I too joined them deciding to enjoy what was on the screen, rather than worrying about how it happened. Later, I learned from my friends that I was watching a television screen. I had a fare idea on what a television was from my readings; but never did I expect that I would be able to set my eyes on it. It was a great adventure for me and my first letter to home had carried the story in all its glory.

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Years later, I got married. By the time I left Air Force after my initial term of engagement and got re-employed near my home town, I was father to two kids.

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Frankly, it was not in my nature to wish for something that was not affordable. A television set remained unaffordable to me even after two decades of my first adventure of having seen one. Unaffordable in the sense that I felt it was not wise to invest a big amount just for the luxury of it; considering my financial prospects in those days. Not only that, I was cautious more on its disadvantages rather than advantages. That had always been so with me, when it came to spending. I would be inclined to find fault with that which was not affordable to me, like the old fox blaming the grapes for being sour.

My family life was quite comfortable and enjoyable as such; without any necessity of spices such as a television set to add to its taste. That was what I thought. I enjoyed the company of my wife and children. My wife, a teacher, and my children would reach home before I reach back from the office. They would be eagerly waiting for my arrival, with many stories to be disclosed. It was a practice with me to buy some fruits or bakery items on my return to home. My children would pounce on me the moment I reach home. They would compete to grab the packet from me and then would want me to listen to their adventures at school. It used to be a hard time for my wife to get me to the table for a tea and snacks. At tea, it would be her turn. She would tell me, might be about an article she read somewhere, might be about the discomforts at school or might be about a new dish that she planned to experiment. I enjoyed listening to them. My turn to talk would be after my bath when I would stretch my legs on an easy chair in the porch, catching the fresh breeze from outside. Time was always running short for us to share our day to day experiences. As twilight drew the curtain down for the day, I would check on the home works given to my children. And later they would indulge in their own studies and preparations. My wife would be busy either in the kitchen or preparing the teaching notes.

One day,  as usual, I was coming back from the office with a packet in my hand. I smelt that something had gone wrong. The children seemed to be not much enthusiastic about the packet in my hand. That disappointed me. It was an easy walk for me to the table for the tea. I became eager not to have my tea, but to have my wife speak.

And she spoke. She told me of her visit to the neighbour on hearing that they had bought a television set. TV was not a common household item in those days in our village. She had taken the children too. The cat had come out of the bag. I knew then the reason for the dismal performance of my children when I arrived. The glamour of the television had taken away the glamour of my packet.

The day next was a holiday. My younger daughter sought my permission to visit the neighbour. She was the bolder of the two. She wanted to watch the television. I looked at my elder one and found that she also was equally eager to know my response. Holidays were precious to me. There were many games in which we indulge in holidays. There would be many jokes to share. The stress and strain from the routine would get relieved. Every one of us had to be together to enjoy the fun of a holiday. That had always been so. If one link was out, the whole necklace would fall down.

More than that, I disliked the habit of my children frequently visiting the neighbourhood. Even when we visit, I liked it to be together. However, I did not want to spoil the mood of my children on a holiday like that. So, without outwardly showing my disapproval, I just advised them that it was not very ideal to visit neighbourhood frequently. I could see the charm dripping away from their faces.

For the first time, my wife suggested to me the idea of buying a television set. I tried to convince her of the futility in investing a large amount which would only result in drawing back the attention of our children from their studies. The silence on her face did not tell me whether she agreed or not. I had never thought of buying a TV earlier. For news, we had the newspapers. For films, we used to visit the nearby theaters quite often.

A visit from a friend turned the table totally against me. I tried to gain support from him by bringing into our general discussions, the ill effects of television on the children. I thought he would agree as he also did not have a set at his home. But things went the other way. He said he was planning to buy one. He gave me a lecture on its educational value. And that was a point for my wife to cling on. I agreed to buy a set.

Arriving at a decision often got delayed with me. But once decided, I was quick to act on it. So, the very next week I bought one set. It was a TV with a small sized screen. I was happy. Not because a TV adorned our drawing room, but because I found the charm back on the faces of my dear ones.

On the next day, as usual, I carried a packet of eatables while returning from office. At home, I found no one waiting for me. I entered the drawing room. All were busy watching the TV. For a moment they threw a glance at me, and then their eyes shifted back to the TV. The children were not coming to grab the packet from me. I kept it on the fridge. Slowly I walked to the dining table and pulled out a chair. It seemed that the noise woke up my wife. She called out that she would be coming in a moment. None had any thing to talk. After serving me the tea as fast as she could, my wife was back with the children for watching the TV. I felt disillusioned.

