India’s changed media consumption habits may remain post lockdown

Initially, it took a nudge. Ramayan was airing on Doordarshan (DD). In Mumbai, the seniors in the Singh family had a plan. “We had grown up with Ramayan. We had emotions and nostalgia attached to it. We wanted our kids to know the story, too,” says Ajit Kumar Singh, a banking sector executive. The family of five comprises Singh, his wife, son, 17, daughter, 26, and his 77-year-old mother-in-law.

“In the beginning, we had to push our daughter a bit to watch the serial,” he says. Many episodes and weeks later, things have fallen into place. During the lockdown, breakfast is about the family watching Ramayan together. “Initially, I was just curious. What was this serial that held people so much in thrall in the 1980s? Slowly, it has grown on me,” says the daughter, Parul Singh.