Wednesday 22 September, 2010

The good old days

I guess it is true that everybody has at some point of time, reminisced about the 'good old days'. In India it usually goes like this:

In the good old days, there was no corruption, people had values, respected elders....
Also prices were low.... .

It is amazing how this 'good old days' extends to all spheres of life.
In the good old days, the movies and movie songs were watchable. The lyrics had some meaning, the songs were melodious and didn't cause a headache.

Same holds true for politics. We had principled freedom fighters, those who sacrificed their lives for the country, men of 'values', able administrators. Apparently the present lot is not comparable.

Now what is new in what I am going to add? Nothing much, except for some personal experiences.
My 'good old days' are the 1970s and 1980s (which correspond to my childhood). Those days wherever we stayed (in Madras or in Bangalore), one could just walk into the countryside where there were fields, open spaces and fresh air. Now obviously the same localities are no longer pristine. The roads were free and one could walk or cycle in peace. Now, with so many cars and two-wheelers, the luxury of being lost in thought while walking, is not available to us.

TV, movies and cricket were precious because of their rarity. Now we are able to watch cricket matches whether they happen in Canada or New Zealand. Movie channels spew out movies at any time of the day.

The 'liberalization' era seems to have brought more money into our country. But where has it gone? has it trickled down to the man on the street? It has led to choked and polluted streets.

Give me back the 'good old days' of license and permit Raj. Where there were no cellphones and scooters and cars had to be booked. I would rather stay poor.


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