Nineties Nostalgia

"One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life, is , I think , to have a happy childhood." says Agatha Christie[1]. Little did we know that adulthood is going to be so chaotic and boring and traumatizing :D . Had we known this fact earlier, we wouldn't have had been in so much hurry to grow old (I am sure most of us dreamt of growing old). We would have cherished those little things a bit more, we would have treasured those happy moments in a proper way. I must say that all Nineties kids (apparently the best generation who experienced the old and the new) are still digesting the fact that they are no more kids and it is time to hold dear to our childhood, without internet and computer, and then growing along with the growth of the computers.
 I thank my childhood friend Vikas Chaitanya who led me to write this. Whenever we meet or talk, we just end up talking about our childhood days at school on how we used to play 'Antakshari',  'back pocket', and how we used to have groups in the assembly (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow). We endlessly talk about our dance rehearsals for Annual day, our Hindi and English Recitation competitions, our secret adventure trips to the slums behind the school, our obsession with Cello Pin Point and HyGrip pens, about the tube ice we used to get for 50 paise, about me being a nerd and a strict class leader, the craze for Falguni Pathak songs, remake albums of Kaanta Lagaa, Bangle ke peeche etc. 

 I wonder how I spent all my free time without computer and Internet! I used to make greeting cards, play games like WWE cards (Everybody wanted to have BigShow, Kane , Undertaker and Rock to win.), Business, Housie, Ram Sita, Show, Name Place Animal Thing, Current shock, Hide and Seek. I used to write letters and post them to my friends in other cities. I remember how I used to boss around my little brother and scare him to death showing off my strength and intelligence to him (Now he scares me . Time for revenge :D) I used to wait for 8.30PM as that was the time for The Popeye Show in Cartoon Network. He was my inspiration to eat Spinach. :D The Road Runner Show and Tom and Jerry were my all time favourites.  Memorable were those days when we were so excited about the Saturday color dress and planning an entire week on how to get ready for saturdays. The only thing we knew to do on our computers in 3rd grade was to to open the paint and draw the standard mountains, sun, birds and color them and we used to feel so proud about it. And here is the sample of our master piece. :D 

As we grew, computers started seeping into our lives. Do you remember our excitement and fascination for internet and going to internet centres? I used to download all my favourite star photos, nature photos, fancy bedroom photos, big bunglow photos, Sharukh khan's 'Mannat' and have them in a folder naming inspiration. What kind of inspiration was that? ROFL. Now my inspiration and happiness is my people and some love. Nothing else.  Now I realize how funny that was? We used to dream. We used to breath. We used to explore. Huh. We used to live a life full of excitement. Do you remember those butterflies while chatting Yahoo chatrooms?  Internet was such a prohibited luxury back then! Internet was meant to spoil children. (Hmmm.. Ofcourse it did.) We have no right to complain about the ignorance of our parents on how they use the internet now as we exactly used to behave like them back then.  We were just fascinated by everything. Yahoo, then gmail, then orkut and then facebook. How child-like we were as we used to feel so happy just by changing the theme of our ourkut profiles and how we used to religiously write the Orkut testimonials. And these memories are endless and priceless. So I asked some of my friends to share their childhood experiences and they became so happy to refresh their memories. Let us walk down their memory lanes and rejuvenate our memories too. :) 

I don't remember the instances when i browsed the internet. but my childhood memories of the "minus internet" days are very much etched in the memory.  I profoundly remember the days when me and my sister used to spend weeks on project works. the paper work that we've done, the designs carefully carved, all of which consumed our time and still we manged to have free time. Other activities included rangoli making, helping Amma in preparing sweets, grinding green grams in the traditional grinder, watering our 'kanakambaram' garden, ........... and the list goes endless' just like the happy times spent. 

We largely gathered at the street corner during nights to play 'nela-banda', kabaddi,and kho-kho. 

More than the games and activities, it was the people and affection that made those memories lovable and nostalgic. Seeing the old photo album is still a very rejuvenating experience. 

Times cant be judged as good or bad, its the value that we attribute to people and relations that keeps lives happily going. Be on Facebook or don't, doesn't much matter as far as you are connected to the real world and carry real emotions.

                           - Kasi Annapurna (One of my friends close to my heart from the department of communication, HCU)

Those were the days when internet created a lot of fuzz. I still remember my dial up connection . It has become a ring tone now :) I need to patiently wait for it to connect to get a speed which doesnt even exist these days. There were two things which always intrigued me. chatting with random persons in MSN messenger and yahoo messenger. 


I dont wanna reveal what i tried chatting - but it was always fun to connect with random ppl. Though facebook creates the same opportunity for you now- it cant match the excitment it provided during my childhood days. I miss having the yahoo messenger app in my computer. 

Next best thing about my olden days internet fuzz was about the orkut testimonials. I made all my friends write for me . It was hilarious. All i can say Goodbye Orkut. You made me feel the best reading the testimonials and  the experience was worth cherishing for a lifetime

(Ajay Krishnan, the crazy planner of the Fulbright group :P , IIT Bombay, Fellow Fulbrighter)

Being a 90s kid has its own share of memories and writing this makes me realise how much things have changed over time. I still remember that the friendships were more real in those days rather than today when the strength of friendship is weighed upon by how many photos and selfies you have been tagged on facebook or twitter. A heart to heart conversation with school friends which extended for hours was better than having to limit thoughts in 140 characters and using hashtags and emojis to describe your emotions. I remember when the Orkut started it was a ritual for everyone to see  and know the people who saw their profiles in the last day which is so different from today’s time, when people make profiles so that all can see and the popularity of a person depends on the likes and comments which their posts are getting. It’s so different and we have all changed with changing times, but still somewhere heart craves for those days of 90s.

