NOSTALGIA - What do you miss most....

[NOV]

Gone are the days!!!


When

The school reopened in June,

And we settled in our new desks and

benches!


When we queued up in book depot,

And got our new books and notes!


When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays,
Yet managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.

We learnt writing with slates and pencils, and

Progressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips!


When we began drawing with crayons and evolved to

Color pencils and finally sketch pens!


When we started calculating

first with tables and then with

Clarke's tables and advanced to

Calculators and computers!


When we chased one another in the

corridors in Intervals, and returned to the classrooms

Drenched in sweat!


When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,

Playgrounds,

under the trees and even in cycle sheds!


When all the colors in the world,

Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!


When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,

Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!


When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,

And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!


When few played

"kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,

While others simply played

"book cricket" in the

Confines of classroom!


Of fights but no conspiracies,

Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!


When we used to

watch Live Cricket telecast,

In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!


When few rushed at 3:45 to

"Conquer" window seats in our School bus!

While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint",

"kulfi", " milk ice !" and "sharbat !" at 4o Clock!

Gone are the days

Of Sports Day,

and the annual School Day ,

And the one-month long

preparations for them.


Gone are the days

Of the stressful Quarterly,

Half Yearly and Annual Exams, And the most

enjoyed holidays after them!


Gone are the days

Of tenth and twelfth standards, when

We Spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!

We learnt,

We enjoyed,

We played,

We won,

We lost,

We laughed,

We cried,

We fought,

We thought.

With so much fun in them, so many friends,

So much experience, all this and more!


Gone are the days

When we used

to talk for hours with our friends!

Now we don't have time to say a 'Hi'!


Gone are the days

When we played games on the road!

Now we

Code on the road with laptop!


Gone are the days

When we saw stars

Shining at Night!

Now we see stars when our code doesn't

Work!


Gone are the days

When we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!

Now we chat in chat rooms.....!


Gone are the days

Where we

studied just to pass!

Now we study to save our job!

Gone are the days

Where we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!

Now we have the atm as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!

Gone are the days

Where we shouted on the road!

Now we don't shout even at home

Gone are the days

Where we got lectures from all!

Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....!!

Gone are the days

But not the memories, which will be

Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and

Ever and ever and ever .....


Gone are the Days…. But still there are lot more Days to come in our Life!!

NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE ,

DONT FORGET TO

LIVE THE LIFE THAT STILL

EXISTS….

[SoftSword]

kavidhai... kavidhai...
:thumbsup:

u summed it all... and i could related to each and every one of it...

the best among ur writeups i hav seen....

[scorpio]

SS- You really think NOV wrote this? :roll:

[PARAMASHIVAN]

SS- You really think NOV wrote this? :roll:

:rotfl: :rotfl: Maami appadi podunga aruvava !

[SoftSword]

:oops: naan apdi thaan nenachen.

[Plum]

Live Cricket telecast-nullAm varudhE appOvE ushAr Agi iruka vENAvA Softie? NOV putbol dhAne pArpAr?

[NOV]

adhu mattumalla.... that whole thing is very TN based.....received in mail.

I too have lots of nostalgia... hmmmmm.... oru naal ezhudhanum

[Plum]

sharbat at 4O clock indicates north indies writer NOV - not a TN person

[NOV]

oh.... but vadivEl seems to identify with it.

the following piece is fairly accurate for malaysians......


First, we survived with mothers who had no maids.
They cooked/ cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.
They took aspirin, candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrup and diabetes was rare.
Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.
As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.
We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.
We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us.
We go into the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.
With mere 5 pebbles (stones), it would be an endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best), we boys would run like crazy for hours.
We catch guppies in drains/canals and when it rains, we swim there.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worried about being unhygenic.
We ate salty, very sweet and oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft drinks, sweet coffee/tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight
because... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we don't have handphones to bug us. And we were O.K. and we were safe.
We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.
We never had birthday parties till we are 21.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 40 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!
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

[NOV]

oh.... but vadivEl seems to identify with it.

the following piece is fairly accurate for malaysians......


