The Televison Funda
The televison has been a major entertainment source since the dawn of Indian Cinema and its contribution towards the making of Indian mentality has been greatly influenced by the quality of the movie/soaps.Here are a frew glimpses of the famous/not so famous TV serials and movies.This list doesnt speak entirely of the theme but rather is a segment of the full list and obviously of my fav choice.
Everybody knows the CID and ACP Pradyuman played by Shivaji Satyam who is also otherwise popular for the roles of Father of the hero/heroine or as a Police Commissioner. When we say CID a reflection of a highly efficient and good looking people comes to our mind who has devoted their life for fighiting crime. Notable of mentioning is also Sr Inspector Abhijeet and Daya, Inspector Fredricks and Dr Salunkhe. The episode and the direction was the brainchild of B P Singh who had successfully created a cult/mainstream where ACP Pradyuman and his team will be there in our minds continuously after the bad guys. So why was this a success? It is still the longest running TV Serial(Yup even beats the Ku Ki Saas bhi Kabhi Bahu thi and Shanti.
The success mantra could be definitely that the storyline was superb along with the acting. The real catch though is that we wanted something like this in real life where the truth and justice finally triumphs over the bad and evil(By the way the base line is very ancient..dating back to Ramayan).They were successful because we wanted to see a team who will be feared by the criminals and politicians alike.
Ajnabi and Major(Not the Movie)
Well needless to say this was one of my favourite serials.An ex army who has settled in the hill tracks faces various challenges including typical human emotions and with a huge chunk of terrorists thrown in.Casted by Danny Denzongpa, the serial had action flicks and emotional twists(unlike recent Ekta kapoor productions).The soundtrack was something that penetrates the mind and takes us to those hilly areas.Needless to say the location chosen for shooting also had plenty of natural beauties(yeah..Beauties).Anyways those who have watched it needs no description.
The serial was more about the Indian Patriotism and Valor.Of sacrifices the people make for their better understanding of Freedom and Unity..
Prahar and Major Chauhan
Once again this needs no description as both the titles are very familiar.For me prahar signified the beatings in school by my chemistry teacher, Sharmistha madam who punished me with a scale for practicing the sacred art of Astrology and predicting who will mary who and how many babies they will have. Ahem…a bit off track…Anyway the Movie signified the struggle of an army man who adops the idea of cleaning the drain by getting in the drain. Nana perhaps had best suited for the role(Trivia:He undertook the training in Indian Army for the role and thus has been awarded honorary captain rank.He also had joined the Territorial Army (India) in early 90s).
The movie shows us how an army captain is forced to take up justice in his own hands and had to neutralize certain antisocial threats for the benefit of social cause and unfortunately the public makes wrong judgment of it.
Real Life Funda
As against the TV,there are certain real life agencies or govt organizations whose life is equally thrilling and perhaps could fetch high TRP if made a movie/serial out of it.Here is once again a segment of the list and my favs..
The NSG is a Special Response Unit in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism activities and was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986. It works completely within the Central Paramilitary Force structure.
Some of the NSG’s known operations include:
#30 April 1986 – 12 May 1988 — attack on Khalistani militants hiding in the Golden Temple during Operation Black Thunder II
#25 April 1993 — rescue of hijacked plane Indian Airlines Boeing 737 by Islamic militants during Operation Ashwamedh
#October, 1998 — major combat missions in Jammu and Kashmir
#15 July 1999 — rescue of 12 hostages held by armed terrorists who had stormed an apartment complex in Kashmir and killed 4 people
#25 September 2002 — Operation Vajra Shakti to free hostages held by terrorists who had killed 29 worshippers[4] at the Akshardham temple in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. They suffered their first combat death in this operation. A second commando, who was seriously injured and was in a coma, died after 18 months.
#26 November 2008 Mumbai attacks — Operation Black Tornado and Operation Cyclone to flush out terrorists & rescue hostages after multiple attacks across Mumbai, India. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havaldar Gajender Singh Bisht of the Special Action Group lost their lives during the operations.
Note: A large number of SRG personnel of the National Security Guards are assigned as bodyguards for various political leaders leaving a significantly lesser number of rangers who may be able to assist when the need arises.
However, after a recent media uproar, many of the NSG commandos were reassigned from their bodyguard positions(also known formerly as Black Cat and has been known to deploy in markets and sabzi mandi to fetch household groceries for VIP, making tea and providing guard to VIP’s sons and daughters ofcource) back to active duty
Research and Analysis Wing
The R&AW or RAW is India’s external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau (which handled both internal and external intelligence) in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent agency was required for competent external intelligence gathering.
The raw gained real power during the reign of Indira Gandhi and had been continuously on a growth pattern until the corruption had his hands on the organization. Major General (retired) V K Singh has recently written a book on R&AW where it was alleged that political interference and corruption in the intelligence agency has made it vulnerable to defections. One of the instances of corruption mentioned in the book was the preference given by R&AW departments towards purchasing intelligence from the ‘Rohde and Schwarz’ company. A reason for such corruption as explained by the author is that “…R&AW was not answerable to any outside agency – the control of the Prime Minister’s Office was per functionary, at best – many officers thought that they were not only above the law but a law unto themselves”
Central Bureau of Investigation
The CBI is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941. Its motto is “Industry, Impartiality, Integrity”.
The CBI is controlled by the Department of Personnel and Training in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension of the Union Government usually headed by a Union Minister who reports directly to the Prime Minister. While analogous in structure to the FBI, the CBI’s powers and function are severely limited to specific crimes based on Acts (mainly the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946). The CBI is the official Interpol unit for India.
Because of its intensely political overtones, it has been exposed by its former bigwigs like Joginder Singh and BR Lall who were Director and Joint Director respectively, to be engaging in nepotism, mal-prosecution and outright corruption. In his book, Who Owns CBI, BR Lall, an honest and upright officer details the modus operandi of manipulating and derailing investigation] This organization has become synonymous with corruption as information obtained under the RTI Act has revealed. Even the Top Bosses are known for stooping to illegal fund diversion.RTI activist Krishnanand Tripathi has alleged harassment from CBI in order to save itself from exposure through RTI CBI has now been exempted from RTI act.
Summary
Well Perhaps India has yet to see all of its Govt agencies into peak function taking example from US Special Forces and FBI/Scotland Yard.Perhaps then we can truelly say that our country is developing and no one can enter our house and shoot us and then leave easily.
Looking at the current prespective,I think it is high time that we start looking into the security loopholes and make india a better and stronger country.
Signing Off
My journey through time 