Those Rajnigandha (Jasmine) Days

i did stay away from india.. 6 years..in both europe and the united states..( journeyed from the old world tothe new..to the end of the world.. SFO BAy.. the Golden gate.. where I tossed my cell phone into the blue pacific..dont ask me why)
came back to my country.. and dont recognise it..actually the cities..any more..
rural india.. still lives..trying to simplify life..
but the West encroaches..sometimes..the choice between.. whether your caste name is more imp or your nationality..after I returned in 2000, it seemsto bethe former..and thats why I am nostalgic..dont worry..my parents lived thru the emergency..remember it well.. pl refer to article..
but it was fun.. slagging off mrs gandhi..you cant really do that now..i will get hajjar hate mails to begin with..:)
also..being a public health consultant and scientist.. i am well aware of the irritation of the fossilised bureaucracy in India.. but I amalso aware of banana republics.. and an air conditioned FMCG savvy Saudi Arabia..
in the middle are `sane` little places like scandinavia..with a healthy public- private sector balance..and not an IMF- WB umbilical chord which theatens to cut off any moment..!( and the Scandinavians havethe best health- edn indicators in the world..interestingly..the completely private United States ranks the lowest along with former fascist states in the industrialised world for health and education and nutrition levels)
Who will we be today..?
( with aplogies to microsoft:)

Lehar #37
``regding allegations that` there were no scooters ! in delhi in the 70s.. !! this the most hilarious of things..please do check your basics..any old middle school books will give the exact statistics. i personally owned 2 scooters and youll recall the same if you decide to jog your memory a little bit.. `` ...
I had a very cute looking friend in New Delhi green park area who used to claim that only South Delhi should be capital of Delhi and rest of the area should not be called Delhi at all - as it was too dirty and backward..

Are you from Green Park, New Delhi?

My parents booked a scooter for me as soon as I appeared in my 12th grade examination. It costed us Rs 500 + 1 hour wait at post office to open the savings account in favor of Baja Auto (and it is another thing that after waiting 4 years, when my number came in 84`, auto market was already deregularised.... Scooter was an asset. You were rich if you had 2 scooters. 5 member family happy used to ride a scooter...

It was in those Rajnigandha days when water was given to strangers in ``glass tumblers`` as ``metal utensils`` would get dirty. You ever remember Naxalite movement and how it was dealt with? Or the railway strikes of 1972-73. You ever got up at 4 AM in morning to stand in queues for milk or ghee? And you are talking of safronization! This safronization is much more preferrable to me!!

I guess you never knew that Rajnigandhi era -(

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lehar
You prefer ``ration queues to fascism``

Do you mean India has to make a choice between ration queues and fascism? Why do you think so?

Also you seem to have a problem with liberalization and fiscal reform which has been taking place since 1991. I wonder why? Leave aside the `globalization` and foreign investment aspect which gets all the attention(and legislation) and look at the situation as it was before domestic fiscal reform began to be talked of (being implemented is another matter ofcourse).

For example, why is it better to default on foreign loans or lose credit rating because one has bankrupted one`s country pouring money into lossmaking unproductive public enterprises who donot even earn enough to pay their own electricity bills? Why is it better for state governments to rob their Plan development budget for nonPlan emergency expenditures like needing cash to pay state government salaries? Why should an enterpreneur wanting to set up a business selling shoes be required to convince 30 officials and get 20 permits ? Why should ordinary people trying to build a house have to apply for a cement permit and wait 6 months for stocks to be available?

Post 1991, its accepted in principle by most political parties that economic activity needs to be encouraged not regulated to death. Thats what removes ration queues, and doesnot constitute fascism. Someone making money somewhere is also the only thing that can keep governments out of the red, why should it be a multilateral funding agency lending on its own terms, why shouldn`t it be the revenues from increased domestic economic activity and enterpreneurship?

And whatever their crimes, and these are many, credit has to be given where due.The present NDA government is making serious efforts to curb state governments` fiscal profligacy and has managed to build good relationships with even nonBJP Chief Ministers while attempting to do so.

regding allegations that` there were no scooters ! in delhi in the 70s.. !! this the most hilarious of things..please do check your basics..any old middle school books will give the exact statistics. i personally owned 2 scooters and youll recall the same if you decide to jog your memory a little bit..
India did exist before 1991.
in delhi, what we dont have now is road and trees.. this week I have counted 52 dead trees. ( yes an eccentric habit for someone who was born and grew up in the city of djinns..)
we also dont have much fresh air left..and a heinous public transport systems which remains fossilised despite the Grand Miracle of 1991..
what we do have is a thousand ( or more) new `phoren` cars added to the non existent roads everyday, for which they invariably have to sacrifice a couple of hundred trees every month.
it doesnt matter.. we all get gas masks from America and roll up the AC window..
the public transport system will collapse anyway.. and all those tiffinwalah people will go away.. whoosh!!
Servants are getting so expensive these days yaar..
we`ll all live happliy ever after in our designer gear and Ac cars and fly to Pinky in Trronto whenever we need fresh air..
The designer dream..of the 90s.

