Childhood favourites

After many long years today I listened to a few songs of one of my favourite singer: Kris Kristofferson. Dont know how I forgot him for so long. He was one amongst my elder brother's collection of singers. I think the old tape recorder and the tapes might still be lying around at my parent's place.

I still remember the excitement when our Father brought home the Panasonic taper ecorder. A silver colored one which some gulfwalla had brought to Kerala. Until then like most household one had to depend on the good old radio for songs. Later collection of cassettes became a worthwhile task. It was mostly decided by my brother. Thus I got to listen to Kris Kristoffersen, Dire Straits, Jim Reeves and many others. Even my study break of my Pre-degree days were made sound proof by these songs!  The sound of the song shut off all other external sounds and I found that I could concentrate better on the subject.  And I did get marks too so it is an experiment that did not fail. In fact I have a cousin brother who could study only if listens to songs!

The following song brings home sweet memories of childhood and the lovely place that I grew up.

Kristoffer Kristian "Kris" Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for such hits as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Kristofferson is the sole writer of most of his songs, and he has collaborated with various other figures of the Nashville scene such as Shel Silverstein.[1]

Help me make it trought the night

Take the ribbon from your hair,

Shake it loose and let it fall,
Layin' soft upon my skin.
Like the shadows on the wall.

Come and lay down by my side
'till the early morning light
All I'm takin' is your time.
Help me make it through the night.

I don't care what's right or wrong,
I don't try to understand.
Let the devil take tomorrow.
Lord, tonight I need a friend.

Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight.
And it's sad to be alone.
Help me make it through the night.

I don't care what's right or wrong,
I don't try to understand.
Let the devil take tomorrow.
Lord, tonight I need a friend.

Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight.
Lord, it's bad to be alone.

Help me make it through the night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh1y7Jkikuk&feature=related

And we were O.K.

Received this via email I am not sure who the author is.. it may not even have originated from an Indian but yet I am sure most of us can relate to it.. so with due respect to the creator and with additions of my own in italics…

To all the wonderful kids who were born in India , grew up in the 60's,70's and 80's and survived :

First, we survived being born to mothers, some, 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.

They were mothers who did not check their blood pressure every few minutes. (mine didn’t)

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. (nd all those longs walks up the mountains and along the streams with none to guide but just the dogs)

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags. [Our car would have been the most rickety since it had to go through the terrible tea estate roads. Needless to mention that only an Ambassador was built for it. Thinking about it now, I still cannot believe that my Father, instead of repairing the door which would not close [the mechanics had already closed shops after our late night movie] asked me to faithfully hold onto it while driving up a 20 km long treacherous mountainous road (Mundakayam to Kuttikanam)… I dont remember my Father looking back even once to see if I was still there! And recently when I mentioned this to him he feigned ignorance:) ]

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. (ahh the water was the purest!)

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. (dint we all? and most still do…)

We would share a dosa, dip a chapatti into someone else's plate of curry without batting an eyelid. (I hope the current generation still enjoys this)

We ate jam sandwiches or pickle on bread and butter, raw mangoes with salt (& chilly powder) and drank orange squash with sugar and water in it.

We ate at roadside stalls, drank water from tender coconuts, ate everything - Bhel Puri to bhajias and samosas, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! (there was no dearth of games.. we made games out of nothing…but now the kids can have all the PS$.. and still be bored)

We would leave home in the morning and play all day during the holidays, we were never ever bored, and we were allowed 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 mobile phone or phone. (those were the days!)

And we were O.K.

We swam with an inflated tube which we got from somebody who was replacing their car tyres.

We ran barefoot without thinking about it, if we got cut we used iodine on it which made us jump. We did not wash our hands ten times a day. (Wash hands?)
And we were OK.

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. (but now we have to push and prod them to eat..)

We fell out of trees numerous times, got cut, broke bones and teeth. (We jumped from one tree to another and my younger sister was the leader!)

We ate fruit lying on the ground that we shook down from the tree above. (and how tasty those were!)And we never washed the fruit.

We had a bath using a bucket and mug. We did not know what shampoo and conditioners meant.

Yet this generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

Please pass this on to others who have had the luck and good fortune to grow up as kids in India in the 60's 70's and 80's.

Even the Readers Digest?

It was sad to read the following news today:

Reader’s Digest to file for bankruptcy protection

The publisher of Reader's Digest, the country’s most popular general interest magazine, said Monday it will file for Chapter 11 protection with a plan to swap a portion of its debt for ownership of the company.

Practically grew up with this book since my parents have subscribed to it from the time it landed in India. It even made my mother start a similar magazine at home to keep the 5 of us siblings engaged during the holidays. We used to write our own versions of articles and stories which was edited by my mother. She compiled them and either typed it or re-wrote by hand and named it the "Philip's journal". Since we used to write anything and everything and drop it into a box that was kept specially for this, we used to wait eagerly to see if it passed our mother's editing. It was a proud moment if it ever reached the final print.

