Blog # 61 Dated: 23 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear, ...........,

Hello. Doordarshan then was a typical government department during the days, it started in Srinagar. Best engineering staff available in various AIR stations were trained and posted at the TV Stations. Same for the administration and accounting staff. The Programme staff was mostly locally recruited. The minimum qualification for a Programme Producer was a Graduate in Arts, Science or Commerce plus teaching experience for two years. Since Graduates were available in plenty that time, and teaching certificates could be bought, it was money and recommendation that got people jobs in TV Programme wing. I have seen and worked with programme staff who could not write even two simple lines without a mistake. I could never understand how and why the Government recruited Muslim candidates from other parts in India and posted them to Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar. Directors posted were Muslims too. The most incompetent staff one could imagine were posted here. Their only qualification appeared to be that they would be Muslims. This was a policy of appeasement and “secular” policy of the Central Government which was mostly formed by the Congress Party. I do not want to make a political statement but this was the reality. The first lot of Producers and other programme staff were from outside the state. The next lot was a locally recruited one. Money and recommendations were the only criteria for selection. Among the candidates for selection were also two Kashmiri Pandit boys who had trained at Film and Television Institute of India at Pune. They were the only two really qualified candidates. The interview was conducted under the chairmanship of the Director who was a poet and a Muslim. (I have worked and confronted this person a number of times and found him most incompetent) The selection was done and these two qualified boys were not selected. Among the selected was a lady who was not a graduate on the day when the applications were invited for selection. The qualified boys went to court and got a stay in appointments. During the court process, the results signed by the Director were asked for. To the shock of everyone, the two boys had been given zero marks. When asked to explain, the Director said that the two were not competent and therefore not suitable and deserved only zero marks. After the judge stayed the appointments, others who had been selected (on the basis of money and political recommendations), approached these two boys and offered them money to withdraw the case. They also offered to pay the selectors and get them the job. But both these boys did not co-operate. They said that they would like to open the eyes of the system and the Government and show them what was happening. It was rumored that these selected paid the judge who lifted the stay on the next hearing date. The lot was selected (the un-qualified lady included – she produced a fake certificate at the court) and I had to work with them most of my days in the TV Station in Srinagar.

What I mentioned in the above para was known to everyone. This brought down the production capability of the TV Station Programme Production. It was sickening to work with such people. There would be lot of conflicts. I remember one producer, Mr. Zaffar Ahmed who was from Bihar. Most of us Engineers had problems with him. He would always accuse us for one reason or other. During a Programme Production, the Producer would plan a programme and then discuss the plan with the Engineering counterpart, Technical Director, Lighting Director, Sound Director and so on. All these persons would make comments on the feasibility vis a vis the capability of the system available and installed at the studio centre. For example, if the producer says that he wants to show someone switch on a powerful light directly facing the camera, this would not be allowed because the camera tube inside the electronic camera would get permanently damaged. When other producers would come with this suggestion, and one hearing us, would change the plan. But this producer would insist that he would like the light to be shot as it was essential to be shown. This would start a confrontation. The producer would tell the cameraman to start shooting the light and we would switch off the camera immediately. Such incidents would happen almost every day. But we would always put our foot down and not allow improper things done during a production. He would even try to do it during live programmes but we would switch off and instead put a caption “INTERRUPTION” or “RUKAWAT KEY LIYE KHEDH HAI” on the screen. Normally at the end of a programme, the credit captions would be displayed. The Producer / Director / Technical Director names be displayed. This person changed Technical Director to Technical Co-operation. But the moment it was time for the captions to be displayed, the Engineer on the Control Panel would not allow any names to be displayed unless the Technical Director name was restored.

