Those were the days- Story of souls 

I was raised in Mumbai, which once used to be Bombay. We had  Eating out at a restaurant was a big deal that only happened on rare occasions like birthdays or anniversaries.
There was no such thing as fast food, so a bottle of cola and an ice cream cone from the local shop were a tremendous treat.
If you pass your final examinations, you may earn a new outfit or a pair of shoes from the Bata company.

You changed out of your school clothes as soon as you came home and into your ‘home’ attire. There was no driving you anywhere; you had to take the school bus, take public transportation, or walk home. You arrived home and completed your chores and schoolwork before supper. Not everyone had a home phone, and until recently, all private conversations took place at PCO booths.

We didn’t have access to Amazon Prime or Netflix. We just had Doordarshan. ‘Jungle Book’ aired once a week on a Sunday, while ‘Chhaya Geet’ aired on Thursday, for which we had to wait all week. We played Chor-Police, Hide-and-Seek, Marbles, and everything else we could think of like a game called “Name, Place, Animal, Things” when we got together with our cousins.  Staying indoors was a punishment, and the only thing we understood about being bored was “You better find something to do before I do!”

Life was simpler before Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Followers were buddies who stood behind you. We listened to music on magnetic recordings or on the radio. A Walkman was a luxury item reserved for the very wealthy.  We went to the neighborhood shop for groceries, and Chiclets, Jeera-Goli, and Kismi were only a few paise.

We ate what our mother had prepared for dinner and packed in our lunch and snack boxes. There was no bottled water. We sipped water from the school’s water fountain. We summoned our neighbors by yelling their names from the street below.
We played till it became dark; sunset was our wake-up call. If there was a quarrel, that was it, and we were friends again the next day, if not sooner.

We were careful with our words around our elders since our aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandmas, and our parents’ best friends were all extensions of our parents, and you didn’t want them to tell your parents you’d misbehaved! Alternatively, they would provide you with something to weep about. We revered teachers, physicians, and nurses, as well as cops, firefighters, and soldiers.

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