Around 35 years ago, many things were way too different. Todays kids and youngsters will find it utterly unbelievable! For instance, prices of Gold and property in that era sound like peanuts for today's generation. But its not all about the prices or economy.
As far as the school admissions are concerned, today we see parents making a bee line for admission forms and this queue begins as early as the night prior to the forms distribution day. Earlier then, pre-primary school teachers used to go door-to-door urging parents to send their kids to their school.
Objects we had in our home like a sewing machine, a wooden cupboard and a 6 band radio set were all made of truly 'high qualiity' material. This 80 year old sewing machine was bought for Rs. 100/- (No zero is missing!) and works just fine even today. Today, when we buy gadgets, the first thing we ask is warranty!
Earlier shopkeepers proudly flaunted boards like 'Aamchi Kuthe hee shaakha naahi' (We have no branches anywhere else)...or for that matter, 'Shop will be closed between 1 and 4 in the noon'
Today, in this retail boom and the FDI threat, can they still afford to stick to it? (Yes. yes. There are exceptions!)
Our Amrut tulyas (Tea shops) still have boards saying ' kama shivay jaast vel basu naye' meaning 'leave as soon as you finish your cuppa'
And today we have cafes that go exactly opposite. One coffee. Two people. And you can sit for hours!
As the idiom in Sanskrit goes 'Kaalaay Tasmaee Namaha'!!
