All of us have fond memories from our childhood and love revisiting them time and again. Here are mine. I’m sure every 80’s kid, especially those growing up in Delhi, would relate to –
1. Eating out meant going to Nirulas and ordering a capsicum, onion pizza or big boy burger and Hot Chocolate Fudge (wait- HCF…we were cool then!) long before American fast food chains took over.
2. Vacations meant road or train travel to our relatives’ houses, mainly grandparents. Any road trip from Delhi in that direction, called for a compulsory stop at Murthal dhabbas. Holidays in the hills up north was considered a “Luxury” vacation.
3. Summer weekends nights meant family picnics at India gate with home cooked potluck dinner and ice cream from the vendors stationed there.
4. At least one of our relatives lived in US or UK or Canada (“phoren” or “in abroad”) and brought back chocolates and goodies that were not available in India at that time. Hence, we were always extra nice to those relatives.
5. We have actually visited all the forts and historical monuments in our childhood days and know their history. We didn’t depend on Google to tell us that!
6. Appu ghar was our very own Disney land and its water park our pride.
7. We looked forward to winters which brought with it a variety of seasonal food like gajar ka halwa, makki di roti and sarsaon ka saag and endless rounds of hot chai.
8. Republic day holiday called for a family tradition of picnic in the day time and playing badminton, Frisbee and cricket with the relatives. Independence Day meant flying colorful kites and competing with other kites in the sky.
9. We got our first PC at home only when we were in high school and our cell phone resembled a cordless. Post-paid SIMs were unheard of.
10. Ansals plaza, with its popular Shopper’s stop store, was our first indoor shopping / mall experience.
11. Lord Krishna to many of us looks like Nitish Bharadwaj who played him on screen in Mahabharat by B R Chopra on Doordarshan.
12. Dilwale dulhania Le Jaayenge (DDLJ) and Hum aapke hain kaun (HAHK) were cult movies and every girl wanted to date a guy like Raj and have a wedding like the one in HAHK.
13. Gurgaon seemed really far away and was known for its malls, liquor stores and new office buildings. We assumed anyone working in Gurgaon, worked in a call centre.
14. Alisha Chinoy crooning ‘Made in India’ with beefy Milind Soman was revolutionary new age music.
15. Orkut was our first exposure to social media. The testimonials posted there were the test of friendship.
Feel free to add to this list. I would love to hear from you!
This is my #Post7 /#Week4 for the #MyFriendAlexa campaign. You can find my previous posts by clicking on these –
Different kinds of Bloggers
Life Lessons that Bollywood taught me
Funny things Indian moms do
A poem to younger me
Management Lessons from Personal life
6 everyday questions asked by my 6 year old!
I am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter
I wasn’t in Delhi but man, you just spoke for my entire generation there 🙂
Back then Mahabharata, Ramayana and later Chandrakanta were epics. Made in India, Lucky Ali’s songs…
So true Roshan. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Loved this post Prerna. I was nodding my head at almost all the points mentioned. Those were the days when technology did not take us over.
Well said Vartika. Our kids will never be able to relate to those simpler times!
Such a lovely read. On every point, I was smiling and nodding my head. You brought back childhood memories. I often tell my daughter about these memorable moments. I guess thats the beauty of those days that with limited technology, we literally lived those days and stored them as our beautiful memories. Thanks for this wonderful write up.
#MothersGurukulreads #Myfriendalexa
So happy to hear your thoughts Alpana. Thank you so much!
Nostalgic tour. Our childhood was simple yet indulging:)
True that Aditi!
ha ha ha… so true i can relate to each and every point since i’ve done it too…
So happy to hear that Richa. Thanks!
Haha.. you brought my childhood days back Prerna .. awesome post.. big bear hug 😀
Thanks so much Gunjan. Hug right back at you!
Though I did not grow up in Delhi, I can relate to many things in this post. DDLJ, HAHK were popular throughout. We have a place called Richie Rich where we had pizza with capsicum and onion and hot chocolate fudge.
Namratha from #firstgreenstwp
So nice to hear that Namratha. Where were you based while growing up?
I am so much related to this post, specially Appu Ghar , nirulas, Delhi has been my 2nd hometown.I still miss the place
Happy to hear that Priyal. thanks
I can totally relate to this list. It got too nostalgic in the middle of the post. Those family picnics at India gate and getting my yearly pass to Appu Ghar after getting a rank in exams, just can’t forget those days, somebody please bring back those days. Lovely post, Prerna!
Thank you Neha. I’m so glad you took a trip down memory lane with my write-up!
Enjoyed reading this one prerna. Though I didn’t grow up in Delhi but have spent many summer holidays there. Have been to nirulas and to kaventers long before it became a chain. And remember those Sunday evening picnics at India gate. BTW, girls whether in Delhi or any Indian town or village wanted some one like Raj or beefy soman. ?
Haha true that Anshu. I’m so glad you enjoyed this piece! Thank you.
Captured all most every 80’s kid growing up years. btw.. my first encounter with social media was with hotmail, some yahoo group and orkut! Jeez they do sound ancient.
Good read.
True that Lalima. Thanks for your comment!