Well, I must say that time and technology have been very cruel to those people who once cursed the television (TV) box as the ‘idiot box‘. Even now it is true to some extent, but as always you are the one who’d make the TV look like ‘idiot box‘ or ‘knowledge box‘. In India, still there are a few million people who look to TVs as general entertainment gadgets that can make you laugh or cry - by watching those good for nothing, anti-social mega-serials. These mega-serials corrupt your mind and make you think like a devil (or think evil?, coz there are good devils and bad devils too). There are exceptions though, but can they become rules!? NO. I would appreciate a lot more programs on sex and sex education, and people spending quite some time on these - may help control AIDS-spread/population explosion to a certain degree - ‘m not kidding!

Some of the reasons (or should I call drivers?) that made me buy TATA SKY are:

1. Freedom from the local cable operators - Yes, they are a pain in the wrong place
2. Horrible picture and sound quality - the cable operators won’t care to install boosters to improve signal quality even after repeated complaints/requests
3. Right on the first day of the month, they will be at your door steps to collect the monthly rental amount from you - they don’t care about the quality of service they offer, and also about their tardy response to complaints
4. National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet, AXN, HBO, Discovery Travel& Living and Star Movies are some of my favorites, and none of these were available via the local cable operator unless you have the set-top box - conditional access system (CAS) was implemented only in Chennai of all the cities in India
5. TATA SKY’s picture quality for all of the above mentioned channels (except HBO…just so so quality) was excellent, and thought it would be even better in my HD-ready TV - true, I made a good decision; better picture and sound, and no more facing those nasty punk cable operators

Some of the programs that I like watching (knowledge and fun!) are:

1. Air Crash Investigations - every Monday at 8 PM on National Geographic
2. Modern Marvels - almost everyday at 8 PM on the History Channel
3. Ripley’s believe it or not, and World’s Most Amazing Videos - AXN
4. Planet’s Funniest Animals and Predator’s Prey - Animal Planet
5. Megastructures - National Geographic
6. Future Weapons - Discovery Channel

If you are stubbornly pro-American, you can watch ‘Dogfights’ on the History Channel - no American dies, and they pound German, Soviet, Iraqi and Korean super-planes with their tactics and intelligence (in my words ‘absolute fluke’!!!)

National Geographic, Discovery Channel and the History Channel telecast a lot of programs on conserving energy, environment, green cars, and a lot more practical stuff that we can do to reduce our carbon foot print. Though these may never get implemented in your city/village, you will at least get a fair idea of what those environment-conscious entrepreneurs/governments around the world are developing/innovating upon.

So, the next time you switch on your TV and draw power - just try a bit to draw some general knowledge rather than just wasting your energy crying for some unknown character. Remember, that unknown character makes pretty good money at the end of the day - so much for making you cry!

Happy viewing…