RED AND GOLD

Something light from back in the day.

RED AND GOLD

Ravi was staring at the contraption that emitted pictures, with great amazement; he simply could not peel his eyes off from it. It was Saturday; 11:55am to be precise, all the kids in the mohalla had gathered at Rutuja’s place and were sitting -in various poses- on the cold floor; their eyes fixed on to the T.V. set.

  The T.V. set unlike the brats sitting in front of it was an ancient one; you know the one which would come encased in a wooden cupboard of sorts? You had to slide open wooden shutters in order to see the tube; and by slide I don’t mean one slick, fluid motion; you really had to tug on that creaky old b*****d to get him opened up.

 

  Switching on the T.V. was an important job and only grownups were allowed to do it; and a very tedious job it was to switch it on. First there was the power switch that needed to be flipped, then a couple of knobs and dials that had to be fine tuned to perfection; all this to bring to life the only channel that it aired, “DOORDARSHAN”.  Some days when the weather outside was windy or cloudy it was especially difficult to get the telly up and running. I must also add that this particular T.V. set like all the other sets in the mohalla was black and white.

   “Someone run up to the roof and adjust the antenna,” Mr. Pujari’s voice boomed. Ravi didn’t believe in wasting time, he ran up to the roof in no time. “It’s because of these wretched crows” Ravi said to himself as he shooed away the crows perched on the antenna. Now it was Ravi’s turn to shout; “Is it running alright now, or do I still need to adjust it”, shouted Ravi from the rooftop; “It’s up, come on down”, came the reply.  Ravi was back in front of the old T.V. in a blink, delighted that he had accomplished such an important task.

  The clock struck 12, it was time; time for the show to start, Ravi and the gang inched a bit closer to the telly; and then he magic began, the words that their ears had been itching to hear floated into the air. Shakitman…Shaktiman….Shaktiman. The children joined in the chorus; they knew the lyrics to the song better than the rhymes that were taught at school. Adbhut adamya sahas ki paribhasha hai…., the song went on and the children sang along at the top of their lungs.

That day was particularly important for the kids, Adrushya manav (Invisible man) had been captured by Tamraj Killivish and gang; Shaktiman was nowhere to be seen. The kids just hoped that their favourite superhero would turn up today and save the quirky scientist.

  “Ravi, Ravi,” his mom’s voice beckoned from next door. Ravi wanted to believe that he had not heard the call. “Not now mom,” Ravi thought to himself, there was no way that he would get up from there and miss part of the show. Ravi’s mother was persistent, she called out again. He had to answer this time; he could not risk being thrashed by his mother. “What is it mom?” Ravi asked angrily, “Go to the dairy and get some milk” Ravi’s mother instructed him. “But mom you know I’m in the middle of something important” Ravi pleaded. “DO IT NOW” his mom said; it was not a request, Ravi knew there was no way out; he had to go. Right then as if by divine intervention it was time for commercials, Ravi dashed out of the door, shot into the kitchen, snatched the money out of his mother’s hands and ran off as fast as he could.

  The dairy was just a block away, “I can still make it if there is no rush at the dairy,” Ravi thought to himself. He reached the dairy; but unfortunately a few customers were already there. Ravi waited impatiently for his turn to come; he reached the counter, took the money out from his pocket and was about to pay the money when someone called for Lallan the milkman. Lallan excused himself and went out the back door, assuring that he would be back in just a few minutes.

  Ravi was furious; he was going to miss the show. “What a lazy bum, couldn’t he have reached into the fridge and given me a bottle of milk before he went?” It was then that Ravi spotted a T.V. mounted on a wall behind the fridge. Ravi decided that he would stay there and watch the rest of the show till the time the next set of commercials came up.

  The show resumed, invisible man was gagged and bound to a chair; but something looked different, something looked strange. “Never mind” he thought, just hoping that Shaktiman would arrive on time. The moment that he had been waiting for, finally arrived. Shaktiman came flying out of the sky and landed on the roof of the building where the scientist was held hostage. “Wait a minute, that is not Shaktiman,” Ravi said out loud. He took a closer look and realization hit him like a mad man with a club. It was a Patmos moment for him.

  “It’s a colour T.V., it’s a colour T.V. ,” Ravi mumbled to himself repeatedly as he ran back, he could not wait to tell the guys what he had just witnessed; he knew that no one else knew about it. Amidst all the confusion Ravi had completely forgotten that he’d actually gone out to buy milk. Ravi ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and stood in front of his friends panting, an gasping and covered in sweat.

  “Guys there is something important I have to tell you,” Ravi told his friends who were still busy staring at the T.V. He went and stood in front of the screen to block their view. “Guys listen up,” he said again, this time a little louder. “What is it,” his friends asked him,irritated. “I just saw Shaktiman in colour,” Ravi said beaming with pride. His friends could not understand what he was saying. “What the hell are you talking about,” asked Rutuja. Ravi looked at his friends and smiled. It was the smile of a wise man that had attained infinite wisdom; that had unraveled all the mysteries of life.

