Amazing people who make me go on n on n on:)

31 January, 2010

What Days they were....


What days they were...
When there were no mobile phones and their fuss...
The sound of the landline ringing was always exciting,
For it created a flutter that someone unknown remembered us.

Booking STD calls and waiting for the call back from BSNL saying, “Madam, call book karaya hain? Baat keejeye!”
And the line would cut off after 3 minutes on its own as was set...
The receptionist having listened to every word that you’d breathed!

What days they were...
When we had no assault of the television channels...
When previewing movie trailers was a privilege,
And the Chitrhaar on Doordarshan was the awaited highlight of the week...
And watching an English movie was a once in a blue moon treat!

What days they were...
When we studied without being harrowed by coaching centres... When getting a first division in Board exams was a dream come true and the cut offs in colleges were not obnoxious 98%.

When teachers taught with interest and learning was fun and not drubbed...
When schools were not clubs!

What days they were....
When we could buy an orange bar from a vendor outside the school for just one buck and not care a damn if it was hygienically prepared or we’d fall sick after gulping it down!
We’d just slurp it off and bask in the glory of orange tongues!

What days they were....
When families went out for picnics like for boating across the Ganges or just spreading out sheets outside The India Gate to enjoy the meals, gardens or waterfalls...
Instead of following the mindless crowds at the heaving malls!

What days they were...
When letters were hand written and not emailed...

When waiting for the postman was in itself as exciting a prospect as the post he would bring...
When we would ponder for hours with a pen in our mouth before writing a few lines, as crumpled discarded papers would fill up the bin!

What days they were...
When time flew while reading a book on the couch and we’d move only when the bums could take it no more or the couch revolted for being squashed beyond redemption!
When the hero’s next move in the written word was more crucial than uploading status on Facebook as a convention!

What days they were...
When holidaying in India was also fun...the temples, forts, architecture, the natural panorama were all fixations we couldn’t get enough of...
Instead of wandering aimlessly in the lanes of Bangkok or looking down at anything lesser than the Swiss Alps’ tops!

What days they were...
When we preferred to wear our mothers’ hand knitted sweaters instead of the Benetton cardigan...When jeans were just jeans...not FCUK or Tommy Hilfiger or more.
When Gucci or Prada adorned just the Hollywood superstars and not reeking in a tasteless display in the manicured hands of the aunty ji next door!

What days they were...
When festivals meant celebrations and not just another holiday,
When watching a smooch scene on screen was still a taboo in front of parents!
When deadlines for outings were still 8 p.m.!
When pocket money was just that- “pocket” n not “packet” money...
When f$@# was not considered a part of the vocabulary!

When touching the elders’ feet was not outdated...
When using “aap” as an address for others was not considered so down market!
When marriages were arranged and there were butterflies about the “suhaag raat” for it really was the first night!

When a samosa was a bigger deal than a burger!
When eating rice with the fingers was just as much fun as handling chopsticks now with panache...
When speaking in Hindi was also cool,
When cars didn’t cost crores...
When helping others was not such a chore!

When diamonds were not the girls only best friends!
When porn was not a part of wallpaper clippings!
When love was still mush and not a physical rush!
When global warming was not our biggest threat,
When guilt of some kind was not there in every chest!

When psychiatrists were not a part of our lives...
When newspapers were not just scandal scribes!
When size zero was not a fixation...
When being modern was not about what clothes we wore
When simplicity was a virtue and children were not in a hurry to grow!

When infants were born without intervention with nature,
When friends were made without consideration of stature!
When mind games were not universal...
When leaders were icons and millionaires uncommon,
When husbands were gods and such gods were human!

What days they were...
What days are now!
Have we moved forward or pushed back somehow!
What we have gained and what we have lost,
Or are we too busy to give it a thought?
Things which weave our fabric, are they too dearly bought?
Or ten years from now, would even this be lost?

27 comments:

el_idioto said...

Lets take control of the world... we'll bring back those days...
change the world...

YES WE CAN!

Suruchi said...

Rishi...
No we don't want those days back...we just want a peek into that life once in a while...

Aise bhaashan types comment maara upar..:-(
Zyaada ho gaya kya?
:-)

Btwn...isse pehle waala post padho...I think "woh" zyaada ho gaya:-)

Weirdo guy said...

woah woah...whats with all the nostalgia ??

even my dad reminisces about the time when a father used to "book a scooter when his son was born so that by the time he was 17 he would have a vehivle to travel on..."

not that i dont enjoy listening to the tales... but as the song famously famously 'chodo kal ke batein... kal ke bat purani' !!

sobhit said...

hmmm... reminds me f d mail wid old early 90's DD programs n adds... dos were d days n yrs 4m here des days wud b dos days 4 nxt generation... happiness in smallr packages made us more happy ..... now evn d most expnsv n big things cant sustain our happiness n excitemnt 4 long.. guess dats hw it all goes....v gain sm v loose sm.. all part f d concept calld life...


PS guess 2 posts in 1 day isnt a gud idea..

Ankit said...

I think we do want some things back.. We have really made our lives complicated these days..

It was an excellent read.. Twice I went into flashback. I remembered the postman, the blue post letter and the yellow postcard :)

And I remembered waking up to songs of Rangoli every Sunday morning :)

Ankur said...

i miss those days... badly!!!
however i try to make sure that i dont forget them forever and i still do some of those things.

