India, July 25 -- Once upon a time, there was no television in India. This is a true story. When TV did arrive in the mid-1960s, the black-and-white transmission of regional programmes that focused on agriculture and education was limited to a few hours, and to few cities. Colour TV was launched in India in 1982, and inform, educate and entertain the masses it did, but still within neat boundaries of transmission time and in a very prim fashion. Doordarshan Diaries: The Golden Era of Television by Sheila Chaman, a former anchor on Doordarshan and a former Miss India, tells the story of TV's arrival in India complete with pictures, timelines and first-person accounts. The author describes how basic technology was often stretched and innovations made to make TV transmission available in the best possible formats to a larger number of citizens. She writes of times when tele-prompters were unavailable and large chunks of text had to be memorised by those facing the camera. The book also provides insight into TV presentation skills, and traces how the sedate style of Doordarshan (DD) gave way to cable TV. There was no looking back after that shift. Doordarshan Diaries like reads like period fantasy to those who've never known a life without screens. Multiply that effect manifold for those who have always known smartphones. This reviewer was seven when a Sony colour TV from Abu Dhabi was installed in their south Bangalore home. Naturally, the book brought back memories of TV serials and commercials, and of public functions being interrupted so the audience could watch the next episode of Mahabharata before returning to the programme and picking up where they had left off. At first, everyone was united in sincerely savouring the limited fare offered by the single available channel. The regional film on Saturday evenings and the Hindi film on Sunday evenings were viewed more with devotion to routine than to cinema. Music programmes like Chitrahaar, and TV serials like Hum Log, Buniyad, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Khandaan, Udaan, Rajani, Nukkad and Mr Ya Mrs, among others, had a devoted viewership across age groups. Mythological characters breezed into homes, and families bonded over the one prime-time TV serial that played every night. Equally gripping TV commercials moulded lifestyles and fashion aspirations, and school fancy-dress competitions always had at least one Lalitaji ("Surf ki khareedaari mein hi samajhdaari hai!"). This was an era in which every household had to include an expert climber of walls and trees to adjust the rooftop TV antenna when video quality faltered. Hindi and English newsreaders were admired and respected for the grace and dignity they brought to the newscast. In that long-gone age, students were advised to watch the news to strengthen language skills. No one knew then that, in a few decades, our collective minds would be blown by unlimited content from around the world, and that screens of every size would dominate our lives. Doordarshan Diaries captures all this. It includes detailed back stories relating to historical events such as Emergency, the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi, and the anti-Sikh riots that followed in 1984. It also describes the author's personal journey in Indian television, beginning with the presentation of Mirror of the World in June 1976, for which Chaman received a cheque of Rs 75. The book weaves together history, culture, politics and electronics, and the views of those at the helm during the DD era. A must-read for students of journalism and electronics, and for those who first encountered TV through DD, this is a great nostalgia trip. Readers must keep in mind that the government broadcaster shaped and controlled news content as well, an aspect the author does touch upon. While the focus is Doordarshan, the heroes of this tale are really those who worked with it to lay the foundation of Indian television....