There would be frequent confrontation on the control panel with almost all programme staff. But most would understand and the situation would get resolved. Here I will give you an example. The producer wants a two-person interview to be done. He will select the two persons, discuss the topic of the discussion with them. He will suggest the fees for the two persons. He will select the set inside the studio in consultation with the set designer. He could do all this within his own Wing plus the accounts & administration section. We engineers would not be involved. Then he will call the two persons to the studio in a time block pre allotted to the production staff by the technical wing in advance. The two persons would be seated on the chairs on the set. The engineering staff would provide the technical lighting and microphone / sound control facility. The studio cameras fixed on movable tripods and pedestals and properly aligned / adjusted would be made available by the engineering wing too. The camera men would operate the cameras and provide shots as dictated by the producer (through head phone communication) sitting in the control room. The Technical Director would be sitting by the side of the producer. He would give commands to the Technical Director to switch the camera on air. Now here we go into a grey area. On one side, the producer is the final authority on what picture has to go on air at a particular moment. On the other side, the Technical Director has to ensure that the picture to be switched on air is properly focussed and adjusted. This is where we would have serious confrontation. The Producer would shout repeatedly and we Engineers would not cut to the picture on air.

All my life in TV Studio operations, when I used to be the Technical Director or a senior supervisor over the Technical Director, such problems would get repeated too often. I will narrate some more stories tomorrow. Bye for now.

Blog # 60 Dated: 22 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear, ...........,

Hello. Today I will write about Mr. K.L.Wadhawan who was our first Engineer- in-Charge at Doordarshan Kendra. He had prepared the Project Note for Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar. I had occasions to read the Project Report written by him in his own hand. He had a very good hand writing skill and also his expression was excellent. He was very methodical. When later in my career, I had to write Project Reports, (In my life I have written a dozen and more including the one on the most ambitious Doordarshan Project – Mandi House.) this Project Report by Mr. Wadhawan was always in my memory. Colleagues would always term my Project Reports as very good. The credit for my good work goes to Mr. Wadhawan.

Mr. Wadhawan knew his job. After he entrusted the responsibility of MCR to me, he had lot of faith on me. He would treat me very well and with due respect. He was a person with aristocratic habits. He would smoke cigars which was generally a rarity in Kashmir those days. One day he came to the technical area with a guest. As soon as he entered, I noticed him entering with a lighted cigar. I shouted at him, “Sir, no smoking in technical area please.” He left the area, extinguished the cigar and entered back. He addressed me saying, that the cigar was a costly one and since I had made him discard it, I would have to reimburse the cost of the cigar. I nodded in agreement.

A few months after the system had stabilized at the TV Station, he decided to leave for Delhi on tour. He called me and asked me to arrange some hops for him to take to Delhi. (Hops is a type of plant with flower type fruit. It is used for brewing into beer. This plant is grown in Kashmir as its climate is most suitable for its healthy growth.) I had never heard about this plant. I was able to locate a person who delivered the same to me. It cost only Rs. 200/- (Paid by Mr. Wadhawan) The quantity was far more than could be packed into a big carton. Mr. Wadhawan managed to get a transfer order in Delhi and did not return back to Srinagar. I did not see him again. He would remember me to officers after his retirement that happened soon after his return to Delhi, and speak well about me. Most of them were senior officers who were very good at their work and posted to Doordarshan headquarters. Later when I also got posted to this office (I was posted in Studio Design for more than a decade starting in late 1986), they would repeat his remarks.

In one of my previous blogs, I had mentioned that lot of tourists would come to TV premises to have a look inside the TV Studio out of curiosity. TV was new and trending those days and would excite people. One day, we were in the evening shift. It was a Saturday and it was about 7 PM. The duty officer’s room was located at ground floor level in the studio block. I was passing by the side of the room, when the Duty Officer came out of the room and introduced one person and a lady with him. The person introduced himself and then his companion. He said that the lady was Raj Bhabbar’s sister and he was her husband. I asked him who Raj Bhabbar was. In response, he asked me whether I watch Bollywood Films. I replied in affirmative. Then he asked me whether I had not seen Mr. Raj Bhabbar in the films? I said – No. Then he asked which film had I seen last. I was not used to see films in theaters. We used to telecast Bollywood Films for our TV Channel, first half of the film on Wednesday and second half on Friday. These films would all be old ones – at least 10 to 15 years old. Since Raj Bhabbar was a present time actor then, I had not known about him. So before replying back, I asked someone standing nearby as to which film was telecast last. Before he could answer my query, the person’s (Raj Bhabbar’s Brother-in-law) ego got deflated. I had spoiled his great moment.

