(Continued from the part I of my last blog of 10 die hard old habits which have died).....
6. The 4 Cs of youth of those days, i.e. Cinema, Cigarette, Cycle and Curly hair hanging over ears were the classic tell - tale signs of soneone turning CHHATARA TOKA (Girl chasing vagabond) and BAZAARI (Free roaming loafer). Good boys were not supposed to watch movies, smoke, go on long bicycle rides and keep long hairs. As a 10 year old, I was once chastised by my grandpa for keeping long, wavy hair cascading like waterfall over my earlobes, an early sign of stepping into the world of CHHATARA. The long hair was promptly mowed down.
7. Chocolates or Candies were exclusively for kids. Elders eating chocolates were frowned upon being childlike. It has been described in the popular Akshay Mohanty Odia song attributed to his daughter,
MU KHAILE ALU CHAP,
TU KHAILU LOLLIPOP. Transliterated...
As I savor my Potato cutlet,
Lollipop is what you just ate.
An elderly relative used to be very fond of Cadburies Milk Chocolates and Five Star Bars, but too shy to express it in public. He would buy those from a local store, loudly proclaiming to take it for his nephew and neice, but in privacy will devour a good portion of those.
8. JANHA NAMUN (Chanda Mama), Indrajaal (Phantom, Mandrake, Bahadur) and Amar Chitra Katha (history and mythology) comics were very popular those days with kids, though Chanda Mama was read by all age groups. The favorite of the youth from that generation were cheap detective stories of DASYU (Bandit) Ranjan and Dipak series and tiny SATHI POCKET BOOK novels. Not sure how many of them exist and read by the current iGeneration.
9. Remember Wall posters and scribbles - BASANTA ROGA RA PRATHAMA KHABAR PAIN 5000 TANKA PURASKAR (Rs. 5000 reward for the first information on Small Pox). The Cholera and Small Pox shots were dreaded by many those days where a needle as thick as DAMPHANA (the Odia term for thick needles used to sew jute sacks) was stabbed to your hand or ass with great force. It would cause severe pain and fever for next few days. Don't think the present generation is so afraid of needles.
10. NUA BARSHA or The New Year's Day was celebrated on 1st January, not on the night of 31st December. As the clock chimed at midnight, most were in deep slumber, well cushioned and cuddled inside their comforters rather than dancing their way in Bacchanalian jamborees in a faraway hotel or nightclub. A family lunch or dinner would suffice to welcome the New Year.
Few years back, one fine New Years day in India, I was trying to cross the Puri bound road close to our house in Bhubaneswar. The abnormal traffic that day caught me offguard. I had to tip toe my way, swaying my hips, waving and clenching my fist like an eunuch at the approaching traffic of vehicles big and small, zeroing on, blaring their cacophonic horn in unison at me. That day I went above and beyond my normal hip swaying skills which would have made any danseuse proud and finally managed to cross the road.
Back home, I queried my father the reason behind such an unusual rush on an usual day. He said, it has become fashionable of late to do a JAGANNATH DARSHAN (take a peek at Lord) on New Year's Day at His abode in Puri. Like a dip in river Ganga (Ganges), they trust the Lord of Universe with his ever pervading look will purify them off their dirt like Aqua guard from any sin accumulated in the previous year and shower them with His blessings for the next. Good luck to them.
6. The 4 Cs of youth of those days, i.e. Cinema, Cigarette, Cycle and Curly hair hanging over ears were the classic tell - tale signs of soneone turning CHHATARA TOKA (Girl chasing vagabond) and BAZAARI (Free roaming loafer). Good boys were not supposed to watch movies, smoke, go on long bicycle rides and keep long hairs. As a 10 year old, I was once chastised by my grandpa for keeping long, wavy hair cascading like waterfall over my earlobes, an early sign of stepping into the world of CHHATARA. The long hair was promptly mowed down.
7. Chocolates or Candies were exclusively for kids. Elders eating chocolates were frowned upon being childlike. It has been described in the popular Akshay Mohanty Odia song attributed to his daughter,
MU KHAILE ALU CHAP,
TU KHAILU LOLLIPOP. Transliterated...
As I savor my Potato cutlet,
Lollipop is what you just ate.
An elderly relative used to be very fond of Cadburies Milk Chocolates and Five Star Bars, but too shy to express it in public. He would buy those from a local store, loudly proclaiming to take it for his nephew and neice, but in privacy will devour a good portion of those.
8. JANHA NAMUN (Chanda Mama), Indrajaal (Phantom, Mandrake, Bahadur) and Amar Chitra Katha (history and mythology) comics were very popular those days with kids, though Chanda Mama was read by all age groups. The favorite of the youth from that generation were cheap detective stories of DASYU (Bandit) Ranjan and Dipak series and tiny SATHI POCKET BOOK novels. Not sure how many of them exist and read by the current iGeneration.
9. Remember Wall posters and scribbles - BASANTA ROGA RA PRATHAMA KHABAR PAIN 5000 TANKA PURASKAR (Rs. 5000 reward for the first information on Small Pox). The Cholera and Small Pox shots were dreaded by many those days where a needle as thick as DAMPHANA (the Odia term for thick needles used to sew jute sacks) was stabbed to your hand or ass with great force. It would cause severe pain and fever for next few days. Don't think the present generation is so afraid of needles.
10. NUA BARSHA or The New Year's Day was celebrated on 1st January, not on the night of 31st December. As the clock chimed at midnight, most were in deep slumber, well cushioned and cuddled inside their comforters rather than dancing their way in Bacchanalian jamborees in a faraway hotel or nightclub. A family lunch or dinner would suffice to welcome the New Year.
Few years back, one fine New Years day in India, I was trying to cross the Puri bound road close to our house in Bhubaneswar. The abnormal traffic that day caught me offguard. I had to tip toe my way, swaying my hips, waving and clenching my fist like an eunuch at the approaching traffic of vehicles big and small, zeroing on, blaring their cacophonic horn in unison at me. That day I went above and beyond my normal hip swaying skills which would have made any danseuse proud and finally managed to cross the road.
Back home, I queried my father the reason behind such an unusual rush on an usual day. He said, it has become fashionable of late to do a JAGANNATH DARSHAN (take a peek at Lord) on New Year's Day at His abode in Puri. Like a dip in river Ganga (Ganges), they trust the Lord of Universe with his ever pervading look will purify them off their dirt like Aqua guard from any sin accumulated in the previous year and shower them with His blessings for the next. Good luck to them.
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