Indian edition

The Indian edition was first published in 1954. Its circulation then was 40,000 copies. Today, the magazine is published in India by Living Media India Ltd., and sold over 600,000 copies monthly in 2008 — a fifteen-fold increase. It not only includes local Indian articles but international articles as well.

The real life drama section was always a thrill to read and the “quotable quotes” was the first page that I enjoyed reading. During the growing up years the collection of articles was always a source of comfort and inspiration.

I do read that the magazine may continue but not as before. Seems they do not have much audience amongst the young and also since similar articles are in abundance on the internet it was slowly losing its readers.

The Indian edition was not upto the mark but I always opened this little book with much eagerness and have read every single page of it. Here in Kuwait I did arrange for the magazine to be delivered at home but the delivery has always been erratic.

....edited to add the following from NDTV

"The Chapter 11 filing will apply only to the company's US businesses...its operations in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia-New Zealand will not be affected. RDA's international operations are expected to have adequate funding based on continuing operations and access to proceeds from the DIP (debtor in possession) financing," the company said.

Earlier in March 2009, Indian Software exporter HCL Technologies had announced a seven-year IT operations and management engagement with RDA.

Down Memory Lanes

Last night while getting ready to sleep, saw Jayabharathi and Nazir on the screen (Soorya TV).. I realized that I knew the movie and that I was present while this song was being shot. Suddenly there was a rush of memories of the good old days. It was the old movie “Ariyapadatha Rahsyam” – by Thambi Kannanthanam. Artists: Nazir, Jayan, Jayabaruthi, Prameela, Jose Prakash, Janardhanan etc. It was produced by a family friend, hence we got a close look at the film world. The film was released in 1981 and I was still in school. I still remember most of the scenes and even the down to earth Nazir on the sets. He was the favorite of the Actresses and they spared no time to seek his attention. And then there was the ever lasting Jayan. His fight with an elephant looks very silly now and the kids were forcing me to switch channels. Somehow I wanted to sit there and take a walk along the memory lanes. Some shots were from the Estate where we grew up. This friend of ours took one more movie “ Thavalam” and then he was broke! The movies back then had plots so thick with twists and turns that towards the end it is fun to see how they wind up the story. As for Jayabharati, she was looking sexy and beautiful as ever. The perfect screen mate for the evergreen lover Nazir! It was sometime after this that Jayan met his untimely death. But the mimicry artists have copied his style with no exaggeration!

Kittens and Cats

I have always loved kittens and we had plenty of them while growing up.. and not all of them stayed with us to grow up into cats.. but we had them in many colors, full white, yellow, black and white etc. etc.

My sister used to have her own.. and she was very possessive of it. A very proud male cat and he used to love lying on my Father while he reclined on his easy chair.
Their ability to reproduce was tremendous. The female will start looking for “Delivery room” well in advance and would even spend some time to see the comfort and security. Since we used to have dogs too she had to be careful. Normally she will end up in our cupboards among our clothes! But more than one has changed the place at the last moment and felt safe to deliver next to my mom’s legs on her bed at night! My mother used to be very tolerant of them and hence will not disturb them until she is ready to shift her little one, even though she made the bed messy. And then we siblings will wait for the mother to go for her food to take a peek at the little ones, with their eyes closed. Normally it takes a week for their eyes to open and they say the mother will move them around seven times (locations) before their eyes are opened. Soon they will venture out in the open and that is when my mom will start shooing the away.

Along the Memory lanes..Coonoor

The FM is playing George Micheal’s song and it transports me to Coonoor and for a minute…. The sun is shining and I am on my bed with my favourite Reader's Digest. The window is open and the sun is streaming in. The rose flower under the window is slowly changing its color, I remember the pink color when I opened the window but now it would be yellow! We are going out to the town and I look forward to the shopping and the Chinese lunch afterwards. The town is always busy with a variety of faces, mostly honey-mooners. The botanical garden is also full. My sister's daughter is with us and she is naughty sometimes.

How I miss those beautiful places and those times. In fact every time I left the place after my holidays, in the car, I used to take a good look at the place and in my mind say good bye wondering whether I will ever see the place again. Even when I was young when the beauty of the hill station where I used to live overwhelm me, I used to think that God would put me in a desert for the rest of my life and it has come true. I had no other choice though I never wanted to come to this desert. But life is like that!

How I miss the cats and dogs that we used to have in our home. They are truly man’s best friend. A human friend may never offer ny consolation but animals do. Just take a look at the brown and loving eyes of your dog! How faithful he is. For him you are his everything and your happiness means to him a lot. He is not selfish but very magnanimus. Can a human friend be such. I wonder. And cats... they have a perosnality of their own...