First, we survived with mothers who had no maids.
They cooked/ cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.
They took aspirin, candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrup and diabetes was rare.
Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.
As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.
We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.
We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us.
We go into the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.
With mere 5 pebbles (stones), it would be an endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best), we boys would run like crazy for hours.
We catch guppies in drains/canals and when it rains, we swim there.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worried about being unhygenic.
We ate salty, very sweet and oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft drinks, sweet coffee/tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight
because... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we don't have handphones to bug us. And we were O.K. and we were safe.
We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.
We never had birthday parties till we are 21.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 40 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!
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

[SoftSword]

Live Cricket telecast-nullAm varudhE appOvE ushAr Agi iruka vENAvA Softie? NOV putbol dhAne pArpAr?


mANnDHira bedi'ya paatthiruppaar'nu nenachen...


but... towards the end i was kinda suspicious if its not by him, adding to it the references were very unlike singapore (cycle standla saapduvangalaa anga?)... but benefit of doubt'la, 'why not?' apdinu credit kudutthaen... but kudutthadhu kudutthadhu dhaan... thanks for writing it here nov...

[NOV]

the references were very unlike singapore (cycle standla saapduvangalaa anga?)... :shock: :hammer: :hammer:

[SoftSword]

sharbat at 4O clock indicates north indies writer NOV - not a TN person

sarbath vandi used to be there outside the school...
semiya juice.... the ice which is carved from big ice bar and made into a shape with a stick, then they ll pour diff colors of sharbath on it.... like a kuchi ice, remember?

[NOV]

its called ice ball in malaysia

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sgjdI_NOfkU/TP8F3RpN95I/AAAAAAAAAYA/-wFAu3VQ4KY/s400/sarah_crowest_ice_ball.jpg

[PARAMASHIVAN]

Coffee Corner Version II :yessir:

[SoftSword]

its called ice ball in malaysia

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sgjdI_NOfkU/TP8F3RpN95I/AAAAAAAAAYA/-wFAu3VQ4KY/s400/sarah_crowest_ice_ball.jpg

yes yes adhe dhaan...
but here they would make it in tumbler shape... and stick a cone beneath.

[NM]

NOV - the second one brings lots of memories back to me :)

[NOV]

but of course. you are malaysian :p

[NM]

ithu neenga sollithaan enakkE therinjathu !! paavam intha thread thoonguthunu oru post pannen ........ha ha... anyway, i think i will need to write something like this for Ananthiy one day ....

[NOV]

:hammer: :hammer:

why dont you share your nostalgic moments... like eating cendol under the puliyamaram in taiping :lol2:

[groucho070]

Made many blog entries on this subject. Including one where I slept in the same room as a sack of durian, got fever and till today I am alergic to durian, king of fruits here. Sad.

Actually, can relate to the ones NOV posted. Birthday at 21, my hands were shaking cutting the cake for the first time. Still got scars from bike injury. Childhood buddies are still the closest to me. Oh those asthmatic era....

[NOV]

unfortunately I was mostly home bound ... the perils of being born in a business-oriented family :sigh2:

[groucho070]

Things I miss.

Letter writing. The wait in anticipation for the reply that takes days, weeks, months. The automatic smile when dads walks in with envelopes that doesn't have windows in them.

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

http://www.oldindianphotos.in/search/label/Tamil%20Nadu

Very rare and detailed collection of Old photos, Black & White. Epic blog! Great information!! Treasure!!!

(Not sure if this is the right thread!)

[NOV]

TO THOSE BORN IN 1930 – 1979
First, we survived being born to mothers who had no maids; they cooked, cleaned while taking care of us at the same time

We took aspirin, candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare

Salt was added to Pepsi or Coca Cola and Sinalco

We brought empty bottles to hospital to be filled with cough syrup

When we were children, we were experts in cycling even when our feet could not touch the ground

As children we would ride with our parents on bicycles, the richer ones in cars with no seat belts, no booster seats and no air bags

Then we drank water direct from the garden tap and not from a bottle

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us

We go to the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes

With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be an endless game

With a ball (tennis ball is best) boys would run like crazy for hours

We even caught guppies in drains/canals and when it rained we swan there

We shared one soft drink with four friends from one bottle and no one actually worry about being unhygienic

We ate salty, very sweet and oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft coffee/tea, ice kacang, but we weren’t overweight. Why? Because we were always outside playing !!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day till streetlights came on

No one was able to reach us all day and we don’t have hand-phones to bug us and we were ok and we were safe

No cell phones, no personal computers, no internet, no Nintendo games, no DVD but we had FRIENDS!

