BLAST FROM THE PAST

India’s defeats in the recent test matches against England have taken sporting disasters to a new dimension. Being defeated is one thing, but in this case, we were destroyed, annihilated, marauded, humiliated-take your pick of word. Thankfully, we are in that era now where losing by over 300 runs seems like a typographical error- India must have won by 300 runs! This defeat takes me back to the time when our nail chewing, meek mannered Indian side would almost always lose to the gum chewing, sledging Australians. I still shudder at those memories and if I was an American, I would probably have needed therapy to get over those instances! So when BCCI chartered a plane and threatened to cancel the tour of Australia my adrenalin rush was no less than Harbhajan’s. Such is the power of nostalgia!

Thank heavens this phenomenon is not restricted to cricket alone. Post liberalization most aspects of our life have undergone drastic change, thankfully for the better. So the one thing that abounds in our generation is nostalgia which by definition is bittersweet. Many a cosy evenings are now spent amongst friends while sipping wine or whiskey swapping hilarious childhood tales (takes around 15 years to switch from sordid to hilarious).“Hey did you also count stars during load shedding?” “You bet dude, I am from Guwahati! Must have counted every single star that a naked eye can see” or “Remember how long it took to get a phone connection? It took us 3 years, without tatkaal of course”. Huge bout of laughter erupts. We all take turns in narrating how our families would dial the operator’s number and place trunk calls, PP trunk calls and the all important ‘lightening calls’. Then wait for a few days again to get that call. After all this effort, I remember Mom would get a grand total of 3 minutes to finish her call! Want to buy a shining new Maruti Suzuki 800, wait for a few years again. Waiting was definitely the name of the game. And the one topic that always gets the most vociferous participation is bad old Doordarshan! 

Salma Sultan playing Chinese whisper when she was supposed to be reading the news tops the charts with ‘sorry for the interruption’ signs as permanent as the rose that she wore on her hair.  Nothing changed, not even the songs on the then super hit Chitrahaar where we had to see a stoned Pradeep Kumar croon ‘Jo wada kiya wo nibhana padega’ at least once a fortnight. Imagine a whole generation of Indians growing up watching the same three soaps- Khandaan, Buniyaad and (I wince at this one even after all these years) Hum Log. Talk about equal opportunity, or rather equal lack of opportunity. I am certain that if I ever hear the words “Ek Chidiya” I will immediately don my most nasal voice and start singing ”Anek Chidiya” or say “jugat lagani hogi”! I don’t think even amnesia could erase these words and tunes from our heads.

Today supremely talented marketers (my husband included!!!) work tirelessly to create ads that are clutter breaking and carry extensive research to track the viewership, recall etc etc. We really can’t remember most of the ads that we see now after a couple of months, but we all can still sing entire jingles like “jab mai chota bachcha tha, badi shararat karta tha, meri chori pakadi jaati, jab roshni deta Bajaj”, “Vicco turmeric, nahi cosmetic, Vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream”, “Sabki pasand Nirma” and still use anecdotes like “arre Raju, tumhare daant to motiyon jaise chamak rahe hain”!!!!! 

There was nothing remotely cool about DD and the acronym could easily stand for Dreary Dinosaur. But that was until Shah Rukh Khan came like a cool breeze on a hot summer afternoon in Fauji. While this seemed to be the highlight of my pre teen years, my 6 year old son recently threw a tantrum as there was nothing interesting to watch in any of the 9 kids’ channels, his Nintendo Wii games were all old and to add to his woes, Dad had not downloaded any new App in the Ipad. Talk about being deprived! Thank heavens for the changing times. I feel truly lucky to be a part of my generation. As an ardent sports fan, I still clap my hands in glee every time I get to watch a close match in the English Premier League or witness Messi’s magic in La Liga because I know that in the DD days I would have only watched football once in four years! And the joy of watching cricket without ever hearing the words ‘kalaiyon ka kamaal’!!! But the one thing that I am happiest about, is that DD is safely, securely and surely a part of my nostalgia, a part of my Past!