Things I have grown up with

Nostalgia can strike anyone anytime. I’ve been nostalgic all the while I did not blog. Childhood memories flooded my mind every now and then. I was born in 1990, so I’ve grown up in the 90s era and anything related to that decade makes me smile. Growing up in the 90s has its own charms and memories.

I remember my school days and the one recurring memory about it is coming home from school and immediately going to play cricket. No mobile phones, no computers, no internet, nothing! Just cricket, friends and fun! Now what i see is almost all kids are playing games on the PC, using Facebook or Orkut, have a cell-phone in their pockets. No time for cricket in the Facebook era. I would do anything to go back to my cricket playing days!

I am an ardent TV freak! So many of my memories are associated with Television shows and movies. Cable Television had just arrived in India and kids my age (5-10 year olds) got hooked on to Cartoon Network! Now we had a 24 hour channel dedicated to cartoons! I remember watching stuff like Dexters Lab, Scooby Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Atom Ant, Captain Planet, Richie Rich and so much more! It was all in English during that time and to tell you the truth I learnt english and always understood whats being said. Yes, it seems foolish and funny, but I give credit to Cartoon Network for my English speaking skillls. All my friends and I used to discuss all new cartoons, episodes together whenever we met and it was always a topic of discussion! Now Cartoon Network has changed and along with it have come a dozen new channels for kids. Sad to say that kids today are not enjoying the joy of watching cartoons. They prefer Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. Still, I am happy that Japanese anime like Shin-Chan, Doreamon are popular.

Other than Cartoon Network, Channels like Sony which were launched that time showed stuff like Disney Club, a one hour block of Disney cartoons and DD Metro showed shows like Tu Tu Main Main and Zabaan Sambhal ke, Dekh Bhai Dekh and Shrimaan Shrimati. In those days, Comedy shows made you really laugh! I dont even want to comment on the comedy reality shows being aired these days. Only a few shows like Khichdi, Sarabhia V/s Sarabhai have got epic status in Comedy and made me laugh so much like the 90s! Then There was Shaktimaan. the epic superhero of the late 90s. DD National aired it every Sunday afternoon and all kids got their dose of it. EVERY friend of mine has seen it. Even today when i see the repeats on Star Utsav, i find myself remembering the good old days.

Am I complaining about how things are today? Yes and no. Yes because, today the children and teens younger than me (im 19) blowing money on Cell-phones, hookahs, smoking and what not. All this was almost absent during the late 90s. I ask my elders was this all present during that time, and their answer would be no apart from smoking.

And No because I like the way we are now. The world has changed in the last decade but we need to keep a grip on the youth. They need to be given a reality check about what they are doing. Children of the 90s have a certain Focus in life which I find missing in the kids of the 2000s. For them Life is one big party.

We just need to enjoy the simple pleasures that make life so lovable and memorable. Its the small things that matter after all.