Bye for today.

Blog # 59 Dated: 21 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear, ...........,

Hello. Update on yesterday’s blog. The Dentist clinic called a short while back that the dentures made for me have been located. This is really good news. It appears that my prayers have been answered. I hope when I go there next week, the dentures fit me exactly as it should. Meanwhile I had sent email to the Premier of the Province yesterday to bring to his notice the sad story of the Dental Clinic.

I will revert back to Doordarshan narratives. In a blog a few days ago, I had mentioned about one Mr. Narinder Pal Goswami whom I met when I had visited All India Radio at Nagpur. After I had returned to Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar, this gentleman got a transfer posting to our TV Station. After he had been working with us for about six months, one day it was rumored that he had fallen in love with a local Kashmiri Pandit girl. He took leave for one week to solemnize the marriage. Almost all the non-Kashmiri staff were invited by him for the marriage. I was not invited and therefore, I did not attend the marriage. Most local staff at the TV Centre were not too pleased at this marriage. When the marriage was about one year old, Mr. Goswami was on duty and his wife was alone at home. It was reported that the lady got electrocuted while in the bath room. I went to his house to condole the death.

A year after that, one day a lady working in our Accounts department came to me when I was working in the MCR. She said that one of her relatives had come to the office block and he needed to consult me about some important issue. I accompanied the lady and met the gentleman just outside the building. He was dressed in army uniform and appeared to be an officer rank employee. He wanted to know about suitability of Mr.  Goswami vis a vis a marriage proposal. I was surprised that a Kashmiri Pandit would marry a daughter with a non-Kashmiri widower so soon after his first Kashmiri Pandit wife had died in suspect circumstances. So, I told the gentle man bluntly, “If I say that Mr. Goswami is not a suitable groom, will they not proceed with the proposal” To this he replied back that he is the uncle of the girl and she wants to marry this boy. I replied back that my time was being wasted and dismissed him. I however told him about the injury in his leg because of which he had been discharged from the Border Security Forces. He was already aware that Mr. Goswami had low salary. After a month or so, the marriage took place. I was not invited again.      

I met him again in Delhi in 1981. He had been transferred there. We were a group of people. I asked him how he was. He replied in a very sad tone that he was very much a troubled and worried person those days. I asked him the reason. He replied that his wife has been suffering from one health problem or the other every day and this had been causing him tension. To this I replied that it is the courage in Kashmiri Pandit male only to marry and tolerate a Kashmiri Pandit girl. He felt ashamed and all others around him had a hearty laugh at my statement.

It was probably the year 1995. I was working at Doordarshan Directorate. The Chief Engineer looking after staff transfers was very close to me. He would always consult me and seek my view on various technical issues almost every day. Mr. Goswami who had all along been working in Delhi was issued with transfer orders to Doordarshan Kendra Jalandhar. He did not want to go. So he came to me to seek my help pleading his case with the chief engineer. He came with lot of medical / health papers. The papers showed that he was having serious heart problems. He told me lot of stories to bring out his health condition as very poor. This time, he was speaking in Kashmiri language. Looking at the papers and hearing him speak about his poor health, I made a sarcastic remark that his father-in-law would never have been able to get such a great son in law. Hearing this, he got up, touched my feet requesting to help in getting the transfer cancelled. I could not get it done, but got him to remain in Delhi on tour duty.

His wife was a school teacher in Delhi and he had two sons. Both of them got admission in Engineering colleges on Kashmiri Pandit Migrant Quota.

Bye. More tomorrow.  

