TV last night just got too melancholic

TV is for relief. TV is entertainment. Regardless of towns, villages or cities the audience across the board is the stressed, worried and hassled aam aadmi. On returning home after a gruelling day it is the small screen you turn to for relief.

I too am no different. It was one of those days when the boss was in his worst mood and he blamed me for everything from the colour of the walls in office to the door that creaked. I came home carrying all this and much more and settled myself in front of the TV. I wanted to shrug off the mood and hopefully looked for a serial that would help me get there.

It was 8pm and I flipped to Colors to watch the most talked of show, Balika Vadhu. Not a smile on any of the faces on the show. As the child bride Anandi kept bursting into tears in every alternate shot everyone from Dadisa to Saasuma to Suguna went about their business looking so morose that I decided to move on. My next stop was Zee's Pavitra Rishta. Archana (the lead actress) had yet again been rejected by a prospective groom and her woes continued. The show has some very fine actors and quite a different story line but our evenings do get very gloomy watching it as it has no room for any mood elevation.

Very bravely I continued my search for a feel-good, happy serial that would not only elevate my mood but also bring a smile to my face. And isn't that what all other TV viewers too look for?

It was 9.30 and time for my favourite Sony show, Ladies Special. Until now I had been an avid watcher of this well-scripted show which had refined actors with very well etched out characters. But as episodes progressed the darkness grew even more stark. The four women playing lead roles continued their journey of gloom and despair. I tuned in with the hope that things would have now improved for them but their miseries showed no signs of abating and I flipped to Agle Janam Mujhe Bitiya Hi Kijo. Thakur Loha Singh was still at it. His one point agenda is to get his youngest son to father a son. And in the pursuit of this he gets more and more diabolical.

Now I have probably understood the raison de etre of the success of shows like Bidaai and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. Where Yeh Rishta has stood the test of time because of its almost Rajshri-like feel-good story, Bidaai has begun to wane after it changed over to a indefinite sob-sob track.

If so much research is done in trying to understand the business of television why can't someone just understand the basic need of a viewer? It needs no rocket science to understand that at the end of a tiring day TV serials should act as stress busters. And I am not asking for a show that makes you roll off the chair with laughter (because I know that a Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai or a Dekh Bhai Dekh happen only once) but a nice, simple story which has no tense moments that you identify with.

For all those millions of people who lead such trying lives the need of the hour is happy TV moments. And almost all shows on all GECs are so melancholic that I would rather go for a funeral.

As for me I went to bed with images of Ammaji in Na aana iss des laado doing her mean number on all the women in her household.