BBT

My heart was pounding in my neck and stomach filled with butterflies, made me lose all my patience when I came to know that new season of Big Bang Theory was finally aired. Yes, it was a matter of an immense concern and desperation for me. I was desperately waiting for the 8^th season to air. The wait started as soon as 7^th season was finalized. Today I was just switching the channels when suddenly I read the header on Zee Café, “Up Next-Big Bang Theory season-8”. I was perplexed, totally overwhelmed, puzzled. First the channels only showed old episodes and second I didn't know this was the time of the year for the premiere. I had no options than to wait and watch. I sticked to the channel and watched the episode. It was new. As soon as the episode was over, I rushed to the internet and checked and finally confirmed myself that the new season premiered on 22^nd September 2014. I nearly jumped. Six episodes had already been telecasted. Thanks to torrent I can download it anytime, then I remembered how shitty slow the internet is. Anyway I put one episode to download and browsed through Wikipedia. As I scrolled down the stories of different seasons and episodes one by one, all my life moments attached to the show slowly came forth.

It was my friend Bibush, who introduced the show to me for the first time, not long ago though, maybe two years back. At that time our circle in Delhi had an obsession about T.V serials. “How I Met Your Mother” was the most trending one. Everyone was watching that show, day and night and they were watching it over and over again, everyone was talking about that show. My roommate at that time, Prajoal was one of the victim of T.V serial addiction. Thanks to my another addicted friend Nabin, Prajoal had forgotten to eat or sleep. I have no idea how or who started it first but slowly our rooms were converted into small theatres. I was saved from the addiction at that time. Maybe I had not much interest in those things and maybe the main reason was my sub circle of friends where the members were totally out of such addiction. When I used to get to the room, I would see Prajoal facing the Laptop screen, with headphones tight in his ears and concentrating so hard not letting even a single moment to be missed. The expressions in his face used to change according to the events in the show. He used to laugh loud, bang his fists on the bed, smile gently, sometimes gloomy sometimes happy. I could clearly diagnose, he was living in the show. I also started to fantasize watching and I even tried to watch with him then with Nabin then with both of them together but the problem was they were way ahead with the show and I was left feeling dumb. So, I decided it wasn’t for me, at least not for now. But something had struck on me, something had moved and I needed something of equivalence. Maybe the time was as such. I started feeling restlessness. And that was the time when Big Bang Theory came into my life. It was chosen. I selected it among the highly rated shows like, Friends, Prisonbreak, Two and a half men and many others. There was no specific criteria for the selection, the show just suited to be my ideal show. I loaded my device with the episodes till it was fully filled and started watching it. Now it was my time to get stuck up. The time stopped, things stopped and slowly I started feeling for me that no other world exist than the show of those five people, four nerds and a beauty.

The show was fabulous. It was exactly what I wanted to watch. Exactly what I fantasized. The characters were so lively and perfect. And the best thing was the story moved according to the fantasy and my fantasy expanded according to the story. I re-characterized the characters myself. They were now part of my newly formed friends circle. My talks started to fill with their descriptions, the lovers of the show were my best friends and I started to hate, even my close friends, if they said anything negative about the show. It was like a seducing drug for me, the more I watched, the more I wanted to watch. And the most restless and antsy time was that when I couldn’t get my hands on the episodes I hadn’t watched. I had no reliable internet and that felt like a curse. I even befriend some strangers just to get the new episodes. I watched and re-watched the show and there was a time when the dialogues and storyline of each episode was on my mouth tip and I could narrate anytime anywhere.

The show is simple. Sheldon Cooper portrayed by Jim Parsons, is a theoretical physicist at Caltech University, Pasadena, California. He got his Ph.D at the age of 16. Can you believe that? At 16. And he was sad, he didn't get more early when he meets a boy from Japan who got his Ph.D at 14. Leonard Hobstrator, counterpart of Sheldon is the practical physicist in the same university with an impressive IQ of 173. He is the lover boy. Quite my type. First shy to approach a girl, and loving at first sight, running behind her, getting her, impressing her and then doing something foolish and ruining everything, finally losing her and striving to get her back, until he gets a new one. And there is a neighbor, sweetie, sexy Penny. Maybe its because of her, the show has so much vibe in it besides the comedy. Talking by experience, anywhere you talk about BBT, you will find at least one nerd, who shall point that Penny is sexy and is living his life fantasizing someday he shall get a girlfriend like Penny. And there is short dwarfy Howard Wolowitz, the engineer, astronaut, kind of only achiever in the group in the work field but is the main material of jokes in the show, mostly because he is only one in the group who is not a doctor, besides Penny and second he is stupid. There is Raj, the “no talk with girls without alcohol” syndrome. He has given the representation of oriental community and made the show universal. Besides them, there is Amy, Bernadette, Stuart, Leslie and many more. The director duo Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, really genius to gather such an awesome star cast and prepare a show like BBT. Hats off to you guys, the world does.

But its not all. The series means a lot more to me. Nothing just becomes a best friend of yours. I myself was surprised why I got so much attached with the show. So I decided to watch other shows as well. After BBT I watched “How I met your mother”, all episodes, Prison break, all episodes and lots of other shows. And I must say, they are not less. Maybe they more better, entertaining and thrilling than BBT. But no other show could capture a space in my heart that BBT has. Maybe because I started it at the time of despair and desperation. Maybe it gave me the moments of fun and entertainment when I was filled with loneliness and glooms. And maybe it was the most powerful weapon of mine when I had to face the fantastical war of ideas with my kins. Maybe there were other reasons. It showed me a new dimension of life. It gave me a new reason of love and hope. It totally amended my concept of friendship and fun. My love life turned like that of Leonard and Penny’s, my attitude as of Sheldon’s, my innocence as of Raj’s, I flirted as Howard and had lots of break ups because my girlfriends couldn't match Penny.

But there is something different about today’s excitement; the premiering of Season 8. It was supposed to be the last season (thank to the show unit, they decided to elongate three more years). End of season 7 was devastating. Everything had fallen off. So was the walls of my life. Everything had scattered, everything was changed. Leonard and Penny were engaged, Howard and Bernadette moved, Sheldon was leaving the town and Raj got a new girlfriend, Emily. I was happy for Raj, sad for Sheldon and I really hated Leonard for letting Sheldon go. I was really desperate to watch what shall happen next. I hope this new season shall be more fabulous and fantastic than ever.