Indian TV

One of the best things about Toronto is the wide-range of ethnic-based television. I suppose it's the same in most big cities, but it seems Toronto has a wider variety of programming than other places I've lived. I love to watch the news in Mandarin. Somehow it seems more honest than English language news, which is probably because I don't speak Mandarin. There are also interesting shows in Spanish, Korean, Polish, Italian, Ukrainian, and many other languages. (Well, at least they appear interesting!) Then there's Serbia TV, Punjabi Hour, and Visions of Pakistan, the Aboriginal network, and of course several channels of French-Canadian TV. And there is lots and lots (and lots) of American TV.

My favourite is the Indian programming. When I first moved to Canada, and before we had a baby, I spent a lot of weekend afternoons in the winter watching old Bollywood movies. These films are filled with extremely beautiful actors (both the women and the men are stunning), huge dance scenes, and striking scenery from all over the subcontinent. Everything about the old Bollywood films seems warm, friendly, and they always have a good ending: the good-hearted young man marries his true love, restores his honour, receives his rightful inheritance, and leaves the bad guys in the dust.

This morning Amadisto and I watched a hour of Bollywood before Wendy woke up. It reminded me of how lonely I felt on those cold afternoons before I was a dad, and how amazingly happy I am now to be able to watch the same movies with my son sitting on my lap.

I am pretty sure Amadisto wasn't reminded of anything.

So I guess it was a new experience for each of us.