This is about a generation of kids who eventually grew up tough and learned to make it on their own with no government subsidies, no unemployment benefits, no medical plans, very few job openings to apply for, even if you had an education, no savings and for the most part, no inheritance from the parents. Most families lived from day to day and had no savings.
How true and so well articulated! To the wonderful kids who were born in the country and survived the '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s........
First we survived being born to mothers, some of whose husbands smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took Aspirin, ate whatever food was put on the table and didn't get tested for diabetes or any other disease! They were mothers who did not check their blood pressure every few weeks.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking or going out on our own. As children, if we would ride in cars that had no seat belts or airbags. We sat on each others laps for God's sake. Riding in the back of a Station Wagon on a warm day was always a special treat.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this! We would share a naan or samosa, dip a chapatti into someone else's plate of curry without batting an eyelid. We ate jam sandwiches or pickle on bread and butter, raw mangoes with salt and chillies that set our teeth on edge and drank orange squash with sugar and water in it.
We ate at roadside stalls, drank water from tender coconuts, ate everything that was bad for us from bhajias (Battered and fried vegetables) and samosas but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING. We would leave home in the morning and play all day during the holidays, we were never bored and we were allowed our freedom all day as long as we were back when the streetlights came on or when our parents told us to do so.
No one was able to reach us all day by phone or mobile phone.......BUT we were OKAY!
We would spend hours making paper kites, building things out of scraps with old pram wheels or cycle rims, inventing our own games, having pound parties, playing traditional games called hide and seek, kick the can, 'guli danda', seven tiles and rounders, ride old cycles and then ride down the hill only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
Our parents earned less, never travelled abroad. Religion was never an issue, everyone trusted and loved each other and came to each other's aid when needed.
We never heard of or claimed our inheritance, whilst our parents were alive. We did not look for inheritance after they died too. They made sure we were alright. Never heard of pocket money! GROWING UP IN INDIA.....MAY SEEM FUNNY TO TODAY'S KIDS.
We did not have parents who said things like 'what would you like for breakfast, lunch or dinner'. We ate what was put in front of us and best of all, there was never any leftovers. We polished the lot!
We had friends, great friends, whose parents we called Uncle and Aunty and we went outside and found them! They took care of us, when our parents were away and without any charge!
We fell out of trees numerous times, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there was no compensation claims from these accidents. We never visited the Dentist! We ate fruits lying on the ground that we shook down from the tree above. And we never washed the fruit.
We had a bath using a bucket and mug and used Lifebuoy soap. We did not know what Shampoos, Conditioners meant.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode cycles everywhere and someone sat on the carrier or across the bar to school or the pictures or cinema or you walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them, and their parents never let us go without a meal or something......
Not everyone made it into teams we wanted to......Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of...They actually sided with the law! This generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever......!
The past 50 years, never heard of an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
Those were the golden days my friends of our yester years.....!!
Note. Courtesy What'sApp.
Tailpiece.
It was a rainy day, most of the time, thanks to a low pressure trough in the bay of Bengal Region. Had taken out my Chevy to top it up with fuel and to check tyre pressure.
PS.
Adieu Mr. Arun Jaitley!
The former Finance Minister had passed into the mist of time yesterday afternoon at 1207 hrs due to multiple medical ailments. He was 66. The media has been giving us the details of his life and times. What impressed me about him was the clarity in his thinking and the superb articulation of his thoughts. He had no special love for the defence forces but was fair and forthright and was a capable minister, bringing in reforms that were badly needed.
RIP, Mr. Jaitley! My prayers!! May your near and dear ones have the fortitude to tide over these stressful times!!!
PPS.
To score political points, people can go to any extreme. Today the Congress' current motor mouth, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary asks, "Is Kashmir not a part of India?' and a similar kind of noise was made by Rahul Gandhi, himself. And mind you, this is the Pakistani line too because of the tight security measures in place being eased progressively! How can people be so selfish that they don't even mind being anti-national to show their government in bad light and to score brownie points? Do they want Jammu and Kashmir to be in turmoil, always?
