Good old days

When gulli-danda and kanche (marbles) were more popular than cricket ...

When we always had friends to play aais-paais (I Spy),chhepan-chhepai and pitthoo with anytime

When we desperately waited for 'yeh jo hai jindagi' ..

When chitrahaar, vikram-baitaal, dada daadi ki kahaniyaan were so fulfilling

When there was just one tv in every fifth house and

When bisleris were not sold in the trains and we did not worry whether our fathers would get back onto the train in time or not when they got down at a station to fill up the water bottle ..

When we went to bed by 9.00pm sharp except for the 'yeh jo hai jindagi' day ..

When Holis & Diwalis meant mostly hand-made pakwaans and sweets and our moms seeking our help while preparing them

When we exchanged comics and stamps and chacha-chaudari and billu were our heroes ...

When we were in our nanihaals every summer and loved flying kites and plucking and eating unripe mangoes and leechis ..

When one movie every Sunday evening on television was more than asked for and 'ek do teen chaar' and 'Rajni' inspired us

When 50 paisa meant at least 10 toffees ...

When left over pages of the last years notebooks were used for rough work or even fair work

When 'chelpark' and 'natraaj' were encouraged against 'reynolds and family' ..

When the first rain meant getting drenched and playing in water and mud and making 'kaagaj ki kishtis' ...

When there were no phones to tell friends that we will be at their homes at six in the evening .

When our parents always had 15 paise blue colored 'antardesis' and 5 paise machli wale stamps at home

When we remembered tens of jokes and did not find 'ice-cream and papa' type jokes foolish enough to stop us from laughing ..

When we did not see patakhes on Diwalis and gulaals on Holis as air and noise polluting or allergic agents ...

the list can be endless ..

on a serious note I would like to summarise with .

When we used our hearts more than our brains, even for scientifically "brainy" activities like 'thinking' and 'deciding' .

When we cried and laughed more often, more openly and more sincerely .

When we enjoyed our present more than worrying about our future ..

When being emotional was not synonymous to being weak

When journeys also were important and not just the destinations .

When life was a passenger's sleeper giving enough time and opportunity to enjoy the sceneries from its open and transparent glass windows instead of some superfast's second ac with its curtained, closed and dark windows ...

Wonderful Good old days.. I Really Miss them!!