Blog # 58 Dated: 20 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear, ...........,

Hello. Sorry, I missed to write my blog yesterday. I had a very bad and disappointing day yesterday. For the last eight months, I had been attending my appointments with the dentist. Yesterday I was supposed to get the dentures fixed. In fact, the dentures had to be got fixed a week earlier but the dentist office informed me in advance a few days earlier that the dentures were not ready. I was told that I would get the dentures during my next appointment and that was yesterday. I was received in the doctor’s chamber. He took hold of the package with my name details printed outside. He opened the package and announced that the dentures inside appear to be for some one else. He expressed his apologies. He told me that they will attempt to locate the dentures meant for me in the next few days. If found by the next scheduled appointment date next week, the dentures would be fitted. If not found, the whole process of making a mould, fitting dentures etc. would be started again. The dentist told me that the appointment calendar is already cramped. I have requested him to help me. He has not promised any at this stage. During the conversation, he mentioned that the workshop that develops the final dentures has a poor record. He was not very hopeful that my dentures would be located. In light of his statement, I am hoping that I would be a lucky person next week – the correct dentures would have been located. If not, I will have to rethink what to do next in the light of my travel plans in the second week of September. I would be out of the country for about five months. Getting dentures made in India is crossing my mind as of now. I will double my prayers to God this week to help me.

Today is a very important day in my life here in Canada. I have achieved a great milestone. I travelled solo by bus from my daughter’s place in Scarborough to my son’s place in Richmond Hill. I had to change three buses and travel in two transport authority systems. I did it very smoothly. It took me a total of two hours and forty minutes to complete the journey. I had an ambition to travel by bus on my own to commute from place to place here in Toronto. (All my life in India, I have mostly travelled by bicycle and Bus.) I made my first move in this direction about three years back. I bought a PRESTO card by depositing an amount of $ 100/-. This would enable me to travel by swiping the card in the buses and at the train stations. I made a trip soon after aided and accompanied by my daughter. It was successful and easy. Before I could do more trips, the Covid epidemic took over. I had to shelve my dream. Now I started planning the trip. I took help from one of my grand sons. We talked and messaged a countless time on the route, buses to take for commuting between my daughter’s house in Scarborough and my son’s house in Richmond Hill. I am sure that NASA must be taking less time and lesser preparation for the trip to Mars, than I did. My grandson would be delighted to know that I did it finally.    

Are you surprised that I consider the trip as a great milestone? But it was a great milestone for me. Everyone wants to be independent. So, I also want to be independent. I am getting old. People around me seem to have less faith on my capabilities than I have for myself. I want to walk and stand on my own as long as I can. I want to be as much independent as I can. I want to do all things unaided. That way everyone around me should be able to take care of their own responsibilities without having to unduly worry about me. The trip that I made today – successfully, will help every one in my family to have confidence in me. That makes me happy and confident.

My next project: - Riding a bicycle around the park – definitely not for making the journey from Scarborough to Richmond Hill. I encounter two problems with the bicycles here – one, the back wheel braking is controlled by the lever fixed on the right handle (in India it is fixed on the left handle.) I need to get used to it. A few years back, I rode a bicycle nicely but lost balance when I thought I was braking the back wheel with the left handle lever, I fell down. An angrez looking at a distance was amused that an adult fell down from the bicycle. The second one is the gear system on the bicycles here. It appears complicated to me. I need a simple bicycle. I will keep you updated on this project too.

I will revert to my narration about my past tomorrow. Bye till then.      

Blog # 57 Dated: 18 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 

Dear, ...........,

Hello. Today I will detail my trip to Nagpur on my nomination for Staff course. There were about thirty officers from all over the country. Most of them were from Police force. There were two officers from Kashmir. One of them was a DSP rank police officer from Anantnag Kashmir. He was around fifty years old. There was another DSP rank officer from Fire Services Kashmir. There were a couple of young IAS officers also in the group. The training was on various aspects of Civil Defence. There were demonstrations of various situations which could happen in society and how we as leaders should tackle the same. Lectures on various operations were given to us. I found it very informative and useful. In contrast the DSP from Anantnag was feeling very uncomfortable. He would always seek my help to complete his assignments during the training. I noticed that he was not used to reading or writing. As part of the course, we were to deliver lectures on various topics. There used to be small chits of folded paper. Different topic subjects would be written on each of the chits. We were to pick up a chit five minutes in advance of our scheduled time block to make the presentation. I picked up mine and delivered a very nice presentation. I was adjusted the best of the lot.  The worst one was easily the DSP of Anantnag.

