I was just trying to imagine what it would be like to shift to a remote region with no high-tech devices or good roads that allowed for speeding or facilities like cable or satellite connections (because the connection was too costly for my pocket)–and my mind boggled at the consequences! Television with its myriad channels has become so much a part of my life today, that I would feel totally lost without it! And if it should happen that all the TV networks are cut off except one–it is a situation I would not even wish to consider!

Yet, the very thing that I had only imagined, was put into action just a few days ago. I was unable to continue my “writing” work in peace, what with all the varied noises surrounding me–deafening music, equally noisy dogs, drunken fights, and so on! Deciding to experiment, and wishing to have some peace and quiet for my writing work, I went ahead and bought a little trailer to journey into the unknown! The idea was to go as deep into the woods as possible to escape from noisy civilization and noisy conversations!

My friends who accompanied me, had come for the sole purpose of setting up the TV with its satellite dish system. There was a remote too. I was not familiar with either of them. Despite having numerous boxes and bundles to put into their right places, I left it aside to give more attention to the TV. It was only after my friends had left, that I took up to settling the place a little. I had come here to spend a long period. Tired out after my labors, I switched on the TV with the help of the remote. The only channel that I could get hold of was showing a scene full of violence, full of guns and explosions. But I was stuck with it, since I had no idea of how to go about switching channels! And my friends were too far away to help and would return only after a few days!

That’s when I realized how grateful I should be for all the numerous TV networks that we had! Though I had to sit with one channel only, still it kept me from going insane in that quiet place. My mind also kept going round in circles, developing one hypothetical situation after another. Just imagine that there is a boat that can carry only seven people, but there are ten of you. Now try to figure out who will go with you and whom you will leave behind. This was mental dynamics at its most active! Similarly, among all the networks, which TV network would I carry with me into such remote areas if I had a choice? Reality TV had a double advantage–you could hear the news as well. Or I could go for the most popular show which refused to have commercial breaks, such as the Turner Movie Classics. The Indy Channel could also prove to be quite entertaining. If very serious by nature, there were always those educational and informative channels to choose from. Now, which one would I choose?

I am not able to decide, but I would like to thank all those TV networks and the TV stars for providing us with so many choices! Life would have been dull otherwise!

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