Peace..
Lehar.

friends
thanks for the bouquets and brickbats:)
i prefer ration queues to fascism..
and yes She demands eternal vigilance from us..
it is needed more than ever..
thanks again..
and peace..salaams.. shalom..shantih..
Lehar.

anNy: Why just use ublofying for boiling; why don`t you use khujlying or khurking for itching? Dost-mittar and I were just talking about two of my single neighbors: a ghabroo Punjabi jawan and a handsome Gujju. I just thought about matchmaking and that is it. Their jobs require almost three weeks per month travelling.......:-))
ana: anNy vee taaN ehnaN gallaN ich chaskey laindi ae. KehRi jawan kuRRi nuN eh bura lagda keh loki ohdiaN gallaN kar`n? Pher asi koi ohde dushman taaN naeeN. Tusi vee te oh vee shala jag jag jeevo, te husdey raho. Eh meriaN JaaN dost-mittar Jee diaN gallan PunjabiaN dey jinda dil / happy go hon di misaal ae.

dost-mittar & sameer :)...o badshao, chaddo ais gal nu...vichari anNy jeevain vhi haigi, vaddi sohni ai :) Here I was teasing anNy about matchmaking, aur aap donon shurooh ho gaye...gujju, gabroo jawaan, ki farq painda ai? kuRRi di pasand di gal ai!
And no sameer sahib, how could i be upset with you over such a thing...tsk tsk, when i`m angry, papa ji, i will let you know, changa?
regards!

okay dostmmitter and sameersaaab WHAT are u two talking about hain?...i am itching of curiosity and ublofying with giggles...jaldi jaldi tell

GOOD OLD DAYS,

No doubt, those were the good old days largely because those who lived those days have made, the educated ones, spectacular social progress and the perch from which they are looking back is tinted green.

The new generation, the children of those rajnigandha parents are also having a good time, but the contrast are less striking, they are more intimately following the western model. They have less challenges, at least in a material sense. Having a cup of cofee, may be even a bye-two in bangalore at the indian cofee house and talking about marxism was great, today it takes place at Bay-leaf sipping scotch and talking about the weather in stolkhome. I suspect that the feelings are the same.

ana: I think the story of that film you are talking about was copied in Pakistan in a movie with Waheed Murad and Deeba. I have seen so many movies and most not attentively, thus can not recall the name of most movies. However, if you like to watch Punjabi movies, I can name few good ones: ChuRian (Pakistani), Shaheed-e-Mohabbat, Shaheed Udham Singh, Long Da Lashkara, Chan Pardesi, Naseebo, MaRhi Da Diva, Putt JattaN Dey and Main MaaN Punjab Dee (Indian).
Your explanation of nooralain meanings is perfect. In Urdu it will be something like aankhoN ka noor, kalejey ki thandak, jigar ka tukRa, etcetra.
I hope, ana, you are not angry with me for anNy reason. Eh sari sharart anNy dee bacchi dee hey. Lagda, keh ohde lai koi gujju labhna paiNa.

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#21 by nooralain

it`s `Chhoti bahu`, is it?

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Chhoti Bahu starred Meena Kumari. Only Dharmendra, Mala Sinha starrer tearjerker I remember was Anpadh which did not have story line nooralain remembers. May be it was some other actress?

-einsteinwallah

Soemhow never liked the word rajnigandha - spoils this flower`s delicate appeal.
Pls include frangipani, mogra, tuberoses, honeysuckle and the Indian eq of the magnolia (small pale orange flowers - forget the name) - or even petunias - in Part 2 so we can all embark on our own individual nostalgic journeys : )

mittar ji...not disappointed. would`ve been more surprised had you known. koi baat nahin, will have to figure this out by some kind of process of elimination!!!!
nooralain: noor refers to light, al-ain is the arabic for eye...(the word for glasses in Urdu is `ainak`, as well as the persian `chashme` but you know that already :)) noor then...could be the light of one`s eye, or my more poetic interpretation (undoubtedly someone else`s as well) given that eyes are the mirror of the soul, it could refer to the light of one`s soul...there it is :)
regards, n.

anNy ki bachchi!!!! `ello anNy luv...long time, lovely to read your insights. Ab ye batao, ye tumhara match-making kab khat`m hoga? Matchmaking choRRho, mishmash bolo. O behnji, leave the ana with small a usski apni qismat par! Na harpreet chalega, na sameer chalega, humre liye to bas ab Khuda hi chalega!!!! Wish I had your email address so I could write to you, but I think we have mutual yaars who do, tau kaun jaane?...one of these days I`ll write a long letter to you...pashtao gi tum bhi! chalo...kisses, and beeeeehave!

dost-mittar ji, #12 & #20
:)
haan, it`s all relative, these days of old and innocence. You`ve expressed that very well!
speaking of days of old, i am testing your memory of older Hindi films, yet again :). This movie, I believe had a young Dharmendra and Mala Sinha...though I`m not really sure. A particular scene has always stayed with me for personal reasons. A marriage is arranged for one of the female characters. . .everything seems to be in order until the couple begins the `saat pheray`. . .at which point is discovered that the dulhan walks with a limp, and the dulha`s family immediately calls the wedding off. Aap jante hain main kis film ki baat kar rahi hoon? I don`t think it`s `Chhoti bahu`, is it? I saw this over twenty years ago, on a black and white Philips television in Lahore, and while that particular scene haunted me for a while, I`ve forgotten other details. Hopefully you`ll remember? I`d like to see it again if they have it on video. Dhanevaad and regards!