7: How i became talkative-credits to Jaya TV :P ;)

This part of the series is all about "How GB became so very bold and talkative?" Thanks to "Jaya tv" which brought all the difference in me. I was also born with the normal vocal chords and short tongue only. I was a very silent kid when i was in my primaries. I hated to go on stage. Whenever a stranger asked me "Hi baby! whats your name?" i used to hide my face behind my hands and run away.

I still remember the first time i messed up with a stage show in my school. I was in 6th class then. It was world literacy day and the dialog started this way "Now i remember..." now i remember only that but there standing on stage, being watched by the whole school in the assembly, I forgot every single word that followed. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to say a dialog "Now i remember.." and forgetting the rest. That was the first time i understood i had demo phobia (fear of crowd) . From then on i never stepped on stage nor did i try talking to a group of friends together, fearing people would tease me.

Then came this chance of attending a program of Jaya TV, as a participant. The program was called "Vandugal Rajjiyam" (now don try to think hard to find if you had seen the program, you wouldn't have. I'm sure). The first time the camera started rolling i was almost ready with tears in my eyes. I did not know what to speak. It was a visit to Aavin sholinganallor dairy and i was asked to call my own dad "uncle" as he was the one who was explaining about the diary. Finally i gathered all the courage and spoke well. When we started back home the director of the show called my dad and asked him if he can let me host the show from then. There started my first lesson "How to be friendly to strangers!"

I had always envied the VJ's of those days. There were not many like how it is today. Today anyone jobless becomes a VJ but that time "Pepsi Uma" was the most famous host. I thought all these people will be treated like queens. The sets of different programs always kept me wondering how hese channel maintain so many big big different sets for different shows. so when my father told me we were going to the Jaya TV studio, i imagined it to be really big.

I got up early that morning and wore the prettiest dress i had. We went there and i was waiting to see such a big building. We got down from the auto and i was shocked. There was a small building with just 2 floors. I was already disappointed and when i went in with a frown face a lady who was as fat as the owner of Jaya TV welcomed us. She was the receptionist Indhu. Looking at her i mistook her to be a rude woman but i was proved wrong by the way she spoke to me ( a stranger ). The reception had a LCD tv and not many times before that i had got a chance to see a LCD tv. It was some year in 1990's. I had to sit there for half an hour as they said the set was getting ready. Again that made me curious. I thought iwill be taken to a huge set like the one in "Jackpot", it was a time when Jackpot had the maximum TRP of all the television shows. I was called and i rushed in. :-( ) i was dumbstruck. There were hundred doors, each leading to a room that measured exactly the same as my flat watchman shed. I entered the room which was alloted for "Vandugal Rajjiyam" that day. IT had four sets on four walls. One wall had "Movie no.1" set, 2nd had "Adithyan's Kitchen" set. Third had some not-so-famous program's set and the fourth wall had just a blue screen. That blue screen was my program's set. I was asked to stand there for five minutes and stare at the lifeless camera in order to set the camera at the right angle. My director Mr.Saravana Rajjan came to me and told me just 2 sentences "Welcome to vandugal rajjiyam..blah blah blah" and asked me to say the same with proper modulation the moment i hear the words "Start Camera Action". I said that and everyone applauded. I really id not know why. They said it was great to get a OK right in the first take and even big hosts take lot of takes. I wondered how i could make a mistake in a 2 line long dialog. It was simpler than social answers.

Then i was given a break after they recorded one episode. That is when i asked myself "when i can talk to a lifeless camera why do i fear talking to people who are full of blood,flesh and veins?" I laughed. Everything got over and the hosting part for next three weeks was recorded. Then came the most enjoyable part. I was asked to sign in a voucher. That was the first time someone asked me for a signature. I was payed Rs.250. I was jumping up and down. It was my first earned money.

There started my journey with Jaya Tv. I hosted the program for the next two years. Each time i was asked to go to the make up room (which was as small as a motor room but with a/c) i used to have a big star of Jaya TV sitting next to me, busy with his/her make up. Sometimes they used to talk to me too. Slowly i came out of the cover i had wrapped up myself in. I started talking to everyone there, known, unknown, make up man, workers, tea boy, camera men, directors, famous artists and even the visitors who dropped in. Slowly my programs shooting room was shifted to the terrace room which was half constructed. the other half was under construction. They were building a big hall exclusively for "Jackpot" there. This program got me a chance to record an ad for AIR, then a promotion a for Jaya TV.

I used to shoot in the morning and rush to school directly from there with all the makeup. Actually they would bury my face in powder. Everyone around will laugh at me every time i go to school after the shooting. It was fun. Whenever i attended a family function there will definitely one aunt's cousins mother's brother's something who will recognize me and ask me about the program. It was not because of the popularity of the program but the way the word of mouth spread so well within the farthest circle of the family.

I really enjoyed those days.The kind of exposure i got was amazing. If i am this talkative and if i am an extrovert today all the credits goes to Jaya TV and Vandugal Rajjiyam.( if you think it is troublesome to you, you are free to curse them)