Thread by @amishra77

The thing with re-telecast of #RamayanOnDDNational is that just about 2 months ago, we finished a re-run of this series through DVD (to introduce the epic to my son). So this re-telecast is a bit too soon for us. So instead, let me narrate a story when it was first telecast. 1/5

#Ramayan was originally telecast between Jan 1987-July 1988. We were then living in Allahabad.

However, our ancestral village is in Gorakhpur, where we went every summer vacation.

The issue in summer of 1987 - how to watch Ramayan in a village with no TV/no electricity? 2/5

So here is what happened in 1987.

A brand new TV set was bought (UPTRON brand).

And electric lines were extend to the village in a record one week time (the local area MLA lived close by. He helped).

And then OUR VILLAGE HOME became the #RAMAYAN CENTER EVERY SUNDAY. 3/5

Imagine your house (we had a reasonably big house) being swamped by up to 100+ people every Sunday morning. All glued to a small 21 inch TV set!

What was amazing that the village got power erratically every evening. But 9 AM on Sunday - the electric supply never failed. 4/5

The #Ramayan telecast of 1987-88 (and later Mahabharat) was an epochal moment.

Maryada Purushottam was reintroduced - an entire new generation grew up which was civilizationally rooted, yet assertive. A generation which was willing to fight for what it believed was right. 5/5