The FIFA World Cup begins on Thursday last and, typically, my TV has gone on the blink. There is sound but no picture, which is not the ideal way to follow the world’s biggest sporting spectacle. And that’s not all, the Women’s T20 World Cup gets underway on Friday and Wimbledon follows at the end of the month. June and July promise to be a feast of sport, like Diwali, Eid and Christmas rolled into one.
I bought the TV in 2014 and it has faithfully carried me through three Worlds Cups, countless cricket tournaments and more tennis than I care to admit. I am following the World Cup since 1982. When Doordarshan first brought the tournament live into Indian homes. Spain was the host nation and DD showed only the semi-finals and final, where Italy defeated West Germany and Paolo Rossi became the hero of the hour. Colour television had not yet arrived in India, so we watched it all in black-and-white.
But the World Cup in 1986, which Diego Maradona won for Argentina in Mexico with an outstanding display of his legendary skills, DD broadcast entirely and in colour. We had a Dyanora TV. It was manually operated and received only one channel – Doordarshan. The telecast was often so dodgy it was difficult to distinguish one team from the other. You could not tell who was attacking and who was defending. And relied heavily on the commentator to make sense of the action.
The flimsy V-shaped indoor antenna precariously perched atop the TV and the outdoor antenna mounted on the terrace didn’t do much. Mumbaikars believed if the TV tower at Worli was visible from home, you were assured of good reception. We had an uninterrupted view. But every time someone crossed the room between the TV and window, the picture dissolved into snowy chaos. It also faded away when there was heavy rain.
Doordarshan had other ways of testing a sports fan’s patience. Whenever a prominent politician passed away, regular programming vanished without warning and was replaced by a mournful sarod recital. During the summer of 1986, Jagjivan Ram’s death interrupted coverage of Maradona’s World Cup and a Wimbledon championship that eventually crowned Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova.
Today, India has 900-plus TV channels and DD 50. Streaming platforms and sports networks deliver events in dazzling high definition. Cameras capture every blade of grass, every bead of sweat and even every disputed decision from multiple angles. Matches arrive on giant smart screens with immersive sound that makes you feel you are sitting inside the stadium. But I will always miss the excitement of those black-and-white nights in front of a Dyanora set, watching the World Cup through a flickering DD signal and wondering if the picture would survive until half-time.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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