I have so many, so many thoughts on this and it could be a post written here, but...

i wud just say, u made me all nostalgic yaar. I wish every child coming to this world has some normal life. I make sure that the kids in my family enjoy atleast some of it, and i will make sure that my kid rather reads the chacha choudhary and nagraj and phantom/mandrek instead of watching some silly cartoon.

Thanks for reminding those days... Cheers! :)

Nipun said...

Thanks for sharing this, Chipper!

People have forgotten about simplicity. It’s a generation where gimmicks/gossips rule the roost. You are right about the newspapers/media, too. Most of them sold their souls long time back for TRP and popularity.

I still remember when religion
was still something to be respected
and trust was something you had to earn...
When terrorism was just a fear
When pain and death weren’t all you’d hear...

The world has changed and is constantly changing all the time. But as they, all change is not progress. We all should probably learn to savor every moment as it comes, as it might be lost in this "change bandwagon".

Have a Happy Journey!!!

Take Care...

malpani.!! said...

nostalgia.. super duper nostalgia..!!
m only 22 but reading this makes me more 2 decades older..!! i swear what days they were..
altho i wudnt want the suhagraat first night phenomena back.. rest eveything perfect.. i want them all back.. :p

aahh.. what days they were!! :p

Cinderella said...

Those were the days!

Hum log - guchhe - chandrakanta - rangoli...playing with your cousins at your terrace, cycling to school, deciding among mates to 20 extra bucks so you can make visit to the vadilal outlet, joint families....wonderful memories.

Your post brought back a lot of memories Suruchi. Read my post 'home'. You'l know what I'm talkin about about. It might be under the label 'Nostalgia'

Have a good day!
:)

Suruchi said...

Hi Weirdo..
Fathers used to book scooters?
Wow..that's a new one for me to hear...I guess remembering the past once in a while is good...but then is also moving on...so I guess like u say AG...kal ke baatein chodhe;-)

Sobhit..
Yup,gain some n lose some:-)
The earlier post was kinda not to so good even for me...so I hid it under the second one on top of it...now it's gone...they'd hopefully be more n better ones:-)

Suruchi said...

@Neophyte,Ankur,Cin,Malpani,Nipun ...
Glad to have taken you down some memory lanes...
Hope we keep up with the simplicity bit at least....:-)

Also thank u guys for reminding me that sensible serious posts are also appreciated:-)

Sauc said...

That was brilliant stuff Suruchi. Although some of the things are still 'in future' for me but the transformation is there. Reminds me of a song.
All things must pass!

buckingfastard said...

past is sumthin dat always suits nostalgia... i m sure u wudnt enjoy dose days wen u had to see ur luvd one die of petty disease like jaundice malaria...

if it changes in next 10 yrs...lets hope its fr da best

shashank said...

Nice poetry Suruchi.
Nostalgic indeed!
Just makes me wonder whether you are 50 years old though,considering what era you speak of.
Kidding :)
Indeed those were the golden days.
But who knows where technology might take us next. What we take for granted now might make us want to reflect upon it someday..
So, we might as well live in the glory of NOW
wotsay?
Cheers!

shonty said...

Hi Suruchi !

Loved your post and this is the first one i have read of yours posts.It has certainly made me visit our childhood and teen days but the change is imminent and everything changes . Some for good some for bad .But on the whole i congratulate you for summarizing the time span of 50-60 years in this lovely post.Thanks and many thanks.

Dr. Tripat Mehta said...

wow..amazing
such a wonderful correlation

cheers :)

http://sparkledaroma.blogspot.com/

indianordinary said...

Hi Suruchi !

Loved your post and this is the first one i have read of yours posts.It has certainly made me visit our childhood and teen days but the change is imminent and everything changes . Some for good some for bad .But on the whole i congratulate you for summarizing the time span of 50-60 years in this lovely post.Thanks and many thanks.

Zaheer Gafoor said...

This was a time machine in the form of some good writing.. just took me back to the days of good ol' doordarshan and its surrounding charisma.

def took me down the memory lane.

Suruchi said...

@Hello saucy
Thanks for stopping by…
Yup…all things must pass…and sometimes actually…thank god for it:-)

@Buckingfastard...
Hey…
I didn’t mean such a long ago past yaar…
Though even that era would have its own charm I guess…
Nope…no one likes to see their loved ones die of diseases…
But seeing people around u slowly churning due to depression n anxiety is equally bad:-)

Suruchi said...

Hi Shahsank
Long time,huh?:-)
I was a kid at the time of most of what i have written and thank god for blessing me with a good memory along with many other good things:-)
Now is the time to be...
But then doesn’t hurt once in a while to walk down the memory lane...especially of the memories are so fine:-)

@Shonty and Tripat Prerna...
Thank you guys...:-))

Suruchi said...

@Zaheer...
I like the idea of a time machine in good writing...
Thank u..
Stay around:-)

el_idioto said...

reply to ur comment to my comment (dunno if that made sense) :-

:|

Mina Orgone said...

http://minaorgone.blogspot.com/2010/02/about-me.html

Thank you

Suruchi said...

@Rishi n Mina Orgone
:-))
P.S.Rishi u make sense yaar always...
Was just pulling ur leg unsure if I made sense in the post or not:-)

Anonymous said...

A great read and plenty of food for thought..."bring back the good ole days me thinks".

Suruchi said...

Thanks Storm...I hope the food for thought does good for all of us:-)

Anonymous said...

Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post.
Taking a few minutes and actual effort to generate a great article… but what
can I say… I put things off a lot and never seem to get anything done.



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