03/08/2026
This article is part of a series I wrote in 2006 for DD Arc, the internal bi-monthly newsletter of Doordarshan’s Central Archives. At that time, Late Mr Chaman Lal Hakku was the editor of this magazine. While publishing this article, he wrote the following editorial note along with it –
(In public life it is always wise to talk of positive aspects of matters and men around. That saves the flow of lots of inconvenient questions. It is never an easy job to look within our own confines and smell the rat. But DD-Arc is an In-house news letter for our own benefit It is for none and against none. With this air of security around us, we present here a candid description of our own weaknesses, 'Kissa pacchees Hazaar Tepoon Ka' by our senior colleague Irfan ~ Editor)
The picture attached to the post and the English translation of the Hindi article have been done with the help of AI.
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Doordarshan Archives: My Two Years (Ongoing)
The Story of 25,000 Tapes
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The evening of 10 August 2006. India Habitat Centre, Delhi. A party is being held here in honour of Doordarshan Archives. Famous personalities from the arts, culture and journalism of the capital have been invited.
Former and current senior officials of Doordarshan, ambassadors and embassy officers are also present. The party has been organised by the family of the renowned sarod player Amjad Ali Khan. In the set of 11 DVDs released on 2 June 2006, four DVDs showcase Amjad Ali Khan’s work.
They consider this a highly significant endeavour, and to share this sentiment they have dedicated this evening to Doordarshan Archives.
Of course it is a joyous occasion, and our morale doubles with the knowledge of the hopes people place in our work.
Even on this glittering occasion of happiness, the darkness does not escape my eyes- the darkness where the archive's staff has left unfinished the task of bringing nearly 25,000 tapes onto record. I am talking about that dark and damp basement which is located in the basement of Doordarshan’s new studio complex at Mandi House, New Delhi.
The second fortnight of May 2006 is about to begin. Four archive workers reach basement minus-2 of this new studio complex. The place is no less than a labyrinth. As these archive workers descend into the basement and reach the spot where some 25,000 tapes are kept tied up in sacks, they find there is no means for light or air to reach there. Lighting their mobile phones, they advance towards their destination.
Staying there in the humid heat of this May is life-threatening. There is no fan, no light. Forget about a place to sit- even standing is difficult. Still, they had work to do. The work was to open all the sacks one by one and, while recording the information written on each tape in separate registers, to arrange them in sequence under unique numbers so that the fungus could be removed thereafter, they could be physically cleaned, restored, preserved and digitalised.
After great effort they finally managed to arrange two or three chairs and a low stool to sit and work. When the sacks were opened it turned out that a mixed world of VHS, U-matic and Beta tapes was stuffed inside them.
Sometimes a tape would be found without its case; sometimes there would be a case without a tape; sometimes a tape would come with its case but nothing written on it and no details. The record of nearly two and a half thousand tapes was prepared in about fifteen days.
A cursory look at the record shows that programmes such as 'Ramayan', 'Mahabharat', 'Life Line', 'Buniyaad', 'Nukkad', 'Shrikant', 'Rajani', 'Kathasagar', 'Kashmakash', 'Hum Log', 'Kala Jal', 'Mirza Ghalib', 'Raja aur Rancho', 'Nirmala', 'Talash', 'Imtihaan', 'Kakka Ji Kahin' and 'Udaan' lie locked away in them.
Prakash Parekh, Rakesh Mohan, Ravi Kumar and Pankaj told that in these fifteen days they had quickly developed a working method. After opening the basement door, the first thing they would do was take off their trousers and shirts and keep them aside.
When they swept to remove the enormous amount of dust and cobwebs, the entire place would fill with flying dust. After waiting a little while they would spray Finit to protect themselves from the thousands of small insects present there. The sacks in which these tapes had been tied were sacks of flour, turmeric, sugar, rice and chilli.
From the sugar sacks innumerable ants, and from the chilli sacks the powder bhuss that came out, would be gotten rid of after a little stamping of feet or sneezing, but certain particular kinds of small insects would not leave them alone. Every evening they would return home coughing, sneezing and scratching.
Their willpower to carry out with dedication the work assigned by the office began to fail when these people started falling ill. The increasing consumption of masks, gloves, dusters, Finit and Colin also began to give signals that something was wrong somewhere. Soon the archives officials visited the workplace and found that the work should be stopped immediately and should not be resumed until a proper environment had been prepared.
Today, some three months later, the marks of insect bites and the residual effects of allergy still remain on the bodies of these archive workers. In those summer days, to meet the needs of thirst or the toilet they had to walk back about fifteen minutes on foot. No mobile service network reached there, and the appearance of lizards, chameleons, cockroaches and scorpions every little while would create a stir and heighten the thrill.
The light obtained was just enough for the sacks placed within a five-foot radius to be visible. How much air could one table fan produce in that oxygen-less place! But there was the comfort that there was air. One day when the light suddenly went out, in that pitch darkness these four people stood holding one another’s hands.
Holding one another’s hands, all the archive workers draw strength from each other on many such occasions so that the chain of work continuing every day does not break because of any one weak link.
~ From 'DD Arc', the internal newsletter of Doordarshan Central Archive, September-October 2006
