Hindi tele-serials on Star Plus have been popular among many women. Even some men appear to be addicted to them. Housewives adore Star Plus like nothing else. These serials have become their religion, guide, friend and philosopher. Many are mad after serials like Kyunki sas bhi kabhi bahu thi, Kumkum, Bhabi, Kasauti. Characters like Anurag, Mr Bajaj, Kum Kum, Prerana have become household names. Such serials and their characters are most often the topic of discussion among women and young girls at home, parties or even workplaces.

I have two sisters-in-law who are serial-crazy.

Nothing bewilders me more than their capacity to watch serials for hours at a stretch, that too with rapt attention. I can vividly recollect their faces brimming with enthusiasm, excitement, and anxiousness while they are in front of the idiot box. They are so obsessed with serials that even while doing their household chores they seldom forget to discuss its contents.

Their discussion goes something like this: “Prerana looks cute, I hate that character, why doesn’t the villain die and so on.” Given their obsession I sometimes get the impression that they love serials more than their husbands.

One of my colleagues lamented having had to miss some of her favourite serials. She angrily cursed the loadshedding and wondered if anything could be done about it. Industrialists, businessmen, students and the public — all have been hit hard by the long hours of power cuts. SLC students are having a tough time. I feel for them but my heart goes out to all the serial-crazy women who have had to miss their favourite pastime. Understandably, SLC students can do with candles, emergency lights and lanterns while industries and businesses have alternative sources of energy like the diesel-powered generators but our women are helpless, silent spectators in the face of erratic hours of loadshedding.

Oh God! I pray for rains. Loadshedding is a crime against such women. They are in a desperate condition like a fish without water! Please give us a downpour. A drizzle like the current one is simply not enough. Let the loadshedding be done away with as soon as possible. Let women keep tabs on the plot uninterrupted.