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மனதில் உறுதி வேண்டும்
--மகாகவி சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதியார்--
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ஓம்! ஓம்! ஓம்! ஓம்!

Calling the mid-70s generation

Charukesi has started off a very interesting topic on age cohorts at her blog. The idea is to try and understand the generation that was born in the early or mid-70s and is currently changing the world, for better or for worse. I have posted a few comments there which I am reposting here (cut and paste vaazhga). If you are grew up in the age of DD, mile sur mera tumhara, prudential cup victory, shastri's audi car, rajiv gandhi, apna utsav, cheaper petrol, free clean water (applies only to Chennai denizens), and whatever else you can think of from the 80s, perhaps you should visit her blog and share your thoughts and opinions.

Cut-and-paste begins:


Nice topic. Took me back to the good old Madras days when petrol was cheaper, DD was the only channel around so you ended up watching every crap Hindi movie on Saturday and all crap Tamil movies on Sundays. Sunday mornings were terrific though; the Walt Disney show, Project Tiger, Indradhanush, Kachchi Dhoop, et al.
Whenever TV was not an option (like through the week), you had to necessarily kill time reading or playing outdoors (going beyond cricket, I think research needs to be done on the waning popularity of indigenous games like 7 stones, Eyes Boys, Paandi, Kings, Gilli-danda, etc).

Since TV exposure was limited, late-night movies were a godsend during my adoloscence;-), unlike today’s kids who are assailed by flesh, flesh and more flesh. Watching movies in the cinema halls was dirt cheap by today’s standards (Rs 8 for regular, Rs 10 for balcony at the Satyam complex and Casino. One had to wait years for the “latest” Hollywood flicks to arrive in town; today when a film’s released in the US, I get to pick up the DVD in the evening.

Before we came down to Madras in ‘84, we lived in Ooty. TV, refrigerators, the beach, blistering summer…all unknown entities. I suppose geography also needs to be factored in. Things that some take for granted may have been novel to others who were raised elsewhere.

***end of rambling***

One last point for today: Today’s kids seem to under a great deal of pressure. I think that would be a key differentiator between Us and Them. Sure many of my classmates were under pressure to become engineers, or learn Carnatic music, but I was lucky enough to have liberal parents. I’d like to know from others what their experience has been.

Of course I think kids are under greater pressure than we were, but as I said, it’s subjective. Perhaps some lucky kids today are under little or no pressure.

One thing I noticed about most replies, including mine, is that the immediate reaction is one of nostalgia without really trying to figure out what makes us, Us. I mean, why have we readily embraced all the tech advancements and the fallouts of liberalisation? Is it because we didn’t have access to it then? Why are we open to the idea of credit cards? Is it because we didn’t get enough pocket money as kids and now want to splurge like there’s no tomorrow? Are we more communal and casteist despite our entrepreneurial spirit and software skills? If we are, why? I think we need to ponder over questions like these to find out what makes us, Us [I think I already said that].

Regarding "good old days", it's quite difficult to say really. The world is a better and worse place now. It all depends on what parameters are being used. For instance, 20 years back in Chennai I could walk into any home, any hotel, any office and drink water without fear. Today the only water that I consume is bottled; buying water is very much part of our lives in this city. From a water perspective, it's surely the "good old days". But when we are talking telecom or computers or the Net, it's a wired world and it's wonderful.

My point is: Fuck the nostalgia part. Everyone likes to get nostalgic. We talk of the "good old 80s", my cousin in Kalpakkam yearns for the "good old 70s", while my Dad thinks the 60s rocked. How do we compare with our parents and uncles, or with elder cousins who were teens in the 70s? Each of us is different in approach, attitude, value systems. I think that's something we ought to explore. Again, there will be exceptions. Some 80s guy who was ahead of his times, some 60s girl who was too radical (a distant relation comes to mind)...you get the drift.

Another point I'd like to raise is political and social awareness. I would love to know how important it is to people in our group.


End of cut-and-paste

Now you can all go home and have a blast.

Mike testing 1..2..1..2

Indhiya varalaatril muthan muraiyaaaaaga...Blogosphere-ukku vanthu sila naatkale aana...putham puthiya blog, intha thagaval pakkam.

***reverting to english***There's a reason why I have decided to turn blogger (no, not to post original poetry or review Ilayaraja's Thiruvasagam - pray I don't end up doing it). It will become clear over the next few months. Please pop in every now and then for updates.

Ciao for now