We were told that there was a temple by the name Ramtek about fifty kilometers from Nagpur. It is widely believed that during vanvaas of Bhagwaan Ram Jee, Sita mata jee and Laxman jee, they had stayed at the location for a night. Later a temple complex was built at that site in memory of the visit. The place has been a place of pilgrimage. A couple of us trainees decided to visit this place on a Sunday during the training. We took a local bus early in the morning. We landed at the town centre after the bus journey which took us about 90 minutes. The temple is located on a hillock. There are stone steps leading all the way up the temple from the town. We walked up. The heat was unbearable. (Nagpur is a hot weather town) There were other local persons also climbing up the steps. I remember noticing some of them walking up bare footed. We reached the top and were delighted to see the magnificent stone temple complex.  We were told that we could climb down from the hill from the other side. We encountered a number of small dwelling huts on the side of the slopping hill sides. At a number of places, we noticed red marks. On enquiry we were told that the red marking places were the burial spots where snakes were killed and buried. When we were progressing in our downward journey, we noticed a very fast-moving snake cross the road and in a blinking of eye it went into a stone boundary wall of the small front yard of a hut. When we noticed the snake first, some one raised a loud warning cry. Immediately a lady from the hut came out. She wanted to know which place in the stone wall did the snake go in. She fearlessly searched for the snake but could not locate it. I remember looking into the front yard. There were two spots with red markings meaning that they had already killed and buried two snakes there. I was astonished that the people there were not fearful of snakes as we are used to. I became tense and prayed all the way down the slopes.

Half way down the hill, there was a stone monument. It was mentioned that Kalidassa the poet had written his famous poem “Meghdoot” at that location. It was afternoon when we reached back into the centre of the town. After taking some eatables to quieten the hunger in our stomachs, we took the bus back to Nagpur.

Next day we decided to explore the city. After the classes were over at about 4 PM, we went to the local market and rented bicycles at four annas (one fourth of a rupee) per hour. The shopkeeper just gave the bicycles to us without any advance or identity documents etc. We returned after an hour. I was surprised to see that most of the people including a very healthy number of women were riding scooters and mopeds all around the town. The town was full of activity all around and everyone appeared to be busy. This was a contrast to the place that I had come from. In Kashmir, we would generally find people wasting their time sitting and gossiping all the time.

Nagpur is famous for oranges. It was about two weeks earlier than peak season for the fruit when we were there. I remember that it cost less than a rupee to buy a dozen small sized oranges. I bought some but the quality was bad. For me oranges were a fruit for the rich as these used to be costly if bought in Kashmir. Oranges would be consumed only by ill people. If we found anyone in Kashmir those days with a packet of oranges, we would immediately ask whether everyone at home was in good health.

While in Nagpur, I made a trip to All India Radio. There I met one Mr. Narinder Pal Goswami. He was a ex Border Security Force employee who had been discharged after injury to his leg. He showed me his right leg with bullet injury making on the skin. He had been recruited as an Engineering Assistant. This was his first posting in AIR. He was originally from Punjab. On that day there was a cricket match being played in the local stadium. (India was playing West Indies.) Mr. Goswami took me to the stadium. We got entry to the area where the commentators were seated and speaking into the mikes. I noticed that the commentator was not exactly describing where the ball was going. That time there was no TV Coverage and the commentary listener would not know that the commentator was not describing faithfully. (I will write more about Mr. Goswami in later blogs. He was subsequently posted at Doordarshan Srinagar and I came across him at various stages in life.)

