Pleasure chemical for ears and eyes

Every afternoon brought the voice of Yesudas alive in the neighbourhood. This was a favorite pass time for the whole village. Men who go to the fields and women ruling over the houses alike used to wait in almost straight lines near the large canal which carries water to the farm lands where these water met the fertile soil of Kerala, for the sounds from the only Radio in town. The Murphy radio brought by the British sahibs to India stayed back and found new home when they returned to their homelands. This radio famously called Murphy chettan was gifted to the current owner by his British boss when he took the steamer back to his roots. Murphy stayed fit to serve two generations without any complaints often respected and revered for his age and fitness. The war had ended and India had become independent, Akashvani was formed and creators of movies and music thrived, during these times it was a practice to transmit the famous songs of the present day movies every afternoon often timing it to perfection to meet the lazy afternoon naps of the country. Our village folks used to gather right outside Murphy’s house to listen to whatever he plays during the hour. There was no day without listening to his sweet speakers filled with explosions in rhythm often termed as the sound of music for the whole village in their otherwise poverty stricken life. The owner of Murphy was idolised by the locals for his priced possessions and often respected equal to the rich landlords who had a radio but not Murphy. Music had no religion, no language and same for poor and rich alike. There were in-numerous attempts from various collectors, rich, thugs and thieves to beg, borrow, buy and steal which was dealt with according to the merit of the attempt. And Murphy stayed bringing God  to the ears for decades….

Fast forward to the 90s, Murphy had been long forgotten the once proud owner was one among the many common men in the city, his daughters had given birth to next generation whom no one knew existed and not anymore associated to the famous household of the village which was now a thriving city. From voices from sky(Akashvani) where we could not find who was speaking or singing, now we had harnessed the power to see the performance from even far away villages, towns and cities(Doordarshan). Murphy’s  owner’s kith and kin stayed poor to not own a TV set and there was no British left to gift them one too. His grandchild used to climb huge walls when he was 5years old, where adults and trained thieves found tough to put their foot on, only to watch the TV through the windows of the homes every Sunday morning to enjoy the cartoons. Later when he was 8, he used to hang on gates of other houses to watch the black and white world in the TV often forgetting the colourful one around him. Life was in black and white for the poor and in colour for the affluent. But it all began from black and white, where there was no rich, all languages of the country was welcome home and love for music continued. It introduced people to the world beyond their localities and encouraged to appreciate the diversity. The boy was met with two kinds of kind people, one who would pity the little one and invite home to dine and watch the shows while others who would close the windows of their homes so this tiny kid don’t peep into their privacy and enjoy the shows on TV. Either ways he was content with the responses and determined to be persistent with his effort to watch the TV every time.  Enchanted by the world outside, he dreamed of exploring the world himself and learn from every culture, tradition and the rich heritage of this land. Appreciating his penance and addiction to the TV, his parents living pay-check to pay-check decided to bring home the hefty loan and it’s instalments in the form of a colour television. Rest is history…

Today every kid is born with a mobile on his right hand and knows to swipe left. New loans had been devised to even take kidneys to get new mobile technology to the hands of people. Every family owns multiple TV sets, radios found new home inside cars of this world, and we have forgotten to take a moment of pause and appreciate the efforts put by us and our ancestors to have a peep into the luxury of entertainment which radio and TV was and remains. 

While we find new ways to entertain ourselves in our ever changing world, Murphy breathed his last and life had come full circle!