Nostalgia Archives

“Comfort Watching” Old Shows During the Pandemic is Chicken Soup for the Weary Soul

During this pandemic, I have discovered comfort watching – old shows that bring my soul succour. There’s a looming dread and emotional fatigue that has set in over the last year. Discovering new movies and shows feels cumbersome, when all we crave is to feel like we have a semblance of control over our own lives.

Poulomi Das July 16, 2016

Pop Culture

Farewell CID: We’ve Lost our Last Link to ’90s Indian TV

Testament to just how much CID has been consumed by my generation over the years is the fact that Shivaji Satam’s face is the first thing that pops up in my mind when I hear anyone say “ACP”. And though I watch it ironically today because “it’s so bad it’s good”, it reminds me of the time where you didn’t have to pretend to like a show just to fit in.

Jackie Thakkar July 16, 2016

Earth

Indian Mom: The OG Enthusiast of Recycling and Sustainable Living

When I was growing up, milk packets would be washed and stuck on kitchen tiles for drying – for rotis to be packed in for lunch. After a little wear and tear, mom would fold the plastic packets and use them as a trivet. Long before recycling became hip, every middle-class household practiced it.

Ramjaane July 14, 2016

Culture

50 Years of Rajdhani: India’s Original Social Network

A country is often defined by the way it travels, and for India, the Rajdhani has served as the quintessential vehicle. The train, which has turned 50, has earned near-cult status as a wistful compromise between affordability and indulgence.

Manik Sharma July 5, 2016

Pop Culture

Uncle Pai: The Only One Who Told Stories of Indian Mythology as Well as My Grandma

Every time I leaf through the pages of an Amar Chitra Katha, I feel like I’m back in my grandma’s warm embrace. My grandmother had conjured a fantasy world for a four-year-old through her unique storytelling, and Anant Pai’s comics put that world in print.

Chandrima Pal July 1, 2016

People

Nostalgia, College and Friends: How KK Helped me Adult

Because I grew up in the internet age, I discovered KK fairly late and yet I found in his voice, in his music, an instant resting place for everything that I found unsettling in life.

Deepansh Duggal June 27, 2016

Pop Culture

15 Years After Britney Sang About It, Why “Toxic” is Oxford’s Word of the Year

Fifteen years ago, Britney Spears made a frothy pop song about a toxic relationship. Today, in the era of #MeToo, the word has a very different connotation. It was so much in vogue over the last year that Oxford English Dictionary anointed it 2018’s Word of the Year.

Kahini Iyer June 8, 2016

Bollywood

Only 90s Kids will Remember: Sumeet Saigal, Avinash Wadhawan, and 50 Shades of Hamming from Forgotten Heroes

While watching Aayush Sharma in Loveyatri, I was reminded of the stock ’90s hero – someone who had the inherent talent of hamming and could champion patriarchy while celebrating matriarchy; could flex muscles as well as emotions; and become taller, sharper and stronger as the narrative progressed.

Sayantan Mondal June 7, 2016

People

Campus Ka King Kaun? College Watchmen

From confiscating phones, threatening to tattle on people smoking outside the campus, refusing entry to students, and making up rules on the fly, the college watchman is more powerful than the principal.

Nihal Bambulkar June 6, 2016

Modern Family

Seeking the Individual Behind My Late Father

Our Parents, to us at least, rarely exist as individuals with their own concerns, anxieties and aspirations. But after my father passed away, peacefully, I reconnected and discovered different sides of him that most men, maybe, hide behind the image of the father figure. I’m glad he got to live those lives.

Ajay Chacko June 2, 2016