Born in ‘80s …

Ask anybody who was born in India in the ‘80s, they will tell you about the level of education, political changes, happenings and incidents over the span of his/her lifetime. Not to mention the unforgettable arrival of multichannel television. A journey from the black and white world of Doordarshan to Zee TV, Star TV… and so on. Changes that were brought about in our lifestyles from Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics to Play Stations and online games tournament! We are the generation who has witnessed the important incidents in the history of India. Right from Asiad Games in Delhi, to Golden Temple massacre with Bhindranwale, to the assassination of Indira Gandhi in ‘84 and later to follow the Sikh carnage, nonetheless, so called underdogs Indian Cricket team getting its first World Cup ever!!

Political changes in India were at their peak during these times, before this there were only economic issues and corruption. The only name that resonates with these incidents was Rajiv Goswami! 80s particularly saw the advent of the caste based politics, new parties, newer promises specially for the back ward classes of India… it was coined as ‘Votebank Politics’. And it worked… it still does!! There were too many things creeping in slowly, there were fiery sentiments over religion, the ever-green Hindu-Muslim Divide which was the fantastic approach towards divisive politics, history has proved that it had given great returns to all the past rulers of India and Indian politician took the ancient way - what followed were the Babri Masjid demolition, Hindu- Muslim Riots, and Mumbai Bombings… which was almost the first step towards Terrorism! There was no looking back on terrorism since then…almost after close to 20 years, we are still fighting the never-ending war …

When all of this was going on, there was another side of life picking up… coming to terms with world, India as a state, a concept about 45-46 years old had opted a free market approach and Levi’s, Adidas and several other brands had come in… tailor made simple cotton clothing was turning bright, branded and that was fashion! It was the time when India had just woken up to home bred designers like Ritu Kumar and Rina Dhaka just like Calvin Klein which became household names in America… Silhouettes had become masculine, kameez over salwars and tops had shoulder pads. There was a clear difference between formal and casual dressing. There was a boom in the market, all thanks to multichannel cable TV!! This was the age of matching shoes and accessories. The transmission of Zee TV from 4:00PM to 10:00PM had become 12 hours and later to 24hours! … Old programs like Bharat ek khoj, Potli baba ki were replaced by Himgiri ka Veer- a dubbed Chinese serial, on Sunday mornings. We would all remember the favourites in that epoch – Remington Steele, the Crystal Maze, Banegi Apni Baat and many others. Late night soaps for the elders like Yugantar etc were taken place by Tara ( Navneet Nishan fame). Chitrahaar was replaced by BPL Oye, and movies round the clock completely reinstated Saturday- Sunday Evening films.

Talking of films, how I can forget those late night films on DD generally on Fridays after 10:30PM – they were adult or may be not adult but definitely were based on topics which were less heard of or taboos! Mum always slept us off ... we were not allowed, am so glad I am on my own now, I have watched most of these on DVDs now.. :-P. Where movies made in 80s carried a realistic image and serious filmmakers like Shyam Benegal were working on problems like poverty and female suppression in the society; a larger than life image was manifested in 90s. Big banners of Yash Raj, Barjatya and Johars had slithered in with the screen shots of Switzerland, America or a complete movie based overseas but the plot definitely adhered to ‘Indian Values’ and family traditions. This was the time when emotional crisis was setting in and families had become nuclear and jobs BIG! Better than moderate salaries could afford weekend dinners, imported wines and almost everything on EMIs...

Our cultural set up has changed, and so our educational system, there was a time when each one of us worked day and night to get ranks and percentages in our classes.. But the scene today is much different children work towards getting grades, there are no ranks and till class 5 no child will repeat a class! We rode bicycles to schools… Luna and gearless scooter – Bajaj Sunny were owned by the rich!! We had so many activities, we played several games, went to talent courses, learnt dancing and singing…and children today have play stations... they lack sociable skills, have forgotten to touch feet of elders and become more and more demanding!!
I think, may be, this is what they call ‘generation gap’.

90s being the last decade of millennium bore extremities! It was also a decade when ‘woman empowerment’ was the UN agenda and it looked for independent women with comforts, poise and confidence as key features – live examples were Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai… for India. This was the decade that really saw the transition from archaic to medieval and to modern all in one go! There was a revival of ethnicity and this was when something that was practical, comfortable and aesthetically beautiful was accepted and was here to stay – contemporary!!
Cometh the year 2k and we have entered the age of materialism, live-in relationships which were unheard of in 80s and 90s and practice of only rich and famous have made their place in our society…
We are part of a global economy, never ending rat race in on… with rising bulk of our wallets, we give more and more tax each year to the government who in turn rips us off our democratic rights. Life through 80s and 90s was quite a lesson, am sure we can give our generations a more balanced outlook and see them grow we can go back and compare of how different things were in our times… don’t I sound like an old granny already?? Huh??