  “Do you know what colour Shaktiman’s suit is?”  He asked the guys, there was silence; they had never thought about it, they all looked at him with great anticipation, with a great desire to know. Ravi had captivated his audience, they wanted the information badly. He knew right then that he was going to be the toast of the gang for at least a week; and for the first time in life Ravi realised that knowledge was power.

  Ravi inhaled deeply; the longing eyes of his friends were still fixed on him; then as slowly and as clearly as he could, he spoke out the words, “RED AND GOLD.”

 

Stanley S. G.

Author's Note

Shaktiman was a T.V. show that was first aired in 1997; and is probably the most popular Indian superhero. The word Shaktiman means "mighty". Mohalla is a neighborhood or a block of houses.

Reviews

[Deepika]

Lol..it was hilarious XD i remember this show and few others on doordarshan and yea i had the first glimpse of shaktiman in grey and white suit :D i love the way you've narrated it. True, that was one of the glorified shows among the kids way back then! The humble tone of 'sooorryyy shaktiiman' seems funny now xD Thanks for the RR :)

[stansg]

Thanks for reading and for your kind comments Deepika. I love the doordarshan days, we had to sit and watch whatever came on, now we simply keep on browsing through channels and dont watch any show fully, we are spoilt for choice. I do remember the educational bit towards the end of the show, but i guess it was added much later, SORRY SHAKTIMAN that was hilarious.
Thanks for the comments once again, I'm glad you could relate.

[KWP]

I love any kind of INdian litrature and this story of yours is no different. You tell a great tale, I could hear the mom, I could hear Ravi, I could even see him and his face of infinite wisdom .... you capture the reader immediatley as keep them there as the story unfolds.

I like this very much - thank you :)

[stansg]

Thanks for your generosity KWP, i'm glad you liked it.

[Ashadan]

This made me asked for help for Mr. Google to know the details of Shatiman. I like narration =) thanks for sharing this one

[Mai L Nissen]

I really enjoyed the ride! All sorts of little charming details :)
This bit description made me laugh in delight: "You had to slide open wooden shutters in order to see the tube; and by slide I don’t mean one slick, fluid motion; you really had to tug on that creaky old b*****d to get him opened up."

A very charming and humorous story. I love this bit:
"Ravi had captivated his audience, they wanted the information badly. He knew right then that he was going to be the toast of the gang for at least a week; and for the first time in life Ravi realised that knowledge was power."

No problems with tenses, though, a quite a few typos...
All in all a good write :)

[Frozen Eyes]

Spreading nostalgia. Wonderful narration. Loved reading it. And special thanks for taking me back to the "Shaktimaan" days :)

[stansg]

Oh, I'm so glad you liked the story, I was not sure what the reaction would be and so I especially sent RR's to my Indian friends on WC. I'm so happy to know that it made people smile.

[Frozen Eyes]

Yes, it did make me smile, not just that I cud actually relate to the pride of Ravi having a color television and sort of playfully boasting about it. Totally back to adolescence :)

[Samuel Dickens]

I love stories about young people, and enjoyed this one very much. Though it was long ago and far away from your home, I used to scamper outside to twist the antenna, too.

[stansg]

Thank you so much for taking out the time to read my story, I'm glad that you liked the story and that you could relate to it even though we grew up oceans apart.

[Helen Crutchett]

Very good story. Held my interest from beginning to end. A compelling and funny story!

Helena

[stansg]

I'm glad you liked it, thank you for reading.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very interesting story. I like the description and the knowledge shared. The small things in a life become a part of us. Good title led to good story. Thank you for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote

[stansg]

I'm glad you liked it Coyote, thanks for reading.

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome.

[Jamestown]

I really enjoyed this piece, it gives me a feel of the writers younger days
and some of the things they enjoyed outside the the states! I could really
feel the importance of viewing this show, especially after
messing with the old television, lol:) well written and you
certainly entertained me,thanks for sharing and b-blessed!

[stansg]

Thank you for reading, I'm glad you liked it.

[Marie]

You do need to work on the grammar and punctuation here, but this is agreat story all the same. I can imagine all those kids sitting in front of a black and white world...and then learning it was actually in colour.

WHen I was a little girl all I knew was a black and white tv set, and most shows weren't in colour anyway. It's hard now to believe those days ever existed.

One thing--you should break up your story into paragraphs; it will be easier to read.

[stansg]

Thank you so much for your tips Marie. I'm a bit weak with the grammar and punctuation, working really hard on it though. I will try and make the paragraphs shorter too. Thanks for reading, and thank you for you helpful inputs. I'm glad you liked it.