Looking back, smiling ahead

Floppy disk, VCR, pager, walkman are words of the past,
No one knows when they saw it last. 
The endless winding of the cassette with a pencil, 
To save the tape and hear the last musical. 

Photos had to be taken with care,
The limited film reel was a permanent scare. 
The dial up internet and the sound of struggling connections,
ICQ chat were unnamed equations. 

Music played on the walkman in tow,
Doordarshan, Ramayan was the family show. 
TV for us depended on the antenna that shifted with the wind,
While the melody of ads in our minds were pinned. 

Washing powder Nirma or Lyril soap for sure,
The two horned Onida devil or the dancing girl of Dairy Milk to cheer. 
Rasna, Gold Spot, Thums Up, Roohavza to sip,
Or be cool by being you in the Fido Dido clip. 

The scent of Old spice & Brylcream in your dad's kit,
With reminders to polish the Bata school shoes and blanco the whites for a perfect fit. 
The iconic ambassador, blue for us stood tall,
With manual rolling windows, had a memory for one and all. 

The mess of filling out fountain pens in time,
The savoured Reynolds was worth every dime. 
Camlin pencils and compass box in every bag,
With books bound in brown paper and label tag. 

Teachers taught and we had to hear them say,
No Google could save us after that day. 
Encyclopedia was our project guide,
Or newspaper cuttings on the side. 

Being cool with Phantom sweet cigarettes or a mango bite,
Poppins, hajmola, ice candy lolly or the joy ball ice cream had it's might. 
Catscradle, hopscotch, lagori, book cricket, hangman, knots and crosses had endless fun,
Not to forget flowers in books and the mystery of FLAMES was number one. 

Paper boats, paper Planes and chits were passed,
The best form of text message that could ever be asked. 
The postman had a big role to play,
Every letter, postcard, stamp collection made our day. 

Money denominations saw Re 1 and 2,
We even counted paisa 5, 10, 20 too. 
Diwali crackers with the bijli and gun,
The crawly snake that appeared was oddly fun. 

Shikari Shambu and Suppandi had us gripped,
Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha had us flipped. 
An oddly muscular He-Man seemed to charm,
The Barbie definitely never lost its glam.
 
My peers of 80's and early 90's will know this forgotten past,
A memory so strong it's bound to last. 
Capturing this nostalgic tale as everything gets forgotten for sure,
So this timeline will always be remembered with cheer.

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