My mum was livid with her local satellite television provider some weeks ago. A little less now.

By chance, she and I discovered that Astro had retimed one of her favourite Tamil dramas, ‘Sundari’ to 7pm from the original 9.00pm slot. Every evening, I do two things before I leave her condominium. Ensure her decoder is on channel 211 and confirm the four series, which she unfailingly watches, are scheduled on Astro’s TV Guide.

As an aside, I’m not sure what I’ll be like if I was 87 (I hope I never find out) but my mum is totally technology-averse. As well as all things new or not within her routine. She does not want to know. According to her it’s pointless trying to learn new things because she forgets immediately. Particularly fresh information and whatever she’s decided she’s not going to bother with. Selective reception and retention. Hmm…

‘Kananne Kanne,’ ‘Sundari,’ ‘Anbe Vaa’ and ‘Chitti’ – are her sources of entertainment from 8.30pm to 10.30pm. My mum’s evening activities – prayers and organizing dinner – are orchestrated towards reaching and sitting comfortably in her wing chair well before 8.30pm. As she is frail and slow, everything requires extra effort and more time.

She looks forward to these two hours of drama – filled with twists and turns, sadness and tears and some really evil, conniving people. The highlight of her day. No interruptions. No telephone calls. Not that any caller could possibly have a conversation over the din the TV creates. The volume is on at maximum. She is hard of hearing despite wearing a hearing aid. I’ve often wondered when, not if, the neighbours will complain about the noise pollution.

Naturally, I understood her frustration when ‘Sundari’ was brought forward to 7pm. It clashed with her evening prayer and didn’t fit into her usual dinner and TV viewing times. Fortunately or so I thought, all was not lost as I was able to record ‘Sundari’ for her to watch later. Unfortunately, the recorded episodes were reruns. According to my mum, ‘Sundari’ was abruptly taken-off the 9pm slot. No explanation was offered. And that was what made her very angry. She felt there was no care in the way she, as a customer and subscriber, was treated. It was insulting. She or rather I pay her monthly subscription. If she didn’t care to make payment, her service would be disrupted and her account would be automatically suspended. What about when Astro doesn’t/didn’t care?

Sadly, this was not a one-off occurrence. ‘Chitti,’ another one of my mum’s soaps, used to occupy the 9.30pm slot. Instead of ending at 10pm, it sometimes continued after the 10pm news, at 10.30pm. A 30-minute wait. Sigh. I don’t claim to understand how TV series are scheduled, and how difficult the whole process might be. Delays or cancellations to regular programs are acceptable when there is a live coverage. But this was not the case. So, what the $%£&?

Bear with me on this. The Astro service comes with a PVR or Personal View Recorder. This helps viewers record what they might have missed or want to watch again. Series and movies are always repeated. On July 15, 2014 ( this is a fact), I had inadvertently forgotten to record an episode of ‘Mahabharata’ that my mum used to watch rather religiously. That episode was never shown again. She was so distraught that I emailed Astro. I asked if I could get a recording or at least advise me on how I could get hold of that particular episode. I am still waiting for an answer from wecare@astro.com.my  

My mum’s distress about the disappearance of ‘Sundari’ compelled me ( I didn’t want to) to email Astro on June 7. After several email reminders (there is an email trail) , I received a response on June 16.  

‘Due to Lock-down in Tamil Nadu, Sun TV’s 2 Mega Serials – which is Chitti 2 & Sundari will only have repeats/ reruns shows from 25 May onwards. –  Sundari time changed to 7.00pm and Roja at 9.00pm. We hope the information clarifies.’

Repeats/reruns… Got it. Thanks Astro.

Without any notice or announcement from Astro, new episodes of ‘Sundari’ resumed.  Again by chance, my mum and I discovered them just as I was about to delete the recorded reruns. Thankfully, my mum recognized the new episodes. Uncaringly, the poster for ‘Sundari’ still displays Monday to Saturday, 9pm.

Honestly, if not for the Tamil dramas that my mum actually likes watching, I would terminate Astro immediately. Yes, there are alternatives. Access via online, streaming or YouTube. No, my mum is not interested. My husband and I stopped being customers many years ago. Why… we recorded ‘Castle’ and got ‘Bones,’ and at times, there was no beginning to ‘Unique Sweets’ and no ending to ‘Downton Abbey.’ Enough said.