When I left Srinagar for the training, bath soap “Hamaam” (brand name) was in short supply. I would normally use this soap during a bath. In Nagpur I found this brand soap in plenty. I bought two dozen to carry the same with me. (The bag became very heavy and the carrying strip tore off due to the heavy load. I had to carry the bag on my shoulder on my way to home in Kashmir) When I reached Srinagar, I found that the supply of this brand soap had normalised and was available easily.

A few months after my Civil Defence Staff course, I was called by the new station engineer who had taken over. (Mr. Wadhawan had left for Delhi.) The new station engineer was Mr. Harshvardhan. He asked me about the training. He suggested to me to organize a demonstration of a fire incident and our response to the incident so that the staff could be made made aware. I contacted the Fire Services DSP who was also in training with me. On a predetermined day, the Fire Services staff came and demonstrated various methods to control the fire. There was live use of Fire Extinguishers. On that day, my friend Mr. Tickoo the Assistant Engineer (Englishman looking guy) had worn a pitch-black coloured safari suit. The shirt was with half sleeves. He was looking great and dashing. He was standing by the side of Mr. Harshvardhan during the demonstration. Looking at Mr. Tickoo, he said to him “Tickoo Sahib, aap ko sardi nahi lagti in kapdoon mey” Tickoo Sahib replied, “Jinaab gareeb ko sardi nahi lagti. Mere pass suit nahi hai” Mr. Harshvardhan did not expect this reply and left in a huff. Mr. Harshvardhan was a short statured person and was suffering from inferiority complex. He spent a number of years in Srinagar. I will have many stories about him in my blogs in days to come.

Bye for now.         

Blog # 56 Dated: 17 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear, ...........,

Hello. In my last blog, I narrated how the management of Mater Control Room responsibility was placed on my shoulders. I did not want to cut a sorry figure by failing in my responsibility. I started working very hard every day. I would spend long hours trying to master the system. I traced all the interconnection wiring and in no time could recall cable numbers by heart without looking at the drawings. There were more than two hundred cables. I would be always found working in the trenches or behind the racks. As I informed in my previous blog, the equipment installed had been assembled and wired up at BEL Bangalore. The equipment started misbehaving. Most problems would be mechanical because the plugin units would not always fit into the fixed back receptables. I sorted out most problems. I would immediately diagnose the problem and solve it. By this time my Grad I.T.E exams had been completed and the results conveyed to the head quarters at Delhi. A promotion list was the result. I was now an Assistant Engineer, a Gazetted post. Normally all gazetted offices at that time would dress to office in suit boot and necktie. I continued to be dressed poorly and would commute to office by bicycle.

One day while I was working in the Master Control Room, a gentleman looking like an English man in suit boot and necktie was ushered into the MCR by a staff member. He was introduced as one Mr. Autar Krishen Tickoo, who had received a posting order as Assistant Engineer in Doordarshan after having been appointed on the basis of UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) selection. I got out from the trench and shook his hand with mine. He thought that I was a technician. It seemed that earlier that day on reaching the Doordarshan premises and having presented and submitting the documents in the administration wing, he was expecting to be escorted to a room designated as “Office of the Assistant Engineer”. At that juncture a staff member had brought him to the MCR to meet another Assistant Engineer that is me. Having met me, and seeing me in the trench working with my hands, his ego took a nose dive. We conversed with each other. I learnt that he was also living in the same area as mine. We became friends immediately. By evening he removed the necktie and hid it in his pocket. From next day, he would come to office dressed normally as a common man. The meeting with me on his first day as an Assistant Engineer in Doordarshan helped him got over the dream of being a boss. The dream melted away on first day it self. In the evening we walked back home together, my self just walking with the bicycle also “walking” by my side. This would be repeated every day after that. (Mr. Tickoo has looks of an European. On one occasion, when both of us were in Delhi and were taking to each other in our mother tongue, a senior officer saw us from a distance. He called me and asked me who this English man was and how did he know my language. When I told him that he was not an Englishman, he took time to believe me)

