Edged in grainy black and white and blurry colours with a rough-cut feel, they were the wonder years of television when content was king -- and queen -- with themes ranging from societal divisions and gender struggles to office intrigue and stories from history and literature.

As Doordarshan turned 60 this month, it was time to unspool memories of an era gone by when television took on the challenge of making audiences introspect, laugh out loud and get informed, without FX, zoom-in, zoom-outs and other stratagems that come with technology.