New year...

First of all, wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
hope you have a great 2009!! Looking forward to hearing some crazy new years eve stories from everyone!

Though my new years eve wasn't the wildest or the best, I ended the last year, with another experiment, of the gastronomic sorts..More on that later..But i started the year by meeting lots of my relatives, mostly people from Delhi, who had all seen me when i was about half their height, this time around,,many of them were half mine! and many of them, with kids who were born around when i was leaving Delhi..I soon realized, that (though i don't look it) i was among the eldest amongst the whole group of cousins!! One of them who'd never seen me even asked her mom in which class i was!!!! I overheard it,,and contrary to what people might think,,i quite liked it and felt all smug inside!!

That evening i took many of them to watch a movie, and all the elders left everyone as my responsibility...It was one of the first times i really felt that i'm one big fellow at home! I had to wait for almost an hour to get tickets for the movie, and it was a multiplex,not a very famous one at that, it was just another one of the zillion that Delhi has!! And i ended up spending a 4 digit sum for the movie and snacks and all..Not that i mind it,, but the crowd and the cost it got me thinking, as to how we used to spend new years when i was little...cos i never remember anyone spending even 1/10 as much on new years,, or on a movie!!

Those were the days, way back in the 90's...We were kids with not a care in the world!! We didnt care about brands or fashion, didnt care about traveling in buses, autos or even rickshaws, never a rupee in our pockets, eveready to go out and play and TV with a couple of channels used to be a special treat !! Cut to new years eve, there used to be few people going or coming, meeting everyone and wishing them a happy new years.. Phones were costly, so noone used to talk for hours together,, a 3-4 minute talk was something reserved for those special people, close to us who we couldnt meet.. No irritating cell phones ringing/beeping/screaming at unwanted times to pull people out of the group conversation/activity..

New years usually used to be a quite and nice family affair, with everyone crowding in front of the television to look back upon the year gone by.. In the few channels available, there was not much choice of what to watch,, and though it may seem strange,, the quality of programs and even ads back then used to be so much better.. In the 2-3 channels running, each program had the power to keep you hooked as long as it ran..Since mahabharat,ramayan, chitrahar, jungle book that used to be shown on sunday mornings on DD, no show to date has had the power to grasp soooooo much attention from people..They almost used to be like an event in themselves!! The 100's of channels, millions of shows, and remote controls to help have all but killed the joy of watching TV..Whats the use of having million channels, if u can rarely ever watch something decent!! Back then, people used to wait for ad breaks, so that any work/natures calls could be attended to..Everyone used to be back by the time the ads ended... everything fit well into the whole mood keeping everyone satisfied!!

Talking of ads, the way the guy on doordarshan announced about 30 sponsors per second was a treat to hear in itself! no one seems to be able to pull off that even now! and most of the really memorable ads i remember, are all almost 10 yrs or more old..Seems like people are making lots of mediocre ads these days, but not any memorable ones.. I mean, who can ever forget the 'Jaleebi' ad, or the 'doodh doodh' ad, or the 'sunday ho ya monday, roz khao anday' slogan, the dairy milk ad in which the girl comes dancing onto the ground or even the first ericsson ad that showed the great new invention called a mobile. For each of these ads,,almost everyone still remember the exact words/lyrics in each of them even now!! Those were some great ads,, and being among a lot of lousy ads,, that made their greatness even more!! My salutations to all those great people behind the ads..

The single new years program running right up to the stroke of midnight, usually had a concert or two, a few songs here and there, but mainly a look back at all the happenings of the past, with the top 10, movies, songs, shows, ads, sportsmen, etc etc..No sensational masala stuff..A Plain and simple lookback..A little comedy, and a few performances here and there,, All this leading up to the final countdown to midnight when everyone wished each other,, ate a few sweets made by my grandmother and went to sleep all happy about the occasion..

Seems like those days are never coming back..But it sure was great while it lasted!! I think technology has killed the art of conversation and the joy of big meetings of family and friends.. It actually seems like the main thing it has done is kill patience of people,, and everything else just happened on its own,, leaving laziness as by-product..Whatever it is,, it is here to stay for good or for bad, so we look at all its good sides and live with it!!

New years eve has come and gone, marking another year passing by..So many years have gone by, and so much has changed over the years..The puny little boy with a girly voice is now one big fellow who's working and supposed to be responsible, and has become much more talkative is telling people abt those great days in his blog!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!