....Nostalgia

A search on google.com for 'definition of nostalgia' yielded the following results "A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past" or "a feeling of pleasure and sometimes slight sadness at the same time as you think about things that happened in the past" or "a longing for the past, often idealized and unrealistic".


So what exactly is Nostalgia. I personally strongly link Nostalgia to some feelings or events which we had experienced in the past & which we come across again triggers Nostalgia. Experiences with a song or a festival in past can be some of them (he he that's all i can recount at the moment).


So ladies & gentlemen allow me to share my experiences..


Irshaaaad !


There was this song "Chhaiya Chhaiya" from the bollywood blockbuster "Dil Se". We (me & my friends) when in the Mechanical Engineering batch, we had a final submission (for the Semester) to be made of a journal (Engineering Drawing was the subject i vaguely remember) next day afternoon. So we (around 10 -12 of us), we had got a master copy of some smart asses' journal which had already been submitted & accepted. We assembled at this house of one of the friends for carrying out the operation 'Journal Completion'. Now this guy had recently purchased a 1000W Akai home theatre & those times (1998) it was considered a luxury ( in India) at about Rs.19000. He had a VCD of Hot Shots-Part Deux. Its one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and by the time, and had the movie not ended we would have split up laughing. So after that we began the sacred activity for which we had assembled, mass copying of the Journal. Some smart chaps had been writing the journals as the movie was on, so there were many copies now as they took a break. Since the movie was over, we put on an audio CD of Dil Se. I had not heard closely a song on CD till that time. Naturally the music & clarity of sound amazed me to no ends. I volunteered to put the 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' song on a repeat. For almost 6-7 hours, we sat there writing & hearing this song. This song thus evokes every single time, a very strong sense of nostalgia associated with that day (or night I should say) that whenever I hear this song, I am flooded with those memories. In an almost similar experience, we listened to old LP records at another friends house whole night while completing another journal. We listened to the songs of Kabhi kabhi, Silsila & some other Bacchan movies. This was after I had repaired the reading pin which some of my friends tried rectifying before me since it was dislodged from its original position & no one knew how to put it back. The gramophone had not been in use for many years.


Second event is the 'Navratri' festival or the Garbas. Navratri holds a very special place in the hearts of Gujaratis (or Gujjus as they are fondly referred). Even in the marriages or any event of significance, its not complete without a round of Garba (The song & dance sequence during Navratri). For people who are from Gujarat or who have been to Gujarat in Navratri will know what I am talking about for others...anyway you'll have to visit to appreciate whatever I may mean. So I may end by saying this paragraph is self explanatory :-)

to be continued....or maybe not....