THE INDIA THAT I GREW UP IN

 


A few days earlier while chatting with my girls during a car ride, I was told that I belong to ‘Gen X’. How cool was that? Having heard of Gen Z, I thought, wow, I am still in the vicinity of the youngest generation around.  My newly found glory didn’t last too long as it was duly pointed out that Gen X are people born between years 1965-1980. Well, that makes Gen X to be people in their 50s now. Cool enough!

I grew up in Mumbai in the 70s when Amitabh Bachchan was the only super star around.  What great joy we discovered in little things like the pineapple pastry that we could lay our hands on every once in a while or when the first black and white EC TV reached our home. ‘Chitrahaar’ was as interesting as it would get. Of course, we even found ‘krishi darshan’ exciting. Mumbai offered such a melting pot of cultures. From firecrackers at Diwali to the Dahi handi on Janmashtmi, from Ganesh visarjan to the Christmas party, we celebrated them all. Holidays meant going to grandparents homes in the newly launched Rajdhani express! A chair car with seats that could recline! And they served ice-cream too!

In early 80s, we moved from Mumbai to Udaipur only to discover that the city did not even have TV telecast service.  Friendship meant playing hockey and cricket out in the open. Bonds were formed while cycling to school even though ‘radio’ became your best friend during World cup of 83. Then came the VCR and Movie watching was never the same again.  You could watch any movie, anytime, any number of times with any of your friends!

And then we moved  to the big city of Delhi. There was so much to discover here – from Pizza at Piazza King to Burger at Wimpy’s, from the Hot chocolate fudge at Nirula’s to the English movies at Chanakya, from hakka noodles at mobile vans to butter chicken at Kake di hatti, from coloured Sony TV to the Fiat car with floor gears, from CD recordings at Palika Bazar to baggy pant shopping at Janpath, from spotting foreign cars on Shanti path from the school bus to watching the latest episode of Star trek, visit to Mohan Singh place to search for Rs 400 a pair of Adidas shoes - Clearly, my world was changing.

80s was the time when the world would come to a standstill on Sundays. It was the time of Ramayana. While Hum Log signalled dinner time, it was Yeh Jo hai zindagi that kept the laughter going.  Quiz time, The World that was, different strokes, Lucy – kept us busy.

The last one year of my schooling years was at Hyderabad - a unique city with a blend of modern and traditional.  Despite the short stint, the city taught me how to cope up with challenges of no school teachers in your 12th grade, how to schedule your tuition classes by waking up at 6 in the morning yet find time for your friends, Top gun and loads of fun.  

The biggest excitement in life was the day that we got our Maruti 800 car after 1 year of booking.

Simple life, simple joys, simple aspirations – that just about sums up the India that I grew up in.

#GenerationX #Indiainthe80s

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