Grim Fairy Tales
Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a land precisely where you are right now, the world was a different place from what you know. Some of the things that I'll tell you may seem absurd, however I ask that you choose to forget what you know and try to believe.
The world then wasn't a scary place (except for terrorism, racism, sexism, poverty, environmental damage, unemployment...never mind). It was a vast land full of people, cars, planes, buses and trains. People would go to restaurants, bars, each other's homes and travel to different countries for work, pleasure, Instagram likes, birthdays, pre-wedding celebrations, wedding functions, post-wedding parties, divorce decadence and much more. There were no temperature checks and sanitiser was just something displayed at cash tills in shops as a reminder to buy something actually useful and not just continuously touch things that you never needed.
Friends would gather to celebrate the beginning of a weekend (each standard lockdown was earlier known as a month; each month usually had four weekends - two consecutive days signifying the end of a week. The first five days were when we would go to offices - like what they show in the classic (now fantasy) comedy The Office and the next two days were called a weekend). Often, as people would reach their late twenties, these gatherings would become larger than life, with palaces made in open grounds constructed unevenly, more flowers than in any garden plucked greedily, food from all over the world made locally, endless supply of liquor drunk unsparingly and loud music played repeatedly. And amongst all the decor and the lights would be a sea of people. They called these parties - sangeets. People would complain about these parties being a bore and a chore but would willingly attend them and then some more. The standard greeting would be a hug and a cheek kiss or a hug and cheek to cheek kiss and in some truly desperately instances, a hug and a cheek to cheek to cheek kiss. As if the lack of social distancing wasn't enough to shock you, people routinely shared their drinks and cigarettes too.
The Party People were fearless. They did this (amongst other things) frequently. Sometimes even multiple times a week especially in the months of November to March (summers were spent travelling - we'll get to that). And if there were no sangeets that weekend, the Party People, never to shy away from their mission, would devise their own Parties. These could be at the newest hot spot (in earlier times, this phrase meant lively with people, not disease) in town or at each other's homes. No masks, no gloves, no sanitizer.
This behaviour was not considered irresponsible then (except by their Parents and sometimes even by themselves in fleeting moments of clarity). It was the norm, acceptable to all. Many Party People constantly complained of fatigue due to their busy calendar (made busy only by themselves). But that never stopped them. It was either back-to-back Parties or a complete and utter lack of movement (except from bed to bath and beyond). While the latter is what you're used to now, be assured that the Party People still exist, waiting to be freed, to be wild, to be tired and to complain about their packed weekends yet again.
You may find it difficult to envision what I'm sharing but remember, that this was a period where shaking hands was considered the way to begin and end professional meetings (and some awkward dates too). It was symbolic of trust and good faith. Zoom was a failed Indian TV channel. House parties actually happened in people's houses. Video conferencing while present, was only popular between parents and their children studying abroad (out of your own country).
Studying away from home, now a fad of the past. Young adults, fresh out of high school would eagerly await the day they could leave home and into the ‘real world’ (college undoubtedly remains best bubble in my life). 'Going abroad' to study after graduation, to travel, spend oodles of money to learn the limits of your physical body (in the disciplines of eating, sleeping, drinking) and engage intellectually (Mykonos & Ibiza: A bipartisan Theory) was considered a prestigious opportunity. There would be racism still but not as openly as we see today where who even remotely looks Chinese is shunned. Students would go back and forth throughout the year, travel freely.
This brings me to travel - the most coveted of all hobbies of that time. The chance to visit places you'd never been but only seen influencers (a thing of the past like travel agents) boast about on The All Knowing Instagram (Hail Zuck). At that time, the most irritating part about making travel plans was applying for visas. But can you imagine that all it took was an online form and perhaps an appointment in person? Today, you may not go in person but how many vials of blood can one continue to 'donate' in order to travel? And that's before you even take a flight. Multiple international holidays in a year were a luxury but not impossible. You see, there was no quarantine. People would reach their destinations, check in to hotels (there were many to choose from then) and simply head out to explore. No one checked the linens in their hotel rooms even though we all knew they were filthy even then. Quarantine was a term we heard of in zombie, end of the world movies. Now those movies are shown in the online classes to students to analyse what protagonists did wrong and right.
