Wednesday, September 24, 2008

1998

I was still quite sleepy when i picked up today's copy of Economic times lying outside my door. I was shocked to see the reddish pages with no colour. Before I could recover the feeling was aggravated when I read Sensex hits year's low at 2832 points . But this was enough to break the slumber.I just checked the date and found it to be September 1998. On turning the page I realised that it was commemorating the10th anniversary of ET awards.But the news items were striking enough each in its own way. All of them make one realise that ten years is a long enough time to change the world, society,lifestyles and many other things.

But the best part of it was 1998. 1998 ..ohh the year 1998. As time passes by, the present becomes engraved as memories pleasant and bitter and as experience. Then there are moments which are written down in gold and leave an indelible mark. For me 1998 was one such year ..the year itself is truly unforgettable and every time I refer to it ,it seems it was just there yesterday only.The most remarkable thing about such an unforgettable year is that there are hardly any memories of personal nature or specific to me only which made the year what it was. It all about collective memories ,experiences of a lifetime for a group of friends,for a society ,for an entire generation. The unforgettable 98. Let me just try to list down those magical moments .The moments of 1998.

It was the year of

Sachin Tendulkar
: The year witnessed the transformation of a champion into a demi god.What Sachin did that year is simply the stuff which even champions just dream of. India -Australia series at home,Shane Warne'snightmares, Sharjah finals no cricket lover can ever forget any of those moments.I still remember the newspaper articles ripe with hype of tendulkar warne face off. The crazy celebrations at Sharjah ,The two consecutive centuries. We did not have a cable connection at that time so I still remember tuning in to radio for the last update on the Sharjah day-night matches or waiting for the last 2 minute bulletin on DD 1 to just get a glimpse of the action.

Kucchh Kuchh hota hai
:It was "Archies comes to Bollywood" but yes it was film making at its entertaining best.It took the nation by a storm . I still remember finding Anubhav humming the title song and he informed me that it was the new chart buster and yes within a week the movie ,the music was a rage. Still remember the line"You know you are in love when..........",the tagline for the movie.Rahul and Anjali were a part of every one's life.

Chhaiya chhaiya
: Yes ,the song absolutely took the nation by a storm . Chamma Chamma was quick to follow. Dil se ,Kuchh Kucch Hota Hai,Jab Pyar kisi se hota hai,Dushman.Hindi music at its best.

O O janejana: Salman Khan shirtless and soon gymming was a national obsession.

Pokhran - year of the bomb,yes another landmark event. Doesn't matter if one was pro BJP or anti,the tests were a real big time event. Jingoism or patriotism but yes national pride was boosted ,APJ Abdul Kalaam became a household name.


Football...... France 98
... yes this generation had seen it in U.S. 1994 but this time the boys were turning into men , the sweat the excitement , the adrenaline rush, the feel was like never before or maybe never after for at least me . Still remember late nights watching most of the games, going school the next day and spending more than an hour dribbling the ball in the sun ,after school got over. Every schoolboy was a soccer star. Zidane, Ronaldo, Suker, Raul, Del Pierro,Beckham, Owen it was all so real ,so wonderful. And yes , i remember following the final match on radio. .........powercut :((.


Coming back to the newspaper front page stories :

Sensex hits year's low at 2832.

Incoming calls are now free.(Outgoing 4 Rs. /minute)

DD1 &DD2 to become 24 hour channels

Crude near $10.

Inflation rate falls to 4.58%.


:) The good ..... not so old 1998.

1 comment:

Peyush said...

Two superb posts, followed by such a long silence. I think you should give some rest to the paint-brush and start playing with the keyboard of your laptop!