I began to realize what I was losing. The TV had started commanding attraction. I was no more an attraction. They had nothing to talk to me. I stopped bringing the usual packets while coming back from the office. No one seemed to notice even that. At stake was not only my happiness but also the prospect of the studies of my children. As expected, the children started showing signs of disinterest in their studies. I could not blame them. What else was the purpose of buying the TV, if not for watching? Oh! God, what a splendid educational value it has!

The TV made me unimportant and unwanted. It parted my family from me. Not only that, it started parting the children between themselves. One would want to see the cartoons while the other wanted to see film. My wife too joined the fray with her eagerness to watch the serials. I had to find a solution to the whole problem. The only remedy I could think of was to send this guest out of home once and for ever.

But, how? I had to scheme things. The guest was a darling to others, even though the worst enemy to me. It would not be possible to throw him out alive. Others would not accept it. Such an action would be very detrimental to the interest of peace and happiness at home. I had to somehow kill him. Kill him in such a way that he wouldn’t fetch life again. Kill him in such a way that it should look like a natural death and not as a murder. And then his corpse would no more be an attraction.

The decision had been taken. Now, the remaining part was to implement it in a most unsuspicious manner. I decided to cut the wires inside the TV after opening its back cover. I can do that in the absence of others even if it meant taking one day leave. But, for that I should know how to open the back cover. So, I set off to a TV repairing shop run by a friend of mine just to watch and learn how to open the back cover. The man was already doing his operations on the inside of a TV. I decided to wait and watch till he opened the next. After exchanging greetings, I just talked to him on general topics as if I had come only to revive our friendship. He never raised his head again to look at me while I talked. He was totally absorbed in his work, but nodded now and then. That was enough. I just wanted to justify my standing there till he opened another.

My wait turned out to be futile. Losing patience, I asked him straight as to how the back cover could be opened. For the first time, he raised his face and looked at me. “Why should you know?” He asked. “Bring it to me if you have a problem. It is dangerous to open it by yourself.” He advised. I agreed and meekly walked out.

Things were not running the way I thought. I hoped against hope that it would get malfunctioned by itself some way. Nothing happened and days moved on.

I didn’t have to wait long before another idea struck my mind. It was an advertisement notice found between the sheets of a newspaper at my office that kicked up the idea in me. The advertisement was about an exchange scheme of the same brand of our TV whereby one can get a new one with a screen of larger size. The price of the old one would be decided by its age and the company promised to pay reasonably well. Their only condition was that the old one must be in a working condition.

I was surprised at the quickness by which my mind worked. Here was a chance to take the TV out of home. But, I had to be careful. The suggestion of exchange should come from my wife. It should appear as her idea. I took the notice to home and kept it secretly between the sheets of our next day’s newspaper. When I came back from office that day, I found that she was quick to serve the tea. She told me about the notice found. I kept silent. She said that a larger screen would help relieve the eyes of its strain. I listened and nodded in agreement. “The offer was only for a limited number of days.” She reminded me. I agreed to exchange it. She knew that, if possible, I would never allow money to be a hindrance to our happiness. I suggested that I could carry the TV on my scooter back. “That is right”, agreed my wife. “People carry even the risky gas cylinder like that”. “Why unnecessarily pay for a taxi?” She justified. That was it. My plan was working out.

Next day I tied up the TV well on the back seat of my scooter. My wife helped me to do that. On the way, I stopped my scooter and telephoned my TV friend. I enquired whether he would be interested in buying a TV. He said he would see it and decide. I took the TV to him and sold it for whatever money I could get for it.  

At home, in the evening, all were eagerly waiting for me. No; not for me. They were waiting for the new TV with the larger screen. No need to say how disappointed they were to see me coming empty-handed. I put on a melancholic face and lied that the TV had fallen down from the scooter while negotiating a gutter. I told that it had been given for repair; but the damages were too many and it would take long to get it back.

A few days passed. It was as if some one very dear was dead. I thought they would recover slowly from the grief. And then I could say that the serviceman had given up his hope of repairing it and that we would consider buying another later.

Not long after, I saw them again waiting eagerly for my arrival. Their faces displayed some sort of disapproval and disbelief. My wife wanted to know why I lied about the TV getting repaired. She had made an enquiry at the servicing shop on her own to know the progress of it’s repair work. I had no much of an answer. I was caught red handed and my reliability stood exposed.

The old days were never to come back. A deadly silence prevailed at home. Conversations were reduced to the bare minimum. My ears thirsted to hear a hearty laugh. It became unbearable for me to see their gloomy faces.

I was left with no option. No one asked for it; but I bought home a new TV with a large screen.

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