Summer would be a time when there would be rush of tourists to Kashmir. All types of people from all over the country would come to the valley. Since the Tourist Reception Centre was located a short distance away from AIR and Doordarshan Studio buildings, some tourists would come to visit us out of curiosity. One day, one person came during the day. He was accompanied by our Engineer in Charge to the technical area. He was introduced to me as Dr. Mangal Sein a senior engineer in All India Radio Research department at New Delhi. He was on a tourist trip with his family. I was asked to take him around the technical area. When I took him around, I was trying to impress him with my knowledge of the system. When explaining him the technique of picture change over, I told him that the changeover was happening in the vertical interval time and because of this the change over was always smooth and the transition would not be noticed by the human eye. He reacted by saying that it was great. He expressed his pleasure and appreciation for me as if I had invented that technology. All day he was telling everyone around that I had explained the VIT (Vertical Interval Timing) process to him. At the end he told me to draw a block schematic drawing of the set up and hand the same to him by next day evening before he would return to Delhi. I immediately brought a big sheet of paper A1 size and started right away to draw it. Early next day, I continued with what I had started the previous day. When I was at it, the Engineer in Chief came to the MCR. He asked me what I was doing? When I told him that I was drawing it for Dr. Mangal Sein, he stopped me. He asked me to tell him that if he needs a drawing, he should get a print of the system drawing from the Studio Design Wing in Delhi. I was relieved. Later I learnt that Dr. Mangal Sein was PhD in Ionosphere research. When ever I would come to Delhi and he would see me, he would get excited and tell everyone around that I had explained TV Technology to him.         

Around this time, I was selected and a call came for me to attend Civil Defence Training Institute in Nagpur for two-week training in Civil Defence. My boss (E.in.C) did not relieve me citing the important work that I was doing at the TV Station that time. The authority that had selected me for the training probably got offended by the decision not to send me to Nagpur. Another selection call came a month later. My E.in.C had to relieve me for the training this time. I will describe my trip plus details of training tomorrow. It was a very nice trip and I had very nice experience which are vivid in my memory.

Bye for now.

Blog # 55 Dated: 16 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear, ...........,

Hello, On completion of my training on TV Programme Technical Operations, I reported to TV Centre Srinagar in mid 1973 as a Senior Engineering Assistant. With me, other Engineering and Programme Staff who had also trained with me joined. The Engineering staff came from almost all parts of the country. We had an Engineer from Kerala, a couple of Engineers from Lucknow, an Engineer from Kolkata, and a couple of them from Delhi and so on. I had the advantage of being the only local engineering staff at that level. Also, because we had already trained together, we knew each other quite well. Because of my performance during the training, I was held in good esteem by the programme and engineering staff.

Just when we landed at the TV Station, it was still under installation. The systems were in the final stages and installation team had not handed over the set up. At that time, there was a brilliant Engineer, Mr. K.L.Wadhawan as Installation Engineer. In Charge. He was already nominated to be the Engineer in Charge of the TV Station after being handed over for normal operation. On our joining, he assigned us to different areas. I was assigned Master Control Room (MCR in short). At that time, one Mr. Chatterjee was the person from the Installation group who was looking after the MCR. He was very eager to return to Delhi. Mr. Wadhawan promised to relieve him on condition that he would train me to take over MCR in two days. Mr. Chatterjee asked me to study the setup and get all clarifications within two days. I worked very hard for those two days. I studied drawings and got clarification on all points where I needed guidance. During these two days, he created some system errors and faults and asked me to make the system work. He even altered some wiring. I was able to make the system operational in no time every time I was asked to rectify. He was pleased and took me to Mr. Wadhawan. Mr. Wadhawan asked me whether Mr. Chatterjee could be relieved on my guarantee. I was confident enough and I took the responsibility. Mr. Chatterjee would always speak highly to everyone in Delhi about me. Unfortunately, he died a few years later from some ailment. He was soft spoken and knowledgeable. I respected him and meet him whenever I would visit him at Doordarshan Kendra New Delhi.

