It was surprising how our family became a ‘tele-hating’ family from an ardent ‘tele-loving’ one. Before, Nangi and Malli came along, Thaththa was adamant that my early childhood should not be blotted by the ideas vomited on me by the ‘yakaa-pettiya.’ So, apart from the ‘television’ I had in my mind, the first I came closer was the one we had at my Achchi’s place in Weligama. Vacations at her place always had a sense of fascination and the TV was certainly the most prominent feature of my holiday package.
At that time, a TV in a village was as rare as ivory, which was the very reason why her veranda needed a ‘HOUSE FULL’ sign during the tele-drama hour. The crowds never ventured beyond the veranda. They would sit there on the mats which were laid out for them, never opened their mouths even to yawn, but quietly slipped back into their houses once the tele-drama was over.
Meanwhile, Loku Nanda, the disciplinarian, would never allow us to go and exchange a word with them, fearing their ‘evil-eye’ would fall on my cousins and me. If you tried to cross the boundary between the living room and the dining room with your plate of rice in hand: You had it!!
Times changed so rapidly that the crowd started growing small in number. Finally, it was only the family and the mats were no more laid out. What’s more? We could bring in our dinner to the living room and eat without any fear of getting a stomach-ache for eating in front of a crowd.
The only tele-drama I can remember watching with alacrity was ‘Amba Yaluwo.’ I must have been five or six years old by then, but the impression it created on me is still fresh and very much alive even after sixteen long years.
Once we got a TV on our own, Thaththa was never the one to confiscate the remote control or pull off the plug when Amma started complaining about our excessive watching of television. But the tele-drama was one thing he could never tolerate. It was his habit to mark the assignments or simply read a newspaper when Amma, Nangi and I nicely warmed our chairs in front of the TV. But, one fine day, by a cruel stroke of fate, we found out this certain Indian tele-drama had a nice storyline and to our utter surprise Thaththa agreed.
But, the enthusiasm was very short-lived when the characters who were supposed to be dead started popping up to life again and a disgusting series of remarriages and divorce between the two male characters and the protagonist lead Thaththa to ban us from watching any tele-drama thereafter.
Even the local mega tele-dramas which followed suit were similarly moulded, way too long and after the initial few months, the storyline was changed beyond recognition.
As for us, young girls in school-going age, wearing heavy make-up and flirting with boys who come on trail bikes were way too much to stand, after the day’s heavy work.
Instead, when our neighbours waste their precious time, watching an endless tale of a vicious love-triangle, we eat our meals in peace and share a light moment or two. After all, at the end of an exhausting cartoon hour and a news bulletin session, our TV needs a break too
