Skip to main content

Vanishing act

I was on a drive to wilderness with my grown up children and they were amazed to see the change in the lifestyle just 100 kms from Delhi, a metropolitan city and we got talking about old times. Later I realised that old times have not been such old times at all. In the history a time of 25 years is not too much but still within the same time how much has changed.

It got me to sit uptight and count that how many things have kind of vanished from a metropolitan life in Delhi in the last 25 years. The list surprised me completely. Read for yourself ( in a random order)

- coal stove (अंगीठी )
- kerosene stove
- electric water heating rod
- mercury thermometer
- traditional weighing scales
- horse carts (तांगा )
- audio spools
- audio cassettes
- video cassettes
- floppy disks (of all sizes)
- fax machines
- film cameras
- photo processing labs
- wet photocopying machines
- carbon papers
- slates and chalk
-  rotary dial phones
- mechanical hand wound alarm clocks
- fresh milk
- small scale flour mills
- local biscuit maker
- sandwitch blades
- knife sharpeners
- hand woven sweaters
- custom stitched shirts/ trousers
- washing soap
- home made sweats
- steam engines
- snake charmers
- marriage albums
- post cards
- postal oders
- telegrams
- operator assisted long distance calls
- trunks (steel variety)
- marble playing (कंचे )
- गुल्ली डंडा  (sorry can't translate)
- masseur
- sewing machines at home
- home made butter

and I am sure there are many more but do I want to live all those nice memories and feel the void.....

ah no.

Yes I miss all that

But I am happy with what is available now.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are you ready?

Scaling up? How about doing it in a short time? How about when demand is much beyond your plans? How much is much? Let us look at how such enormous challenges have been met in a matter of a few weeks. India was found awefully incpacitated to meet the demand of masks, PPEs and sanitizers. Demand soared by 1000X (and perhaps even more). In a matter of under 8 weeks, we started manufacturing all three in reasonably required quantities. Adjacent skills were deployed. Licences granted at lightening speed. And by 12th week, we had more than enough capacity and stocks. So much that we are exporting all of the requirements to the needy across the world. And costs and prices have gone down by 3X if not more. Can you do a simulation of your business for such a scenario? How quickly can you pivot? It's an amazing case study of entire industry standing up to the challenge. #covidopportunities   #businessexpansion   #pivoting   #businessmaze
Post a Comment
Read more

377 and more

News on 377 has created not only a huge amount of interest in a large number of people but thankfully has also generated a huge amount of humour. Post Bush and tired of Santa/Banta this is a good relief. Meetings burst into laughter when similarities are made with same gender sex for business situations. Are we finally accepting this socially? At least in some sections of society that is becoming larger day by day.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Golden Quadrilateral and more roads

Over the last couple of weeks I had a chance to travel by road in five north Indian states. What a pleasure? The road network is becoming really fantastic. I started on National Highway 8 and then on to NH 1, 21, 22, 70,72 and 88 apart from many state highways. It is not the roads only that impressed me but also the new flourishing enterprises it has generated alongwith is the key to the trip. Many a voillages and towns that were cut off from nearby larger places are now well connected. Movement of people and goods is leading to a greater economic involvement and is helping in the inclusive growth mantra. I was also witness to an amazing incident - towns of Rahon and Samrala are barely tens of kilometers apart but could take upto 5 hours by road a few years ago and now less than half an hour. I could see a stretch limousine (a genuine one and on top of it a Lexus) in a small village wedding in the prosperous "Doaba" region of Punjab. On being generously invited (despite being...
Post a Comment
Read more