Search for Lost Stories

I am turning 40 in next few months. So much has been lost in the debris of time and yet inscribed in the memories.  It is a travesty that we remember milestones yet forgot the simpler times of the childhood. I am suddenly experiencing mixture of melancholy and nostalgia of the old DD serials, movies and cartoons.  Rooted in memory, these shows have evoked in me the warmth of simpler times.

For adults who fondly remember the golden age of Doordarshan (DD) in the 1990s, the program lineup was a delightful mix of intellect, comedy, and adventure.  I was seeing the world through the eyes of a child alive to its sensations yet protected from the reality. I will mention few DD programs forgotten or less remembered among people nowadays. 

 

One such gem was Gucchhe, which, contrary to popular belief, wasn't an original Indian drama but rather the Hindi-dubbed version of Stories from My Childhood—a beautifully animated anthology of global fairy tales originally produced by Soviet studios. Another animation series, Superbook Classic captivated me with reimagining of Bible stories, where young protagonists traveled through time to witness key events in Christian scripture. And finally, the ever-popular Sindbad the Sailor kept imaginations alight with tales of treasure, monsters, and magical voyages. This was the Hindi-dubbed adaptation of the Japanese anime Arabian Nights: Sinbad's Adventures (1975). These animations weren’t just cartoons — they were gentle stories, subtly weaving morals, ethics, and culture into lessons that has stayed with me. 

I had started watching obscure TV movies on the DD in childhood. One such movie, Papeeha (1993) was aired in December 1994. I searched for the movie in vain on the digital landscape and found the print only today. 

I once watched a movie about two elephants, but for the longest time, I couldn’t remember its name. It stayed in my memory, vivid yet unnamed, for nearly 30 years. The eureka moment came when I realized the elephant duo weren't mother and son, but father and son — and that cracked the code. Memory often eludes us, and over time, what we remember can become distorted, blending fiction with reality. Then, after all that time, I finally discovered its title: Kala Parvat (original title: Chyornaya Gora), a 1971 Soviet Indian co-production directed by Aleksandr Zguridi and M.S. Sathyu. It was a surreal moment—like reuniting with a long-lost piece of my childhood.  It took me years of searching the internet, countless Google queries, and even taking help from AI tools to finally uncover its title two week back.  Overjoyed, I announced the discovery to my mother and excitedly asked my son to watch the movie with me on YouTube. It was a beautiful moment that bridged three generations through a single, long-lost memory.

There was a serial named 'Prayas' creating awareness on environmental protection, but I can't find any digital footprint of the show now.  I also liked to watch 'Ank Ajoobe'—hosted by Benjamin Gilani— where school teams competed in solving math challenges on national television, making numbers both fun and competitive. 'Ek Tha Rusty', based on Ruskin Bond's semi-autobiographical stories, transported viewers to the serene hills of Dehradun, where a boy named Rusty came of age in warm, slice-of-life episodes full of charm and simplicity. Meanwhile, 'Ek Se Badkar Ek' brought laughter into our life with its comic setup. 

Beyond fiction, I was amazed to watch natural world in a serial: Secrets of the Sea, led by the legendary Jacques Cousteau, offered gripping undersea adventures with awe-inspiring visuals. This show was aired long before the widespread adoption of the internet, so online archiving wasn't a standard practice. Today, I can remember only the name and a memory. 

I was in Class 9 when I started watching Ralph Bousfield: Uncharted Africa, aired as part of Discovery Hour on DD Metro, in which I followed the intrepid explorer through the forests, deserts and savannahs capturing wildlife and tribal customs. For the past few years, I had been trying to recall the name of this series from my memory and validate it on Google — often stumbling through the fog of forgotten details and failed searches — until finally, I recalled, and it felt like rediscovering a long-lost piece of the puzzle from my past.

DD itself has a vast archive, but only a fraction of its content, especially older niche shows, has been digitized and made publicly available online. A lot of the serials that are part of the childhood memories of millions have been lost during the analog to digital transformation. Together, these shows defined a generation of television that was wholesome, thoughtful, and quietly magical.

To share common experience and memory is the spirituality that DD has offered to 80's and 90's children. They were once source of joy in a life but now these memories seem far away. I was happy with the beauty of growing up in a time where life moved slower and hearts stayed open.  It is a lesson in the inaccessibility of the past that was woven into the rhythm of my life, with theme music of DD that marked the hours like temple bells.  

