NOSTALGIA- 1: VCR, OUR FAMILY ENTERTAINER

VCR, OUR FAMILY ENTERTAINER

P S Sundar

  

ON my way back from my lecture-tour in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, I bought a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) in Singapore. That was some 25 years ago when only imported recorders and players (VCP) were available in India. Only a few households possessed them. My family wanted me to be smart enough to pick up an original VCR from Singapore and they were happy that I acted accordingly.

When I took this prized possession to my home in Coonoor, there was a different problem — we did not have a television.

For that matter, only a privileged few had a TV in which they managed to see Sri Lanka’s Rupavahini. Doordarshan was out of reach in Nilgiris. Some proud possessors told me that they had subsequently bought a VCP and used the TV more as a monitor for their VCP than to receive telecasts. In my case, it was the reverse — the VCR had come home before the TV. At a family meeting over dining table we decided to buy a TV. I went to Coimbatore and bought a TV that had a ‘Picture-in-Picture’ feature and was promoted as the ‘future’ of TVs.

VHS cassettes, which could be read in the VCR, could be hired from local rental store for Rs 10 for 24 hours. Choice for the movie of the night was aplenty amongst the family that we ended up, on certain nights, hiring two cassettes. Occasionally we were forced to see the same movie again. Many cassettes had poor recording. There was no way to stop our neighbours from having their bout of entertainment as they also occasionally brought their own favourite movie.

As some friends said that they could occasionally get Doordarshan telecast from Kodaikkanal, we decided to give it a try. Installing the antenna was a Herculean task. It was a 21-element huge antenna erected over two pipelengths scaling a height of 40 feet. Huge stay-wires on different sides protected the antenna from falling.

After several rotations, including that by technicians atop the house, we succeeded in capturing signals that came as colour grains. If capturing the signals were a Herculean task, maintaining the same angle was tougher, thanks to strong winds and monkeys. Almost every evening, one person would be on top of the house, another at the bottom of the pole and the rest in front of the TV — all involved in the task of gaining signals in the air sent freely by the Government of India. And no matter how grainy it was, it was a needed pastime.

I still remember, it would have been one of the earliest cricket matches to be shown on television in India. There was a big debate among the spectators in my house. After every ball was hit, the challenge was to find the ball within the 21- inch of grain-filled telecast. The big antenna had its benefits that none of us thought initially. The mast-like antenna was used as a landmark in the locality.

It was the talk of the town. Our maidservant took pride in working in our house that looked like a kappal (ship).

Subsequently, low power transmitters were erected in Nilgiris followed by high power ones. We shifted to a three element antenna. A neighbour could get signals just with his coat hanger. Once cable came, antenna became redundant.

Now, of course, DTH has arrived. The elders in the family who enjoyed the VCR are no more. Those surviving play the VCR no more. However, I periodically clean it reminiscing the ‘status’ and the unmatched entertainment it gave to us those days.

(PUBLISHED IN THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS MARCH 24, 2009)