Doordarshan Days

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Plucked from the rainy slopes of north Bengal, Bhaskar Ghose, an IAS officer and veteran field administrator, is brought to Delhi at the express request of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He is appointed director general of Doordarshan, and even before he can get an answer to the most pressing question-why me?-his roller-coaster engagement with television begins.

With enthusiasm and passion Ghose plunges into this new role at a seminal time for the network, overseeing momentous events in the organization's development-the airing of extraordinarily popular serials like the 'Ramayana' and the 'Mahabharata', the first live broadcast of the cricket World Cup, the advent of satellite transmission, the first live election coverage-and is witness to the fateful arrival of Star TV and other private networks. But his attempts at reforming Doordarshan also bring him in conflict with the murky underside of public broadcasting, a world populated by capricious government ministers and their fawning acolytes, interfering secretaries and self-righteous MPs, corrupt bureaucrats and greedy producers.

In Doordarshan Days, Bhaskar Ghose recounts with disarming frankness-and characteristic humour-his struggle to bring about change, revealing in the process the tragic and often absurd tale of public television in India.

About the Author:

Bhaskar Ghose was educated in Madras, Lucknow and Bombay, and read English at St Stephen's College, Delhi for his graduate and postgraduate degrees. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1960 and served in West Bengal and at the Centre for almost thirty-six years. Since leaving the government, he has been writing regularly for newspapers and journals. He has been involved in theatre for over forty years and has also been a television presenter.

Bhaskar Ghose live in New Delhi.

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