"...tu bola....aur mein chala..."

I picked up my TV remote; it was a Sony remote control way back in 1980’s.So fidgeting with a Sony remote control was a kind of luxury during those days. If I recollect, our 29” Sony Television during those days was shipped from Singapore. So it was in true sense an “imported item” bought for Rs.11, 000 with 29 channels to be played. It was a another sad story that our humble country could provide only 2 channels.

My Sony TV comes to life and starts amplifying “ Vikraam Vikraamm Vikrammmmmm………..Betaal Betaall Betaaallllll…..Vikram aur Betaal ki kahani..
…..”

Hearing this, I immediately take my seat and get completely engrossed in the world of Vikram and Betaal. The fact that I still remember vividly the title song and how both Vikram and Betaal looked suggest that it was one of the serials I consumed regularly during my childhood on television.

Vikram Betaal was a series comprising spellbinding stories told to the wise King Vikramaditya by a wily ghost, rather I should say a white ghost. The backdrop of all the stories would always remain the same, where King Vikramaditya had promised to get a corpse from the jungle. The episode used to begin where Mighty King Vikramaditya would capture this wily white ghost and put him on his back.

Now that the journey through the dark woods begins, we don’t have to tax our brain and bother about the starting of each episode. Suddenly you realize that our wily white ghost though enjoying the free ride gets bored and starts a conversation with an implied warning applicable for all the episodes.

WARNING: If King Vikramaditya speaks a single word during the journey or answers any of our dear ghots’s questions to the story, ghosts would get the opportunity to escape. (Why and how, please don’t bother to ask, after all he is the Ghost)

Now all the episodes (though I failed to recollect any story in its entirety ) used to have stories with some actions and counter action which would in the end raise one question to test the moral values, ethics and wisdom in the given context. The story would be told by Betaal and King Vikram would pay attention but at the same time he would be aware that he has to SHUT UP.

In the end, Betaal would pose the million Dollar question to which King Vikram would unknowingly answer his question and fall for the trap. Still King Vikram would end up impressing Betaal with his wisdom and intellect which would be the very reason why children should have watched Vikram Betaal then.

With this comes the best part of the entire series as far as I am concern. I would call it one of the most memorable dialogues of the 80’s. Being impressed with the King, Betaal reminds King Vikram now that the story is over let’s come to the point. After this Btaal say

“Tu bola….aur mein chala…hahaha…hahahah”

Betaal would slip neatly off King Vikram’s shoulder and fly making his way to his permanent residence (read: some tree where he would hand up side down).