Decade of change: 2000 - 2009

During the last week of 2009, the newspapers were full of count downs, ‘Top ten‘, ’50 Best…’, ’50 worst…’ and other such recollections of the past decade. Along the same lines, I started thinking of the major events and changes in my own life over the past decade. It has been a decade of changes, especially in the external world. These have produced a big change in my life style.  It is amazing how life has changed with the fast changing pace of the external world !

2000 was a landmark year in my school life. I wrote my 12^th std board exams that year and joined an engineering college. I took computer science as my major because of the recent Y2K boom, because I hated electronics and also because my closest friend chose that stream in a college.

Good old days...

Memories are flooding past one by one. Yesterday, I went to Hot breads in Jersey City and got a veg. puff and a black forest cake - a most favoured combination of our gang. I was reminded of those good old days when we used to stop by 'Iyengar's bakery' or 'Hot puffs' and have a veg puff and a cake ; days when myself, roger and kaus2 used to go to the college canteen to get their samosa / cutlet with the watered down ketchup.

Then there were those days when we spent entire evenings playing carom. Each one had our 'specialty' shots, weakness and strengths. We would play for hours together. Someday I would get the samosa/puff - cake combo from the bakery. Or my father would come in and give us trays filled with some snacks or pass on glasses of some juice. Nice days :) Why this sudden flash back of the carrom days ???? - I bought a carrom board today !!!!!!! - Played the game after a long time.

Hope we will get to have a replay of those good old days sometime in future. I know it will not be the same again - Still...

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Came across this video in youtube. Reminded me of the good old 'Doordarshan' days. :)

I was small boy when this song used to be played every now and then on TV. I always used to stop a few minutes to watch this. Even now I don't understand the actual lyrics of the song - I'm just bi-lingual and the song has so many languages in it. But I get the concept - underlying tone.

This is a wonderful composition and anytime I hear this, I get goosebumps.

Thinking about those good old days now - they appear to be from a long gone era - seem so far away both chronologically and geographically. Everything around me now is so different from those bygone days.

I'm just 25 and I'm feeling this way. I can't imagine how our grandparents must feel. My grandpa was born when India still had 19 more years of British rule. Think of the changes that he must have seen - he used to recall the days when 1kg of a vegetable used to 1 or 2 annas. Now think of the things he's seeing now- He's able to see me and talk to me sitting here on the other side of the globe through a web cam .I'm sure my generation is going to see even more drastic changes.

If only I can collect all my thoughts in a pensive (Harry Potter terminology :) ) for future recollection !!!!!!