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and just yelled for them

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts

Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all

AND YOU ARE ONE OF THEM! CONGRATULATIONS!

[NOV]

Adhirasam – Deepavali Nostalgia of Bygone days


My earliest memories of Deepavali begins with the making of the dough for adhirasam. A few days after Saraswathy Poojai, my father would start making the dough, launching the start of Deepavali celebrations. Adhirasam is a must for Deepavali, and those days in Penang at least, everyone made golden coloured adhirasam unlike the brown, doughnut-shaped adhirasam of these days. Sadly the white sugar adhirasam is no longer seen.

Father would make a large amount of the dough and leave it to season in a huge claypot. After this initial ritual, the making of the rest of the palagarangal (goodies) would begin. Always, they would be the same goodies – murukku (always kadalai murukku, not ulundhu murukku), Omappodi, sEvu and pakada. He would make massive amounts of these goodies, for they were to be distributed to customers, neighbours, friends and relatives on Deepavali day. Thus one palagaraam-making would entail a whole-day affair. Mother would be relieved from the kitchen, but not spared from work or nagging. All children would be involved and the whole process would be like an assembly line with each child being tasked with one process. Palagaraam-making will end with the frying of adhirasam, just before the big day.

On normal days, father would wake up before 5am and would cycle to the wholesale market to buy fresh produce, to sell in his sundry shop. A few days before Deepavali, he would come back from the market smiling. New clothes for everyone! What sweet memories that brings back to me now!

And then Deepavali would arrive! All in the family would be woken up early to have the ritual bath before sunrise. We would all assemble at the prayer room, where all our new dresses would already have been dotted with turmeric. Father would then “put sambrani” for the lamp, new clothes, gingelly oil and the seeyakkai (traditional shampoo), before giving oil to each member of the family. In the meantime, a huge metal pot of water would be boiling and each of us would take some and proceed to bathe. (The oil is believed to be Lakshmi and water, from Ganges.) As there was only one bathroom, it would take a while before all nine of us would be ready.

And then prayers would begin – that would be the most elaborate prayers we would have had all year round. Once prayers was over, father would launch the celebrations with the lighting up of fire crackers – this was before it was banned. We would then sit down for breakfast for a once-a-year treat of Nescafe. Mother will continue to serve steaming hot thosais and then we would partake of the palagaaram. Soon, the packing of the palagaaram would begin and we, the children would start making rounds delivering those palagaaram to all and sundry.

My children too grew up with all these rituals - from making palagaaram to early morning oil-bath ritual; nothing is missed or compromised. For what is man without culture. Hopefully, this tradition will be passed on to future generations.

Adhirasam – such sweet memories it brings.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/1932271_10152808160027629_3699669972783958456_n.jp g?oh=7168013da8740957c14f96ff25f8b479&oe=54B79ACE&__gda__=1420860537_cdc79a99ab4e361a20bbc211fa675b9 9

[NOV]

Dedicated To All those Born in 1940's, 50's, 60's.

Without any maids, our mothers cooked, cleaned and took care of the whole family. They still had time to chat with neighbours.

Everyone had candy floss, fizzy drinks and shaved ice with syrups. Diabetes were rare and aspirin/panadol cured all illness.

We rode adult's bicycle to school, the richer ones had their own mini-bikes. Ironically, we all had problems with our brakes, and after running into the bushes a few times, we learned how to solve the problem.

Prefects were a fearful lot ...more fearful than the teachers. Detention class was like going to prison for a day. We had "public canning" in schools.

NO ONE ever won the big prices on "Tikam". It was a scam but it did not stop us coming back for more.

