A touch of nostalgia

Recently I attended a get-together of my batch mates from engineering college. As is the norm on such occasions the initial fifteen minutes were spent on a lighthearted discussion on our expanding girth and receding hairline. Soon we graduated to the pleasant memories of our college years. That set me thinking that nostalgia is a key ingredient of our life.

College days, particularly as hostellers, in NIT-K, Surathkal were pleasant. With no parental supervision our evenings were pretty activity-filled. The only source for movies was in Mangalore, around 20 km away. Friday nights were particularly exciting as all of us wanted to see Bollywood films on the day of release. Just after dinner, fleets of Ambassador taxis would land up at the hostel blocks. Generally eight students would fit in to the car, which would wait for us at the theatre and bring us back. The theatre would be noisy as most of the audience would comprise our college mates. The next day it was obvious which students had gone to the movies as they would be singing songs loudly while having a bath.

Growing up in Delhi, we were far removed from any security restrictions as it is today. On Republic Day youngsters would be sitting on dhurries along Rajpath, near the saluting base. Pandit Nehru would get down from his official Cadillac car and walk along the low railing and wave to us even as we raised a cry of ‘Chacha Nehru’. We would wait excitedly for the fly-past after the parade. Those days the modern aircraft that our Air Force had were Hawker Hunters, Mysteres and Canberras. As a grand finale there was a formation fly-past by Toofanis which broke away just over the saluting base leaving behind a trail of tricolor smoke. It is sad that nowadays youngsters cannot even get close to VIPs at public occasions thanks to their security cordon.

My grandmother’s younger brother suffered from Arthritis which restricted his movement. Every evening he would get in to his big American car all set for a drive. One of my uncles would be the designated driver for that day. I was a student in Bangalore so I would invite myself for the ride. We would first go to Vidhana Soudha where my uncle and I would take a stroll while the old man sat in the car. My financial position would be precarious so I ended up getting treated for some chaat or spicy puffed rice with slices of tomato. The next stop would be the fountain in Cubbon Park(yes it actually functioned well those days).Here the snack would be boiled peanuts. The final halt would be MG Road where we would park perpendicular to Plaza theatre. Here, of course, was the compulsory visit to Lakeview for an ice cream.

In the years to come I wonder what type of pleasant activities people would be recalling when meeting as a group? I am sure life moves on for every generation.