I was listening to my newly acquired Audio CD of Saajan while driving to office today - Tumse Milne Ko Tamanna Hai, Bahut Pyaar Karte Hai Tumko Sanam: SP Balasubramanian at this romantic best - brought back a flood of memories of my college days....
Life was so different back then..
My earliest memories are as a child in a world of green Bajaj scooters and white Fiats.. endless power cuts (and LOTS of candles and kerosene lamps built out of empty medicine bottles and "sutli")... waiting for 600 pm, for Doordarshan to start its programmes.. the Saturday Marathi movie, and the Sunday Hindi movie... Chayageet and Chitrahaar... Bruce Lee and Amitabh Bacchan on video... going to school in my cycle.. cricket and swimming in the evening...
Then came the Gulf War.. and along with it, cable TV... CNN, BCC, DD Metro... Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.. SP Balasubramaniam, Alka Yagnik... we started tracking "new releases"... Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Maine Pyaar Kiya, QSQT... The Fiats and Maruti 800s started giving way to the Maruti 1000s and Ford Escorts, the Hero Hondas replaced the black ubiquitous Rajdoots, I got my Kinetic, followed by my own Hero Honda.. our 2 digit telephone changed into 3, then 4, and then 6 digits..
Things have changed now.. I have a made-for-Indian-conditions Ford Fiesta, we have 3 mobiles, and 3 land lines at home, we watch a new movie almost every weekend, and many more on DVD (yes, VCDs are already passe!).. are it might not be long before we have DTH.. my house is now secured with infrared intrusion detection devices.. the flat world has arrived!
Those days gone by still attract - once in a while, an old song comes on TV.. those tunes, those dresses, the get-them-by-the-dozen-for-50-rupees-a-day dancers in the background being offered as college kids, and guests at the wedding... the innocence of those days.. aah, how much I would give to have them back!
Or would I..?
1 comment:
Yes.. Television itself has changed so much.. Back in the old days, there was only DD as you mentioned and each one of us used to wait for those Chitrahaars and Sat/Sun movies and those cartoons that used to come on Sunday mornings.. Sunday used to be THE day.
Today, my 2 year old niece has been watching cartoons almost daily, with her own set of DVDs and VCDs already. She knows about cell-phones and she knows about computers. It won't be long before she starts teaching my how to play cool games on the computer.
Whenever I look at her, I really feel like I do belong now to the older generation.. And somewhere, I actually feel good about it..
I belong to a generation which has seen a lot of changes - in a small span of about 10 years.. I can appreciate the changes happening all over me much better, I appreciate that India is coming with malls, I appreciate the fact that IT has changes so many things.. I feel good when I see all the new great cars around, and yes - I do sometimes get awed by the malls too! Something, I doubt, my niece will ever understand.
She is going to pretty much take things for granted, a lot of things that I see as advancements!
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