Krittika Ralhan (My soul sister from IIT Gandhinagar, Fulbrighter)


Childhood is a heavenly phase in one's life and mine was no exception. Being the first child of my family, I was pampered and was given freedom. Speaking about my acquaintance with internet, I used internet for the first time to create an email id and I don't exactly remember any funny incidents about using internet. But my pre-internet era was full of fun and excitement.... like ringing up unknown numbers from my landline and disturbing strangers, tearing my weekly test book for making kites just before my annual exams etc. (I didn't expect my nerd friend to be this naughty :P )

I played many outdoor games like cricket, kabaddi, sub door - indoor and had lot more fun activities. Days spent left good memories which taught lessons, gave new relationships , friends, emotions and lot more. Above all, my school days are the best as I was gifted with two besties, friends for life. (Haha that's me and Shafiya :) )

(Devi Prasanna, My BFF, my choti ma who takes care of me like my mother :-) , works for RBI)

My childhood was the best as I lived in a town like Rajahmundry and a city like Hyderabad. I will share my offline memories. We used to wait for the crackers from Shiva Kaashi and the gun reels were my favourite. We used to walk and cover half the city (Hyd) on Holi and playing with colors was always fascinating to me . Flying kites for Pongal, punishments in tuitions (kneel down, wall chair) , making paper boats and aeroplanes were all so nostalgic. Every Saturday I used to go to temple along with my father not for the sake of god but to have an Ice Cream in the way back home :P . Fighting for TV remote, breaking it and then silently putting it in its place...and the list goes on endlessly. I wish I could go back to those days. :)

(Vinay Korasika, works for Bristlecone Mahindra's Company, Blogger)

Let me tell you one of the funniest experiences with internet in my life. Those were the days when we got a new computer and an internet connection. Generally my mother used to supervise my browsing. I was like a god feared good girl or at least I used to value my parents. I cannot imagine spoiling my image in their eyes. So I used to be responsible. One day, when I was browsing, I accidentally clicked something and that went to a site with inappropriate content. I didn't know how to close that window, I didn't even know how to shut down the computer. I somehow closed the computer and tried breaking the modem so that my mother would not figure out what accidentally I saw (laughing). How childish I was? Next day , my mother was browsing and she was normal. I was so tensed. Finally I went to her and confessed about what happened the other day and said that was not intentional. She trusted me , that's a different issue. But whenever I remember that I tried breaking the modem, I burst out into laughter. Those were the days filled with excitement, dreams etc. Huh ! I didn't even have to pay my monthly bills in my childhood unlike now which is so stressful. I used to enjoy Diwali crackers, Takeshi's Castle in POGO, funny songs like "Lonely.. I am Mr. Lonelyyyy I have nobody... " etc. Recently, I have even posted about this "dream of growing up and then lamenting" on my instagram. Here it is.. 

CHILDHOOD This phase of life was just so mellow! Yet we all had that ravenous thirst to taste adulthood. And now that thirst being quenched why do we cry out for those untroubled days? Why cant the human mind just settle for what it has? Why does it always have to go out craving for something that it doesnt have? Why does it always seem like the grass is greener on the other side?

- Harini Premnath  ( My crazy roommate, Masters Student in Tourism, New York University)

"I was a very cranky child in my childhood. My parents used to cut the cable connection during examinations and I knew how to set the connection. I used to play cricket skipping studies and used to get beaten. I was a crazy Chiranjeevi fan and used to act like him. (I remember him wearing those hoodies like in the film Chudalani Undi and show off at school :D ) I was so excited to set up ringtones on my phone, sending music scraps on orkut, making funny first email ids like chiatu4all@gmail.com etc. I wish I could go back to those innocent days. :-) "

                           - Vikas Chaitanya (NIT Suratkal, my childhood friend)

"I don't really remember anything funny with internet as I never used internet and computers till I joined my Undergrad. Rather I used to watch all cheesy Telugu serial like Anveshita, Kalankita, Ruturagalu, Antarangalu along with my Grandmother and Mother. (chuckling). While traveling , I was so fascinated to see trains and nature. May be that's how I developed interest for photography. I can spend hours watching trains and clicking them. Our childhood imaginations and dreams define our personality when we grow old. Thanks to my childhood as I developed different interests on photography, dance, music, veena, nature, trains, traveling in stead of just sticking to one box called computer and have a life less life. :)  "

- Vinay Datta (Pharm D, a wonderful photographer, Veena player, dancer and list goes on hehe.. )

So, these are some of the most precious memories of my friends. We didn't facebook our memories, we didn't twitter our dreams or views. We didn't even blog our stories. But they are still safe in the deepest valleys of our memories. That is called LIFE. Now go back to those times. For a change, try behaving like there is no internet, no computer, no whatsapp, no facebook, no instagram and see what you would do :P 

NOTES: 

[1] An English Crime Novelist known for her 66 novels and 14 short stories.