Plucked from the rainy slopes of North Bengal, Bhaskar Ghose, an IAS officer and veteran field administrator, is brought to Delhi at the express request of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He is appointed director general of Doordarshan, and even before he can get an answer to the most pressing question?why me??his rollercoaster engagement with television begins. With enthusiasm and passion Ghose plunges into this new role at a seminal time for the network, overseeing momentous events in the organization?s development?the airing of extraordinarily popular serials like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the first live broadcast of the cricket World Cup, the advent of satellite transmission, the first live election coverage, the attempt to give Doordarshan an international presence?and is witness to the fateful arrival of Star TV and other private networks. But his attempts at reforming Doordarshan also bring him in conflict with the murky underside of public broadcasting, a world populated by capricious government ministers and their fawning acolytes, interfering secretaries and self-righteous MPs, corrupt bureaucrats and greedy producers. In Doordarshan Days, Bhaskar Ghose recounts with disarming frankness?and characteristic humor?his struggle to bring about change, revealing in the process the tragic tale of public television in India.