My first experiment with electro Magnetic waves...

I remember little about the time we had a black & white television. That was in 1994. Cable must have just about. Maybe at the time I didn't even have enough sense to think about getting a cable connection. The television used to be kept in a room on the first floor of the house. I was sitting alone watching it. At the time b&w televisions didn't have remote controls, but perhaps now they do. Sitting all by myself, I thought why not twist the television's ears and change channels. Thought to myself that just like the transistor catches radio and FM waves, maybe television will catch some of the cable channels. Twist by twist, I reached one such channel which was showing a film. I thought why not try and move the wire around a little to see if the image clears a little more. But the image didn't change. I thought something must be done so I can watch cable. The cable-guy's satellite was just five steps away. The wires were tied to an electricity pole in front of the house. All that separated me from them were the electricity wires to the pole, and the breadth of the lane. I cast a glance at the rooftops in the market. They had tied a speaker, the rim of a cycle and a magnet to the antenna on their roofs.

I thought, something has to be done. I went to the kabari (scrap dealer) shop in my lane and bought a cycle rim. Then, went up to my roof, removed the wire from the antenna and tied it to the cycle rim. Back downstairs to the TV, I saw cable (transmission) was clear. When mummy came back from her vegetable shopping, she was surprised to see a new movie on television. She asked me, "There is a new film on the television?" I said I made it happen with my brain. Mummy said, "What did you do?" I told her to go up and see for herself. I was sitting downstairs, watching the film. Mummy quietly went up and removed the rim from the antenna. I thought maybe there is some problem from the main transmission. Mummy came back down and said, "Go return this rim to wherever you got it from." I asked her why she had removed it. Mummy said, "When your father returns from duty today, we'll get a cable connection." I replied with an 'okay'.

Papa came back in the evening. I asked him to get a cable connection. He said we'd get it done the next day. But I was restless for cable. I sneaked Raju into the house and started to think about a new plan.

And this is what I did - I took the TV antenna wire, removed the insulation, and pulled out the strands of wire one by one. I told Raju, "I'll keep peeling off the insulation, you keep winding it up." Two hours passed. We estimated the length of the wire would be enough to reach across now. I said to Raju, "You go stand on the roof opposite, and throw two small stones from the window." The window didn't have a grill.

I was on the second floor, and just below me was the electricity wire. Raju threw in the stones. I tied the wires I had peeled, the thickness of which was microscopic, to these stones. Then I threw them across. But they got entangled in my hand and landed straight on the electricity wires. The shock I got then! For a second I thought I was dead and gone to heaven. But I didn't relent, and threw the wire once again. Raju was quick. He caught them and quickly swung up his arms. I ran up to that roof, and simply tied the wires to the joint in the cable. I came back to find the transmission was smooth and clear.

Next day, papa said, "Get a cable connection today." I thought, who wants to give a hundred and fifty rupees every month. I said, "Let it be. What's the need."