Thanks to Google Video — now rechristened as YouTube — and the many digital companions along the way like Google, AltaVista, Orkut, Facebook, and now Gemini and ChatGPT, my scattered memories slowly came together. Each search felt like a time capsule, until at last, I rediscovered that elusive piece of my past. As I write this blog post, I can’t help but feel a little old, stirred by the slow resurrection of emotions long buried in memory and heart.

India’s Cricketing Woes: A Deep Dive into the BGT & New Zealand Debacle

India’s cricketing contrasts are stark: a powerhouse at home yet vulnerable in challenging conditions. The recent losses are a reminder that success requires not just talent but humility, preparation, and adaptability. India’s recent cricketing struggles have spotlighted long-standing issues, ranging from batting inconsistencies to questionable strategies. While the Indian cricket juggernaut has often been celebrated for its dominance, particularly on home soil, recent results have raised serious concerns about the team’s direction. 1-3 outcome in Australia is far from surprising; any astute cricket lover who closely followed the New Zealand series could have seen this coming.

Tactical Failures

Pat Cummins and the Australian team have been successful against India's lineup, it's a testament to their strategic planning and effective execution. One of the most debated aspects of India’s performance was their team selection. The Indian think tank's decision to field 5-6 bowlers on paper, despite having only two effective bowlers, highlights a tactical misstep. The injury to the main bowler exacerbates the problem, leaving the team with limited options.

The Lower-Order Conundrum

India’s lower-order batsmen frequently end up as top scorers, a trend symptomatic of a broader problem: an unreliable top order. Home conditions, when overexploited to favor bowlers, can poison a team’s batting just as effectively as it does the opposition. Playing on pitches overly tailored to assist bowlers has often backfired, hampering India’s own batting lineup as much as it troubles the opposition. This recurring issue came into sharp focus during the 2024 Test series against New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Historic Triumph

New Zealand’s men’s team, with only two Test wins in India since 1955, stunned the cricketing world by achieving a historic 3-0 clean sweep. The victory was a testament to their adaptability to spinning pitches and India’s complacency post their T20 World Cup triumph. While players like Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal performed admirably, the underwhelming contributions from senior batsmen Rohit Sharma (91 runs) and Virat Kohli (93 runs) proved costly.

Rohit and Kohli: A Question of Legacy

Once the cornerstones of Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now seem to struggle with familiar patterns of failure. As time catches up with them, their waning form has become a burden on the team. A critical question arises: should these stalwarts retire on a high note, leaving fans asking, “Why now?” rather than “Why not now?” Their consistent underperformance has left the batting lineup vulnerable throughout both series, inevitably leading to an adverse result. 

Change of Leadership

India has failed to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and scrutiny of Rohit Sharma’s captaincy is set to intensify, especially following five defeats in the last six matches. Leadership in cricket is as much about man-management as it is about on-field strategies, and Rohit’s tenure has ended.

Over-Reliance on All-Rounders

India’s strategy of relying on all-rounders to mask the failures of its top order has its pitfalls. While players like Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja & Washington Sundar have produced tough performances, this approach often hides a lack of consistency in the top order. Selecting “half-bowlers who can bat” neither ensures wickets nor guarantees economical spells, as seen in the team’s struggles despite Jasprit Bumrah’s heroic efforts.

Road to Failure

No team can succeed when senior players are out of form, and young players fail to rise to the occasion. The core issue with the senior players isn’t just their underperformance—it’s their approach to the game. Given the chance to sharpen their skills in the Duleep Trophy, they chose to opt-out, missing a valuable opportunity to regain form. India’s decision to skip practice matches ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 has raised questions about their preparation and approach. In a high-stakes series, such a move could impact their ability to adapt to Australian conditions, putting additional pressure on the team from the outset. This decision speaks volumes about their priorities, leaving them with no one but themselves to blame. 

The Need for Grit and Simplicity

No team can carry so many mediocre or out-of-form batters and expect to win against a side with 4 great bowlers. Cricket’s timeless wisdom is that success often demands grit and simplicity over flashy heroics. India’s young players encouraged to “express themselves” with aggressive intent, must learn the value of resilience. The team’s conveyor belt of talent continues to produce promising players, but a lack of foundational stability in batting, captaincy, and selection strategies undermines their potential.

The Broader Lessons

As the cricketing world debates the causes of India’s slump, the focus must shift to fixing the basics. From addressing batting woes to ensuring sound leadership and selection policies, India has the resources to bounce back—but only if it learns from its failures.

The path forward requires more than cosmetic changes; it demands a cultural shift within the team. After all, cricket is as much about reinvention as it is about tradition—a lesson India must embrace if it hopes to reclaim its lost glory.