Tom, Jerry and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki

On returning from the office, my mother usually complains that my children remained glued to the television set for most of the time, watching those tongue-twister animated programmes she doesn't even like to name. She must be having her own reasons for the complaint, as children must be keeping high volume, disturbing her in watching Ekta Kapoor's series of soap operas!

The next is a sibling complaint. My younger son, at a particular time in the afternoon after coming back from school, usually wants to watch his favourite serials including "Tom and Jerry" characters but his elder sister insists for Pogo and all that. And when agreement is about to reach at for a quick-view of both the channels in between commercials, all of a sudden my son has developed the taste for some other channel called ''Nick".

The arguments and counter-arguments continue in both the rooms with the television sets, and where the three generations live. The mother also joins the arguments, blaming the Power Department for frequent power cuts that deprive her of her favourite programmes . I somehow manage to pacify the younger and the elder generations. The situation will, however, be more complex for me when my father would like to give vent to his feelings too. Cricket, like for most Indians, is his passion too. And when there will be any one-dayer or a Twenty-20 tournament, I will be further pushed to the boundary. The father would also like to be a couch potato for few cricketing sessions.

Fulfilling the entertainment demands and requirements of all the family members appears to be the most daunting job. It is at times frustrating also , more so when our own interests and aspirations get neglected. For a person belonging to a middle-class family like me and living in a two-room set, entertaining a younger and elder generation simultaneously demands high degree of patience. For several years, I have been living with the same experience, experimenting one way or the other way. The watching of animation channels by children at times suits us. This so happens when children are adamant not to have their dinner. And when such channels are on, anything can be fed to their mouths.