The Good Old Days...."Jaane Kahaa Gaye Wo Din"

When I was a kid,I remember how I used to start singing in a loud voice as soon as I saw the Bajaj scooter ad..."Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasveer,Hamara Bajaj"..I love to hum this song..

Our Bajaj Chetak was the pride of our family.Anywhere we had to make an outing the scooter was ready for us.As a kid I used to be super-excited to stand in the front with my father driving it and my mother and sister seated back.Every Sunday I used to sit behind my father and make our ritual trip to the Sabji market and come back seated with bag full of vegetables.After dinner seated behind dad,I and my sister used to take night rides with the wind blowing across our faces.Come any festival,the scooter used to be washed,decorated with flowers and a puja would be performed for ensuring good luck.

But as times changed,we changed.The good old memories with the scooter took a back seat.Somewhere in this fast changing world,the importance of small things which gave happiness to us in our childhood started ceasing.

Few days back while reading newspaper I came across the news that Bajaj has decided to phase out the scooters.This brought a lump in my throat.This news meant an end to our good old scooter.
With changing times,preferences have changed.From scooter we have moved on to the fast zooming motor bikes and cars.But none can replace the family vehicle "Hamara Bajaj".

In this fast changing world when one sits back and recalls the old days we discover how we are missing the beautiful and wonderful moments which we had experienced once upon a time in our lives.
The rangoli programme,Shaktiman,the good old DD days,the song "Mile Sur Mera Tumahara" which kept on playing on DD,all the family folks sitting together to watch Mahabharat and Ramayan...and now what we have....sops where the lead characters have only one job that is to sob and one vamp who's only work at hand is to destroy the peace of other characters in the show....then shows like roadies,splitsvilla,Big Boss where the only aim is to win money,power and fame...and the best work these participants can perform is bitching all the time...then shows which make celebrities out of people like Rakhi Sawant and Rahul Mahanjan...they may be jerks and villians in the real life,but they become overnight heroes with their faces flashing out on every channel...we had days when sharp at 9 we had news followed by a discussion on a national issue at DD...but now we only have news channels whose main job is to add masala and sensationalize the news...

Remember those days,when Inland letters and post cards were a must in the house.On any occasion cards and letters had to be sent and at the same time we would wait eagerly for the letters of our near and dear ones.As soon as the postman comes and gives us our chitti,the happiness and excitement to open it and read it...but now who writes letter...people have forgotten this art..
Now we have cellphones,email,gtalk,facebook,twitter,orkut..No one denies the fact that these new modes of communication are an easier mode of access..but none of them can match the charm that the letters had...

The good old Kodak camera...a must in any function,any outing...going to the photo studio to get the rolls developed...then getting the photos in an album with negatives..now who takes this trouble...we have faster n easier way the digi-cams...

The new mode,the new technology gives us the speed and comfort..but the old ones are etched in our minds and have a special place in our hearts just like "Hamara Bajaj" :)