Topical

We and the internet

We and the internet

Shashank Purandare

The Internet was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense's ARPA in 1969. The World Wide Web was created later in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, who passed away recently.

In India it was launched on August 15, 1995 by VSNL, though research and academic institutes were using a similar thing in India since 1986.

Initially it spread slowly but advent of cheaper personal computers and laptops and mobile technology coupled with rapid digitisation of banking and other services helped faster growth of Internet in India.

Today, it is difficult to imagine life without Internet, when mobiles and computers have become seamlessly interchangeable.

Before television movies, dramas and other live shows were the only entertainment mediums available in India, apart from the very popular All India Radio.

Experimental TV came to India in 1959. Regular service started in 1965 in Delhi. Mumbai got it in 1972 and it went colour in 1982.

Satellite TV came to life in 1990’s and rest is history. Commercial private channels proliferated with cable and dish TV. TV serials like Humlog, Mahabharat proved path breaking. Roads in India wore a curfew like look during the transmission of some of these serials. Soon soap dramas took over and are still ruling the skies.

It was only a question of time before the OTT platforms mushroomed all over the world, thanks to rapid improvements in technology and availability of higher bandwidth.

To the uninitiated, OTT stands for over the top, which means streaming media like Netflix, Prime video etc., which is delivered to your home via internet.

Bandwidth means the number of channels that a particular source can handle at a time. Higher bandwidth means you can watch streaming content without breaks. It also allows high definition streaming images at 4k resolution.

Today platforms like YouTube have revolutionised the entertainment and information industry. It even allows any individual in the world to air his or her content to anyone who wants to see it. It offers free or paid online services in virtually every field. Platforms like Facebook or Meta if you like, WhatsApp, X, are not far behind. They offer instant one to one or group communication all over the world through Internet. Today you can instantly connect to anyone anywhere in the world. If you are feeling lonely, join one of the chat groups with like minded people.

You can also create your own website, like the one I have where you are currently reading my column.

Internet offers endless possibilities to any individual to display his skills, offer his expertise in a particular field or simply entertain others. Alternately, you can learn things like computers, programming, languages, learn to play musical instruments or any other skills like cookery, painting, handicraft etc,.

You can also promote your own business or startup through internet.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that we in India pulled through the COVID crisis due to internet. During the lockdown many essential items like food, clothing were delivered to your doorstep after online ordering through the Internet.

This now brings me back to OTT. During Covid crisis, TV was the only medium available for entertainment. We spent hours together watching the OTT content. We got addicted to many TV serials. We binge-watched seasons after seasons of our favourite programs.

Even today, for many of us who are enjoying retired life and those who cannot move out of the house due to some physical discomfort, OTT has become an inanimate companion.

I have always been a fan of crime thrillers right from my childhood. For years together I used to devour through an entire novel in one seating. Sadly, many of my favourite authors have passed away. Now books are supplemented by these crime serials. Of course, I also enjoy watching other serials and movies.

But some times you get hooked on to some serials. In Marathi, I enjoyed watching Bun Maska, in which Both Shivani Rangole and Shivraj Waivhal were brilliant. Assa maher nako ga bai was dominated by Supriya Pathare. Both these serials were truly hilarious.

During Covid we binge watched Person of Interest, all of 125 episodes. Last couple of years, we watched Rizzoli and Isles, just to enjoy the brilliant chemistry between the lead actors, Sasha Alexander and Angie Harmon. Mark Harmon, a towering figure in NCIS is simply outstanding. We started watching NCIS for Sasha Alexander, but the entire cast of the series is great. The serial started sometimes in 90’s and its latest season 23 has just appeared on Prime video.

There are quite a few remarkable serials and I don’t want to start listing them. The point is in today’s world of 55 inch 4K TV and home theater, these characters become real life. You actually get so much attached to them that you go through the roller coaster of emotions with them. When one of your favourite character dies in the serial, you actually feel the loss. It is also a tribute to the directors, the photographers and of course the actors to make you feel those emotions.

Some shows on the other hand are so ordinary that you switch them off after some time.

I want to leave this piece with a disturbing trend that is currently emerging. I read a report that all over the world, many news channels are shutting down. Already, people have stopped reading the news paper. In a world where it is difficult to distinguish between reel and real life, we are becoming more and more dependent on social media for news content. With the emergence of AI technology it is becoming impossible do differentiate between real and fake news.

So beware, make sure to authenticate the news source before you start believing it.

Shashank Purandare 16/02/2026