Yes, cinema is something both our generations have in common. However, our movies were shot in real locations with the actors and crew being present together not clipped together by a team in one location and actors performing via webcam. We would also go to theatres to see movies together as a collective group of people slowly giving away all our money to Disney. There was streaming of course and it was much loved even then but it never held the charm of going to a theatre with some (stale) popcorn, while stumbling in the dark mumbling 'Excuse me' as you tried to find your seats only to sit behind an unusually tall person who is on their phone the whole time. It was a fun thing to do on weekends, enjoyed by Party and Non-Party People.
Then there were the Sports Nuts. There would be global events like the Football World Cup, Wimbledon, Cricket World Cup, World Series of Baseball (only played in the Former United States) and of course the Olympics. Audiences of as large as ninety thousand would gather at the Wembley Stadium (now known as Wembley Ward) in the UK to cheer their favourite teams on. There was nothing quite like a team sport. They existed in schools too back when all students would breathe the same air and parents could catch a break. The physical trauma for the players and the unfair amount of money they earned for kicking a ball around didn't matter, sport only unified us all. In India, cricket was believed to be the biggest religion.
Religion is something you’ve only seen being practiced by the older folk. Human beings have been assumed to believe in the supernatural since millennia. However, over time, mankind developed religion. It could mean following a charismatic entity (like Zuck, Hail Zuck) and observing the social structure as outlined by them (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp). There would be rules and laws that explained what is good (paying for your posts/followers, creating fake news) and what is blasphemy (using only Twitter and none of Facebook's platforms). Most even had explanations of the after life usually divided into good and bad and your actions in life dictated this decision (or whether you stick to writing only about what is approved by the Governments). Some say the power of religion began dissipating when some of the more popular religions refused to contribute to aid the pandemic efforts. Others chose to believe in inherent compassion and humanity, grateful for their health and choosing to see good in all.
There was much more that may seem outrageous to you now (just like how we ironically thought of the first quarantine period). We didn't value life and our freedom as much as we all should have then. We never saw our world changing the way it has. Some of us, like you, were fortunate in your homes, with your families and comforts and you tided that time over. There were periods of frustration, rage and boredom but people also reached out to old friends, spent time with their families and tried to uplift others around them too. Most importantly, everyone became a master baker and bread finally won the war it had been battling for decades. Many of us lived ever after. Happily or not remains to be seen.
The world then wasn't a scary place (except for terrorism, racism, sexism, poverty, environmental damage, unemployment...never mind). It was a vast land full of people, cars, planes, buses and trains. People would go to restaurants, bars, each other's homes and travel to different countries for work, pleasure, Instagram likes, birthdays, pre-wedding celebrations, wedding functions, post-wedding parties, divorce decadence and much more. There were no temperature checks and sanitiser was just something displayed at cash tills in shops as a reminder to buy something actually useful and not just continuously touch things that you never needed.
Friends would gather to celebrate the beginning of a weekend (each standard lockdown was earlier known as a month; each month usually had four weekends - two consecutive days signifying the end of a week. The first five days were when we would go to offices - like what they show in the classic (now fantasy) comedy The Office and the next two days were called a weekend). Often, as people would reach their late twenties, these gatherings would become larger than life, with palaces made in open grounds constructed unevenly, more flowers than in any garden plucked greedily, food from all over the world made locally, endless supply of liquor drunk unsparingly and loud music played repeatedly. And amongst all the decor and the lights would be a sea of people. They called these parties - sangeets. People would complain about these parties being a bore and a chore but would willingly attend them and then some more. The standard greeting would be a hug and a cheek kiss or a hug and cheek to cheek kiss and in some truly desperately instances, a hug and a cheek to cheek to cheek kiss. As if the lack of social distancing wasn't enough to shock you, people routinely shared their drinks and cigarettes too.
The Party People were fearless. They did this (amongst other things) frequently. Sometimes even multiple times a week especially in the months of November to March (summers were spent travelling - we'll get to that). And if there were no sangeets that weekend, the Party People, never to shy away from their mission, would devise their own Parties. These could be at the newest hot spot (in earlier times, this phrase meant lively with people, not disease) in town or at each other's homes. No masks, no gloves, no sanitizer.
