Tere Mere Sapne (Zee, Monday, 9.30) stars Aruna Irani (in her first TV role) and Manohar Singh as an ageing couple who preside over the disintegration of their family (three sons, a daughter and two grandchildren) and along with it, their dreams. ``I belong to a joint family,'' Pandit told a gathering from the Media Advocacy Group's Viewer Forum in New Delhi, ``a family which had to abandon everything it had in Kashmir and resettle in Mumbai. This serial is not the story of that family, though there are autobiographical touches, but there is the pain of separation, recollected here''.

Which sounded quite touching. However, Pandit found himself under attack from the audience who thought that his serial as a whole was too sad and negative about the family, that his interpretation of the generational conflict, of tradition versus modernity, was unduly harsh esepcially on the character of Kiron Joneja, the wife of the eldest son, who insists on living her own life in her own flat. ``I am not a judge,'' insists Pandit, ``Joneja's character is not negative. She says what she thinks -- I am trying to reveal that. There are no right and wrongs in my serial -- I am trying to show you a chhota, pyara sa family and what happens to it''.

Pandit insists that ``all this is happening - extra marital affairs, etc. the solid foundation of Indian values is crumbling, we are aping the West,'' adds Pandit his voice rising with the passion of his feelings. He feels very strongly about preserving Indian family values and the Indian way of life. ``The family of Tere Mere... is like a country. What I am trying to say is that just as people can live in nuclear families and still belong together, so we as a country can be one and yet separate -- that is not negative. But I have to capture and develop the interest of viewers in my serial -- so the conflicts and fights are necessary.'' Otherwise, as Pandit explains, his serial could go off the air. Zee is very careful about monitoring the viewer response to serials.

The bedrock of the serial is the performance of Irani and Singh as the elderly couple. Irani is clearly the matriarch, while Singh vitiates between being the solid foundation of the family and just a traditional father. ``Irani is a very strong character: her basic dream is that her family should be together,'' says Pandit. It is her dream that is constantly being shattered by the conflicts within the family. ``Manohar Singh plays an honest, upright person while Ifran Khan as the eldest son is an escapist. He evades all responsibility.'' His wife Kiron Joneja not only earns the family fortunes but finds that her husband doesn't support her. She is held responsible for breaking up the chhota pyara sa parivar. This creates a clash between her and his family, especially Irani. ``Not exactly true,''replies Pandit when audience members expressed their anger with this portrayal of the daughter-in-law, ``the serial has just begun. You will see that the mother-in-law will eventually be standing up forKiron''.

The other two sons represent the principles of materialism and morality. ``The youngest son (Amit Behl) is the reactionary, he stands up for right where ever he sees it''.

Pandit says that his serial is still shaping up: `` I put in things as I go along -my eyes and mind are open,'' he admits, `` but I can assure you mine is a neat and clean serial.'' Still, audience members disagreed: they felt that there was nothing pyara about the family: there was too much conflict and unhappiness. ``But that is what is happening'', insists Pandit, ``Ninety per cent of the time, aisa hi hota hai''.``My serial is positive because I am arguing for values -- still, coming to Delhi and listening to everyone has been a major lesson. A major lesson.'' Perhaps Pandit will lighten his serial of its load?