Ramayan, most watched programme in years, will start a few minutes late today

Friday’s telecast of the mythological epic series Ramayan will be delayed by a few minutes so as to not overlap with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 9am address to the nation, Prasar Bharti has announced.

The official Twitter account of Prasar Bharti wrote on Thursday, “In view of the Important Video Message from the Hon’ble PM tomorrow morning, the telecast of Ramayan on @DDNational will be delayed by a few minutes.”

PM Modi had earlier tweeted, “At 9 AM tomorrow morning, I’ll share a small video message with my fellow Indians.”

Ramayan was back on television on last Saturday, recalling for many those epic mornings an age ago when entire families, and even neighbours, gathered before clunky television boxes for their weekly fix of television and religion.

The streets were empty, as they were nearly three decades ago when Ramanand Sagar’s serial that brought to life in garish and grainy colour the story of the noble prince and his 14-year exile began airing every Sunday.

Also read: Lord Ram aka Arun Govil watches Ramayan rerun with family on Doordarshan, pic goes viral

Then, it was about people glued to television screens, some even praying before it, planning their day around that one hour a week and making sure they go nowhere. Now, it is about a lockdown in a highly tech efficient world of 24-hour entertainment as India and the world battle the coronavirus pandemic.

The government’s announcement that it would rerun the show on DD National at 9am and 9pm everyday brought back nostalgia for times that were simpler and TV viewing was about community.

(With PTI inputs)

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