Motorbikes were rode without helmets. It was rare to ride a private taxi. Taking a bus was luxury - we either cycled or walked everywhere.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from bottles.

We spend hours in fields under the sun, playing football or flying kites, without worrying about UV ray. It did not affect us.

We roamed free catching spiders and did not worry of Aedes mosquitoes. We kept our spiders in match boxes and ready for a fight anytime.

With mere 5 pebbles, girls played endless games and with a tennis ball, boys ran like crazy for hours.

When it rained, we swam the drains & canals to catch "ikan keli", none of us were dissolved in rain.

We shared one bottle of soft drink with friends, NO ONE actually worried about catching anything.

We ate salty, sweet & oily foods, bread had real butter and sometimes condense milk. We enjoyed very sweet coffee, tea, and "ice kacang" but we were not obese because....... WE WERE OUT PLAYING ALL THE TIME!!

We left home in the morning and played all day till hunger drove us back home. When needed, our parents knew how to find us. NO ONE actually watched over us and WE ALWAYS WERE SAFE.

WE DID NOT HAVE HANDPHONES BUGGING US. We rode bikes or walked over to a friend's house and just yelled for them!

We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! Our TV was black and white.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.

We did not have birthdays parties till we were 21, that is when we started to take noticed of girls.

We have not heard of the word "Bumiputra". We only knew our friends by names. Their parents were Pak Cik and Mak Cik or Uncle and Aunty.

In badminton, we did not change the shuttle as long as it was in flight. Regardless of how many feathers were left in the shuttle, our game continued... but still Wong Peng Soon and Punch Gunalan made us proud in Badminton.

Match-boxes were always "chilly" or "king kong" brand...to own a box of matches from a hotel was something great.

Regardless of whether we could afford one, we always knew Maths tuition was $10.00 a month.

All parties were held in the Town hall.

We felt please to see a policeman and we were always edger to tell police everything we saw.

Morris Minor and Volkswagen beetle were on our roads...driven alongside Kingswood, Vauxhall, Opel and Chyrsler. Executives of companies drove Peugeot 504. Japanese cars were considered "inferior". There were no traffic lights only roundabouts.

The whole kampung came together during kenduris and all took turns to "kacau dodol". Chinese, Indians and Malays were all part of kenduris and all of us spoke Malay.

Our favourite local performer was Rose Chan and the Beatles were the most popular band. John Wayne's westerns on Sunday Cheap Matinees were 25 cent per show.

Malay weddings had joget sessions in the night, it was the only time to ask the Malay lady for a dance.

Ketupat were NEVER plastic wrapped.

Football was played barefooted in torn-filled "padangs", rain or shine... but still Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Ann and Mokhtar Dahari made us proud, we actually beat South Korea in football.

JPJ testers instill fear and were highly respected...

Susu lembu was delivered to our house by our big, friendly and strong "Bayi" on his bicycle. All "jagas" were "Bayi" and no place got robbed.

"Laksa" and "Putu Mayam" man came peddling. "Kacang Puteh" man walked balancing on his head top, 6 compartments of different type of murukus.

We played "gasing", made our own kites & had kite fighting with glass glued threads and made wooden guns & used seeds from plants for bullets.

Kang Kong was free…easily harvested by riverside. "Kembong" was 30 cents a "kati" and nobody wanted "ikan pari".

When the Circus came to town, everybody went to see it. It was the best LIVE show I ever saw.

Usually we did not have to BUY fruits; they were self planted or given by neighbours or friends.

The idea of parents bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. Our parents actually sided with the law ! Nobody knew about child psychology!

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

The past 40 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!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

[NOV]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t34.0-12/10965700_10202807045332233_1704213059_n.jpg?oh=07f a7b73a103b7f124fe7cbd9cff9006&oe=54DB66B4&__gda__=1423736025_33668127433be8407772f906c253c0f a

[NOV]

https://scontent-kul.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11159953_10206046275223626_8397116135105336368_n.j pg?oh=23755ade1dc10ba037607441dff5344f&oe=55D96B97