Television serials

Television serial viewers can be classified into three categories — aged men, women, retirees and housewives who do not miss even a single episode; office-goers who view them at some fixed hours; and those who enjoy the soaps discreetly, while calling them trash (“Soaps have their uses too!” Open Page, Oct. 30). The main beneficiaries of mega-serials, however, are their sponsors. Most significant, television serials have brought down people's longing to go to cinemas for entertainment, thereby saving avoidable expenditure.

B. Gurumurthy,

Madurai

Housewives are often blamed and derided for being hooked on to TV serials. But television is their only window to the outside world. How many men share their everyday experience with their wives? How many children take their mothers into confidence and seek their advice? In our male dominated society, women's opinion is seldom taken even in family matters. Is it any wonder that women identify themselves with soaps on TV?

Saraswathy Ramakrishnan,

Chennai