TV first came to India in the year 1959. That year there was an international exhibition in Delhi. German company Bosch operated a big stall and exhibited TV Cameras and monitors and other studio systems in the exhibition. The stall was hugely popular. At the end of the exhibition, the German company gifted all the systems and equipment to India. They also loaned some engineers to do the installation at Delhi. A few engineers were also invited to Germany for imparting training on TV Technology and the system. Mr. K.L.Wadhawan was one of them. A number of rooms on the 5^th floor of a building known as Akashwani Building were got vacated and a small room converted into a TV Studio. The equipment and other related services were accommodated in other rooms on this floor. The transmission started with a half hour programme for Farmers. The was known as “Krishi Darshan”. Then some programmes for school education were started during the day. The progress of programme expansion was slow. Pakistan meanwhile started installation of TV Studio and transmitter centres in their country in mid 1960’s. They put up the transmitters near the border towns. Some resourceful persons in the border states in India imported TV Sets from abroad and would mount special “Yagi” antennas and boosters over their roofs to pick up the Pakistan TV signal. Those days it would be a common site to see people orienting their antennas repeatedly to obtain as clear signal as possible. Even though the picture reception quality would be very poor, their dramas started getting popular. The Indian border area public would also get to see propaganda TV programmes telecast mainly to brain wash the Indian public. People in Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan border areas were in their sights. India Government was alarmed. It was then that it started planning to counter the propaganda. Immediately it ordered two ten kilowatt transmitters from NEC Japan.  One was put up at Amritsar and the other one at Srinagar. These started working around 1969. These transmitters would carry TV Delhi programmes. The programmes would be routed first from Delhi to Amritsar and Srinagar through dedicated microwave/broadband links. This helped to some extent wean the Indian audiences away from the Pakistani TV Channels and also to beam programmes to Pakistani viewers. Simultaneously our government decided to start setting up of TV Studio complexes in the country. Two were to come up in first phase, one at Mumbai and the other one at Srinagar. The Government of India signed a pact with Bosch Germany to provide the technology and equipment. BEL (Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore) were selected to start manufacturing and assembling the broadcast equipment. Mumbai TV Studio was equipped with Bosch Germany manufactured equipment. Srinagar was equipped with the equipment on Bosch design manufactured by BEL Bangalore.

That is all for today. I shall continue with more tomorrow. Bye.

Blog # 54 Dated: 15 July 2022. (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.......,

Hello. I am here again. In fact during the last couple of days I have been reminded that I had stopped writing the blog. I was requested to resume it. I had never thought that I would be missed. So I am here to fulfil your wishes. First I owe you an explanation for being silent for more than three weeks - almost four weeks. The cause was a family function initially because I thought it proper to participate in it and mingle with the crowd than spend time aloof writing the blog on the computer. I consider social interaction with my near and dear ones most important and healthy. Then the appointment schedule for getting myself dentures upset my schedule. It needed me to shift away from my home and my usual settings. Following that we all in the family were out on camping for about a week. Camping in old age is a tension and therefore survival is more important than writing a blog. Even if I would have risked to write there, the absence of Wi-Fi at the camping site would make it impossible. We returned from the camping a week back but I am not able to return to my schedule. My gardening and tending to the backyard and frontyard  after a week's absence also delayed my resumption of the blog. At my age, it is very difficult to adjust back to routine. Your calls for me to resume the blog has reset my schedule today. 

In a few days, I would be resuming the dentures appointment schedule. I hope to find time to continue with my blog on the appointment dates too. It would be difficult but I will hopefully do it.

It would take me a day or two to get back into the narrative smoothly. Last time, I had covered the years spent working in All India Radio and getting selected and training for TV Programme Production Techniques at Delhi. My next post will detail the start of my career in a new technology in a new setting. Till now I have not touched upon my personal life, marriage, becoming the father of a girl child and my life outside my workplace. I will definitely write about all that in the coming days but I will first introduce you to my days working in a system where I found myself more confident than my initial days working at All India Radio.     

I will stop here. It is enough for today. I will be there tomorrow. Bye.