Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 25
Once upon a time, in the 1970s, we used to sit and stare; out of the window, at the
ceiling, into a book. Alternatively, we’d stare at the transistor radio, listening to ‘BBC’s
Test Match Special’, ‘Binaca Geetmala’ etc.
By the early ’80s, we’d begun to stare at the TV set and Doordarshan (DD) which, in
those days, were one and the same thing. Government-run DD could produce a ‘KrishiDarshan’, but entertainment? Nah. So the TV set was respectfully draped in a table cloth
and admired as an object d’art.
Mid-1980s, DD’s sponsored programmes brought television to life for the first time:
we laughed watching the popular series ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’, we cried experiencing the
pain and struggles of characters in ‘Buniyaad’, we even worshipped the box for
telecasting ‘Ramayan’ and ‘Mahabharat’.
This was the golden age of Indian television and it bound us together every evening:
one family, one nation, one channel, one culture.
So nothing, but nothing had prepared us for what was about to happen.
In 1991, DD broadcast the Gulf War, CNN’s Peter Arnett went live from Baghdad and
within a year, our TV screen, like the Iraqi capital, exploded into action. So much so, that
in 1998, we watched a very different “Desert Storm” in Sharjah, courtesy one Sachin
Ramesh Tendulkar.
The economic reforms of 1991 and the liberalized access to communication technology,
allowed foreign media companies’ entry into the country and Indian companies’ entry into
television. And, as if by magic, our lives were transformed, utterly, as the space invasion
colonized our homes.
Consider this: television was introduced into India in 1959, but we had only one
national channel for over 30 years, which sporadically burst into life. Twenty-five years
later, we only had 24×7 TV. We’ve gone from 1.2 million TV homes in 1992 and 14.2
million in 1996 to several millions more in 2014.
There are now over 800 licensed channels with every genre of programme, such as
entertainment, music, sports, news, lifestyle, spirituality, property, etc. The first 24×7
news channel began in 1998; by 2014 there were 400 and counting, in more than 15
languages.
And that TV set in a wooden cabinet, with beetle antenna for grainy black-and-white
pictures from terrestrial towers? Banished. Vanished. Now it’s LCD, satellite
transmissions with cable and DTH (Direct to Home) HD telecasts, online, mobile, laptops,
and tablets. We’ve left ‘Buniyad’s ’ cronies’ corner for Netflix’s House of Cards, Amazon
Prime streaming, etc.
Questions:
(i) Provide a brief history of the introduction of television in India.
(ii) What does the writer refer to as the golden age of television?
(iii) How did the economic reforms change the entertainment industry in India?
(iv) Describe the present scenario of the entertainment sector.
(v) Give synonyms ( words similar in meaning ) for,
- colonized
- sporadically
Answers
Explanation:
Once upon a time, in the 1970s, we used to sit and stare; out of the window, at the
Explanation:
(i) Provide a brief history of the introduction of television in India.
Television was introduced in India in 1959, but there was only one channel for next 30 years. Main TV channel was DD Doordarshan. In mid 80's some more variety was added to television programmes. In 1990's international and sports news were also introduced by Indian channels.
(ii) What does the writer refer to as the golden age of television?
The era of mid 1980's
(iii) How did the economic reforms change the entertainment industry in India?
It allowed forieign channels to be broadcasted which brought a huge influx of channels
(iv) Describe the present scenario of the entertainment sector.
There are now over 800 licensed channels with every genre of programmes
(v) Give synonyms ( words similar in meaning ) for,
- colonized
settled among
- sporadically
occasionaly