This behaviour was not considered irresponsible then (except by their Parents and sometimes even by themselves in fleeting moments of clarity). It was the norm, acceptable to all. Many Party People constantly complained of fatigue due to their busy calendar (made busy only by themselves). But that never stopped them. It was either back-to-back Parties or a complete and utter lack of movement (except from bed to bath and beyond). While the latter is what you're used to now, be assured that the Party People still exist, waiting to be freed, to be wild, to be tired and to complain about their packed weekends yet again.
You may find it difficult to envision what I'm sharing but remember, that this was a period where shaking hands was considered the way to begin and end professional meetings (and some awkward dates too). It was symbolic of trust and good faith. Zoom was a failed Indian TV channel. House parties actually happened in people's houses. Video conferencing while present, was only popular between parents and their children studying abroad (out of your own country).
Studying away from home, now a fad of the past. Young adults, fresh out of high school would eagerly await the day they could leave home and into the ‘real world’ (college undoubtedly remains best bubble in my life). 'Going abroad' to study after graduation, to travel, spend oodles of money to learn the limits of your physical body (in the disciplines of eating, sleeping, drinking) and engage intellectually (Mykonos & Ibiza: A bipartisan Theory) was considered a prestigious opportunity. There would be racism still but not as openly as we see today where who even remotely looks Chinese is shunned. Students would go back and forth throughout the year, travel freely.
This brings me to travel - the most coveted of all hobbies of that time. The chance to visit places you'd never been but only seen influencers (a thing of the past like travel agents) boast about on The All Knowing Instagram (Hail Zuck). At that time, the most irritating part about making travel plans was applying for visas. But can you imagine that all it took was an online form and perhaps an appointment in person? Today, you may not go in person but how many vials of blood can one continue to 'donate' in order to travel? And that's before you even take a flight. Multiple international holidays in a year were a luxury but not impossible. You see, there was no quarantine. People would reach their destinations, check in to hotels (there were many to choose from then) and simply head out to explore. No one checked the linens in their hotel rooms even though we all knew they were filthy even then. Quarantine was a term we heard of in zombie, end of the world movies. Now those movies are shown in the online classes to students to analyse what protagonists did wrong and right.
Yes, cinema is something both our generations have in common. However, our movies were shot in real locations with the actors and crew being present together not clipped together by a team in one location and actors performing via webcam. We would also go to theatres to see movies together as a collective group of people slowly giving away all our money to Disney. There was streaming of course and it was much loved even then but it never held the charm of going to a theatre with some (stale) popcorn, while stumbling in the dark mumbling 'Excuse me' as you tried to find your seats only to sit behind an unusually tall person who is on their phone the whole time. It was a fun thing to do on weekends, enjoyed by Party and Non-Party People.
Then there were the Sports Nuts. There would be global events like the Football World Cup, Wimbledon, Cricket World Cup, World Series of Baseball (only played in the Former United States) and of course the Olympics. Audiences of as large as ninety thousand would gather at the Wembley Stadium (now known as Wembley Ward) in the UK to cheer their favourite teams on. There was nothing quite like a team sport. They existed in schools too back when all students would breathe the same air and parents could catch a break. The physical trauma for the players and the unfair amount of money they earned for kicking a ball around didn't matter, sport only unified us all. In India, cricket was believed to be the biggest religion.
Religion is something you’ve only seen being practiced by the older folk. Human beings have been assumed to believe in the supernatural since millennia. However, over time, mankind developed religion. It could mean following a charismatic entity (like Zuck, Hail Zuck) and observing the social structure as outlined by them (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp). There would be rules and laws that explained what is good (paying for your posts/followers, creating fake news) and what is blasphemy (using only Twitter and none of Facebook's platforms). Most even had explanations of the after life usually divided into good and bad and your actions in life dictated this decision (or whether you stick to writing only about what is approved by the Governments). Some say the power of religion began dissipating when some of the more popular religions refused to contribute to aid the pandemic efforts. Others chose to believe in inherent compassion and humanity, grateful for their health and choosing to see good in all.
There was much more that may seem outrageous to you now (just like how we ironically thought of the first quarantine period). We didn't value life and our freedom as much as we all should have then. We never saw our world changing the way it has. Some of us, like you, were fortunate in your homes, with your families and comforts and you tided that time over. There were periods of frustration, rage and boredom but people also reached out to old friends, spent time with their families and tried to uplift others around them too. Most importantly, everyone became a master baker and bread finally won the war it had been battling for decades. Many of us lived ever after. Happily or not remains to be seen.
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