Of course whites predominate but there are darker shades too, and the very typical middle class, professional and householders: Everybody Loves Raymond, doesn’t appear to possess a bread-winner, although they’re invariably cooking something up in the kitchen. English soaps like Coronation Street or Eastenders have always been working class domains, unlike our saas-bahus.

The news: our channels grow younger every day, with a few grey news hounds to lend experience and knowledge most abundantly lacking: hail Prannoy Roy. BBC and CNN almost flaunt their 50 plus stars — Nik Gowing, 56, Lyse Doucet , 49, anchor the most important telecasts and CNN’s weather vanes comes from every corner of the globe. Larry King, 74, is a quintuple bypass surgery survivor still kickin’ whatever he has to. Oprah Winfrey holds together admirably but she’d be the first to admit it takes a helluva workout for everyone over 50 (she’s 53) to look they way she does.

Everyone in the TV business proses on and on about the 15-35 age bracket being the only one that matters. NDTV Good Times is based on this obsession with youth and good looks. Hey, you want to shout out — what about the rest of us? We have eyeballs, too and many, disposable incomes and the time to watch TV while our 15-35 year olds are on the mobile, computer, iPod...

As for the reality of India, the argument goes that since we live with so much horror, inequity around us, we don’t need to see them on TV. However, while television might raise aspirations, it also increases discontent for those who can never aspire to or identify with what they see on TV.