How true and so well articulated! To the wonderful kids who were born in the country and survived the '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s........
First we survived being born to mothers, some of whose husbands smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took Aspirin, ate whatever food was put on the table and didn't get tested for diabetes or any other disease! They were mothers who did not check their blood pressure every few weeks.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking or going out on our own. As children, if we would ride in cars that had no seat belts or airbags. We sat on each others laps for God's sake. Riding in the back of a Station Wagon on a warm day was always a special treat.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this! We would share a naan or samosa, dip a chapatti into someone else's plate of curry without batting an eyelid. We ate jam sandwiches or pickle on bread and butter, raw mangoes with salt and chillies that set our teeth on edge and drank orange squash with sugar and water in it.
We ate at roadside stalls, drank water from tender coconuts, ate everything that was bad for us from bhajias (Battered and fried vegetables) and samosas but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING. We would leave home in the morning and play all day during the holidays, we were never bored and we were allowed our freedom all day as long as we were back when the streetlights came on or when our parents told us to do so.
No one was able to reach us all day by phone or mobile phone.......BUT we were OKAY!
We would spend hours making paper kites, building things out of scraps with old pram wheels or cycle rims, inventing our own games, having pound parties, playing traditional games called hide and seek, kick the can, 'guli danda', seven tiles and rounders, ride old cycles and then ride down the hill only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
Our parents earned less, never travelled abroad. Religion was never an issue, everyone trusted and loved each other and came to each other's aid when needed.
We never heard of or claimed our inheritance, whilst our parents were alive. We did not look for inheritance after they died too. They made sure we were alright. Never heard of pocket money! GROWING UP IN INDIA.....MAY SEEM FUNNY TO TODAY'S KIDS.
We did not have parents who said things like 'what would you like for breakfast, lunch or dinner'. We ate what was put in front of us and best of all, there was never any leftovers. We polished the lot!
We had friends, great friends, whose parents we called Uncle and Aunty and we went outside and found them! They took care of us, when our parents were away and without any charge!
We fell out of trees numerous times, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there was no compensation claims from these accidents. We never visited the Dentist! We ate fruits lying on the ground that we shook down from the tree above. And we never washed the fruit.
We had a bath using a bucket and mug and used Lifebuoy soap. We did not know what Shampoos, Conditioners meant.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode cycles everywhere and someone sat on the carrier or across the bar to school or the pictures or cinema or you walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them, and their parents never let us go without a meal or something......
Not everyone made it into teams we wanted to......Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of...They actually sided with the law! This generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever......!
The past 50 years, never heard of an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
Those were the golden days my friends of our yester years.....!!
Note. Courtesy What'sApp.
Tailpiece.
It was a rainy day, most of the time, thanks to a low pressure trough in the bay of Bengal Region. Had taken out my Chevy to top it up with fuel and to check tyre pressure.
PS.
Adieu Mr. Arun Jaitley!
The former Finance Minister had passed into the mist of time yesterday afternoon at 1207 hrs due to multiple medical ailments. He was 66. The media has been giving us the details of his life and times. What impressed me about him was the clarity in his thinking and the superb articulation of his thoughts. He had no special love for the defence forces but was fair and forthright and was a capable minister, bringing in reforms that were badly needed.
RIP, Mr. Jaitley! My prayers!! May your near and dear ones have the fortitude to tide over these stressful times!!!
PPS.
To score political points, people can go to any extreme. Today the Congress' current motor mouth, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary asks, "Is Kashmir not a part of India?' and a similar kind of noise was made by Rahul Gandhi, himself. And mind you, this is the Pakistani line too because of the tight security measures in place being eased progressively! How can people be so selfish that they don't even mind being anti-national to show their government in bad light and to score brownie points? Do they want Jammu and Kashmir to be in turmoil, always?
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