Like many desis of my generation, I am a big fan of Malgudi Days so I could not be more excited to see it on Amazon subtitled and all. Waiting all week for the next episode to air had pleasures that simply cannot be recreated in this format but I am very much looking forward to watching the series with J. It will be interesting to see what if anything resonates with her from these wonderful vignettes. There is a lot of time, distance and cultural separation that separate her from characters from R.K Narayan's stories. It may not be like us back in the day, rooting for Swami because he was such a relate-able kid. I hope the idyllic pace of his life will give J a feel for this long forgotten world of pre-independence rural India.
The title track of the show is music etched in memory for those of us who watched it as kids. It was the siren song that rustled us out of whatever activity we were engaged in, to gather in front of the TV. It was also the time, when the neighborhood was quiet and the streets empty. The scene in our living room was identical to that in everyone else's too. We all needed to catch up with the latest hijinks of Swami and his friends. While there always have been cultural fault-lines in India, shows like Malgudi Days had the universal appeal that brought people of all stripe together - atleast for some time. I cannot recall anyone including the worst cynics and malcontents (which I happen to have a large number of just within my extended family) who had a problem with Swami and his crew.
The title track of the show is music etched in memory for those of us who watched it as kids. It was the siren song that rustled us out of whatever activity we were engaged in, to gather in front of the TV. It was also the time, when the neighborhood was quiet and the streets empty. The scene in our living room was identical to that in everyone else's too. We all needed to catch up with the latest hijinks of Swami and his friends. While there always have been cultural fault-lines in India, shows like Malgudi Days had the universal appeal that brought people of all stripe together - atleast for some time. I cannot recall anyone including the worst cynics and malcontents (which I happen to have a large number of just within my extended family) who had a problem with Swami and his crew.
Comments