The gone-by days are always precious, I believe that is for each and every one of us reading this post. Those were the days of no worries, where all you could fret about was the latest pen that you just got from your dad. Or the impatient wait of the sweet ringing bell at the end of day’s school, so that you can run out arms spread and bump on the cute girl who sits in the next class. The playground, the water puddles in the rainy seasons, and making paper airplanes were all that would take to enthral your little mind. Today we travelled down the roads once again, and dug out old memories to share with you. An ode to the best of your childhood days!
1. Breaking windows in a gully cricket match would be scary yet fun.
Well, I would say nearly all of us have broken something, when trying to send the ball to lofty heights, and then when the grumpy uncle-next-door would come shouting out, everybody would have scampered off to safe nearby hideouts. Such sweetness in not getting caught!
2. And then, once we were done with the games, all of us would flock to the local Pepsi-uncle with the moving cart for one of these.
Yes, the nostalgia grips us, when we used to give Re.1 for one a local Pepsi, tearing off a small corner of the plastic so that the orangey juice would seep out – it was bliss!
3. When nothing to do, we had our dad’s Nokia 2100 to play the Snake Game on.
One of the greatest addiction of all times, Looking at the screen would give me goose bumps even now. How a simplistic game at that time would keep us glued, without an iota of distraction. And every time we had a new high score that was something to be boasted off in front of friends.
4. Hand crafted Nokia Ringtone composer were a craze and sending them over to friends was even more awesome!
Yes, do you remember the Nokia composer? How we would compose those hit Bollywood numbers that we couldn’t lay our hands on? And for those, who were less blessed with a sense of music, would coax the better ones to send the ringtone to them. Some of them would even have a romantic number assigned to the girl they had a crush on.
5. Computer games were a novelty then. With Road Rash being more commonly played, we would give anything to have a go at the latest Need for Speed.
Oh! Yes, the first computer I had was a 4GB HDD, and the only game it ran was Road Rash, NFS wouldn’t run, so we had to keep an eye open for someone else’s. 🙂
6. The Chevrolets, the Dodge and the classic Ford and the Mustangs were our favourites and they would run as if there is no tomorrow.
Playing with those miniature cars knew no bounds, under the table, below the folded book, kitchen walls, bathroom doors, along the edge of my grandfather’s fluffy belly! They were everywhere!
7. We, as kids loved the comics we owned. The Tinkle Digests kept us glued and were serious competitors to the world of Tintin and Asterix.
8. Cheetos had hit the jackpot that time, when they decided to give away Tazos.
After that it was all about who could collect the highest of them.
9. Making paper airplanes, most of which would rise up from the back benches sailing with ease into the girl’s rows, with messages scribbled on the inside.
I still remember, half of our copy books pages were, torn without a care in the world, just because we loved making those airplanes during tiffin breaks and in between classes.
10. “Book Football” and “Name, Place, Animal, Thing” would start filling our notebook pages from the last pages…
And suddenly while taking notes, we would realise that there are actually no pages left for the real thing, and how careful we would be, to hide it from our mothers. Book Cricket was another game that kept us entertained during the boring geography classes.
11. Stone Skipping on the water and playing with sands would be our idea of outdoor time pass.
I can bet that everybody has had a lesson on how to master the art of stone skipping from either your dad or your favourite elder bro. Well, well, that’s a no brainer. And beaches would turn us into little masons; digging and building sand igloos in strategic positions so, that the waves would sweep in slowly and fill up the insides.
Our fingers would ache after hours of those marble tournaments, but they were worth it and we would be local champions of the Kancha.
12. A home gathering with family meant, the elders would be forced to play the business game with one of us. Or any other board game for that matter.
…and it would go on for hours, that’s all I would say.
13. The Bubble gum world cup cards were more important than the books we carried every day. Stealing them would lead to fights and black eyes and finally guardian calls.
The Maradona and the Pele ones were the most sought after. They were once upon a time traded in exchange. One Klinsmann would equal one Ruud Gullit and a Del Piero. I wonder what would have a Messi or a CR7 cost you nowadays.
14. And, then the world of GI Joe, which would take our world of imagination to dizzier heights!
15. …which were soon followed by the superman and He-Man figures. The girls would go bonkers for the never seen before Barbie dolls. Truly a wonder even today!
Loved this Story? Share this with your buddies and let us know if there are anything else, that would make you nostalgic and make you go back to school. We would be more than happy to include them in the post. Now, that’s a promise!
