[CineTV Contest: Memories] Childhood in a nutshell

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(Edited)

I had half a mind to write for the Contest. My thoughts were in conflict; the conflict was whether I should write about it, also what to write about. Then I thought maybe I could give you a glimpse of the entertainment (movies and TV shows) that I was exposed to when I was a child. I’m not sure how many people can relate and I know a generic post will not sit well with the spirit of the contest, so, I am still very much in doubt.


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Why am I doing this again? I’ll tell you by painting what sort of kid I was back then; “back then” as in from 1990 to 2000 (nothing past that time frame). I was just a plain, simple Bangladeshi girl who never had to worry about anything other than her studies and her 3 hours of evening break where she along with her comrades would play any games they could come up with; and of course our mothers would scream at us from their respective balconies to remind said delinquents it was way past sundown and we should head home. Good old days when technology was rare; even we had a Hitachi TV that would now look like a pretty looking oven. That literally sums up the first decade of my life. We had a TV and a stereo but there was a significant lack in TV channels up to ‘95, there was only one channel (Just One Channel was available) that would show series in the late evenings, one or two cartoons in the hours of late afternoon, two news broadcasts and lastly there would be either a singing show or talk show before they close the transmission at 12 am. That was constant. I would be eager to come home from school, finish my lunch early and watch cartoons; some cartoons would be shown every day and some would be picked out randomly. They would try to broadcast Tom & Jerry, Popeye and Looney Tunes once a while but not often. Nevertheless I would enjoy them when they were on TV even though I’d have no absolute clue of what they’d be saying.

Then what happened? ‘96 occurred, followed by cable lines that provided around 15 to 20 channels; wow, 20 was a big jump from 1, don’t you think! Anyway, there were a couple of Indian TV channels for the moms, News and sports channels for dads; kids drew the short straw. Oh, Cartoon Network was accessible but you have to take account of the audiences. For an hour of TV break, most of the parents (in my neighborhood) didn’t want to pay for that channel. And besides, our local telly broadcasted a few cartoon shows every day, and that was enough; and if there were any GOOD TV shows were put on, then we kids get to watch those. But I made the most of what I was allowed and it was enough, to say the least.


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As the day passed, more and more TV channels were added. It didn’t take too much time for me to grasp that I had a thing for the detective shows. Any regular TV shows or movie or cartoons I would avoid but I would count the hours on the clock when Scooby-Doo would be aired and same goes for the detective show in another channel named CID (don’t laugh). Around that age, I was too scared of ghosts and bugs so I’d try every once in a while to sit through a horror movie or two and TV shows. So, during the holidays when my mom would be gone to meet up with the neighboring aunties, I’d binge-watch cartoons and movies and back in the days Bollywood movies were all the hype was about (still somewhat is maybe); oh did I tell you I wasn’t allowed to watch Hollywood or European films? Yes, I was brought up as quite an oblivious child.

I have no complaints about how my childhood was, believe me, I was only interested in watching cartoons and being the leader of the boy gang in my school and the neighborhood, yeah a girl who was hellbent on becoming a leader. So, even though I wasn’t given much TV privileges, I had more fun than most of the kids these days. And I know many of you will agree with that. My movie watching experience in later years was bearable, not initially though because there were many poorly made action movies and later on I focused on the box office.

I didn’t recognize it became such a long rant at this point but I’m glad to write about it. I have no recollection of my first film experience and my visits to movie theaters weren’t that many. Let me tell you something, I have seen a few movies and TV shows that I believed were wonderful but I have no memory of, also I have watched movies that are insignificant, but I remember them quite vividly. Back then there were a few series (Keo Kothao Nei and Aaj Robibar) that made quite an impression to many people, and too have watched them but other than a few cut pieces, they're completely wiped out. I was talking to my friend about a film I had seen when I was a kid; it was Massey Sahib, and I have been meaning to watch it again because I forgot almost everything about it. However, I recall it being sad and the only memory that remained was the lead actor was trying to get a wedding picture with his newly wedded wife behind a giant board with a drawing of an airplane and that is all.

Bits and pieces are all I have for now of some really remarkable movies and shows that I had the opportunity to experience, I wish I remembered or maybe I’ll try to find them from wherever I can just to not feel this forgetful feeling; it’s not a good sense.



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4 comments
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It's great to see how good memories we all have with Cinema.

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It is. Although I wish my memory hadn't faded so much

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Great entry and congrats for the win.

I share some of the memories although not the same content. I had no TV in my paternal home since my grandpa was a moulovi but when I visited my maternal home, they had a black and white tv. We used to live there a few months out of a year. When ekushe tv came, I remember even two channels were able to make a ruckus! It was mayhem!

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(Edited)

Haha yea I remember when ekushey tv was banned... channel I was around the same time I think... I think you wrote something about this somewhere... last week's Turni?

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