Ghosts from my past
I let my myopic eyes wander through the range of cosmetic products meant for blemish-free skin, shiny dandruff free hair, smoother arms, etc. that adorn a couple of drawers in your truly’s dressing table. I open the door of my refrigerator and let my view sweep over the many varieties of chocolates, the ketchups, the frozen food, etc.
And suddenly, in the twilight, I see some items peeping shyly from behind the veil of oblivion, some of which are never meant to return to smooth out the creases of my life today…..
1. HALO SHAMPOO: I was pleasantly surprised to see a few bottles (500 ml each) containing the egg-yolk-yellow HALO SHAMPOO in an inconspicuous corner of a huge rack in Big Bazaar the other day. This shampoo was the staple of my hair-care routine ages back. It declared “EGG” boldly on its label (though I doubt whether it really contained eggs). I bought one bottle and used it up within a couple of weeks, which meant it lasted for a brief period only, and to my utter dismay, the golden liquid never graced my life again after that.
2. PALMOLIVE SHAMPOO: A deep blue coloured gel, this shampoo suddenly disappeared from the racks somewhere in the mid 90s. It made a comeback in a slicker, urbane avatar as PALMOLIVE OPTIMA, but the regeneration was short-lived. Till date, PALMOLIVE SHAMPOO remains an all time favourite. Nothing like it, really!!
3. TUHINA: This off-white creamy lotion monopolised my mother’s skin care routine. Rarely seen nowadays, I still remember its fragrance.
4. VASELINE HAIR OIL: Packed in a transparent white glass bottle with a blue cap, this hair oil was responsible for keeping my father’s hair in place. Its familiar shape oozes nostalgia.
5. S-BISCUITS: I do not know if these biscuits were branded or they just acquired this appellation because of their shape. The glass of milk (which was a forceful affair for me) became more or less tolerable when combined with this appealing biscuit. Do they exist now??
6. AMUL CHOCOLATE: The Amul chocolate (“a gift for someone you love”) beats the Rocher Ferraros and the Swiss chocolates by a huge margin. The melt –in-the mouth taste and the enticing advertisements made this chocolate the most loved in our times.
7. RASNA & TRINKA: The sweaty summer days were welcomed by the kids, because the heat guaranteed a few glasses of RASNA (made popular by the cute girl declaring “I love you Rasna”). Another favourite drink in those days was TRINKA. Miss them both!!
8. AMUL SPRAY MILK POWDER: I doubt if there is even a single one from my generation who has not devoured this heavenly powder in spoonfuls and savoured the lump that got stuck to the palate.
9. HOMA BREAD: Forget the multigrain loaf and the brown bread. To me, “bread” is synonymous with “HOMA”.
10. HMT WATCHES: The pride of the wrists of each grown up of our times, “wrist watch” meant HMT. With due respect to the Rados, Seikos, Espirits et al, the pedestal is already occupied by HMT, trendy or not does not really matter!!
11. GOLD-SPOT: Its lemony twin LIMCA survived the race of time, but GOLD-SPOT (“the zing thing”) vanished without a trace.
12. MAGGI: These noodles in yellow packs used to come with a bonus –the free gifts! I remember the sketch pens, the plastic toys, etc. MAGGI is perhaps the one product that has withstood the battles of completion over the decades, and came up as a winner (though the pack-size has reduced)
13. OPEN JEEPS, FIATS & AMBASSADORS: Move over the Audis, the BMWs……Give me a JEEP, anytime, anyday.
14. TINKLE COMICS: Suppandi, Tantri the Mantri, Shambhu shikari, Naseeruddin…I miss you all.
15. CHINESE BALM: The one and only answer to headache.
16. LAJUKI LOTA ( “Touch me not” ): Touch these small plants and the leaves curled up!! Never seen one for ages.
17. BURNOL: Every kitchen had to have a tube of BURNOL. Till date, it is the best and the only remedy for kitchen burns.
18. DOORDARSHAN NEWS READERS: Rini Simon, Komal GB Singh, Meenu, Salma Sultana (she used to look like Sonia Gandhi), Kaveri Mukherjee (beautiful eyes), Sadhna Srivastav (elegant), Sunit Tandon, Gitanjali Aiyar, Manjari Joshi, Tejeshwar Singh, etc. These lovely people, who were more like the neighbourhood crowd rather than larger than life icons, made Doordarshan bearable when “Rookawat ke liye khed hai” was the most common one-liner on the small screen.
We craved most of them with near-religious zeal. We loved them with the innocence that only childhood can have. Yes, when we licked the last morsel of Amul chocolate from our fingers, the elders discussed who will read the news at 7.
The grainy screen has blurred many an image, but the silhouette still haunts. Is not it?
And suddenly, in the twilight, I see some items peeping shyly from behind the veil of oblivion, some of which are never meant to return to smooth out the creases of my life today…..
1. HALO SHAMPOO: I was pleasantly surprised to see a few bottles (500 ml each) containing the egg-yolk-yellow HALO SHAMPOO in an inconspicuous corner of a huge rack in Big Bazaar the other day. This shampoo was the staple of my hair-care routine ages back. It declared “EGG” boldly on its label (though I doubt whether it really contained eggs). I bought one bottle and used it up within a couple of weeks, which meant it lasted for a brief period only, and to my utter dismay, the golden liquid never graced my life again after that.
2. PALMOLIVE SHAMPOO: A deep blue coloured gel, this shampoo suddenly disappeared from the racks somewhere in the mid 90s. It made a comeback in a slicker, urbane avatar as PALMOLIVE OPTIMA, but the regeneration was short-lived. Till date, PALMOLIVE SHAMPOO remains an all time favourite. Nothing like it, really!!
3. TUHINA: This off-white creamy lotion monopolised my mother’s skin care routine. Rarely seen nowadays, I still remember its fragrance.
4. VASELINE HAIR OIL: Packed in a transparent white glass bottle with a blue cap, this hair oil was responsible for keeping my father’s hair in place. Its familiar shape oozes nostalgia.
5. S-BISCUITS: I do not know if these biscuits were branded or they just acquired this appellation because of their shape. The glass of milk (which was a forceful affair for me) became more or less tolerable when combined with this appealing biscuit. Do they exist now??
6. AMUL CHOCOLATE: The Amul chocolate (“a gift for someone you love”) beats the Rocher Ferraros and the Swiss chocolates by a huge margin. The melt –in-the mouth taste and the enticing advertisements made this chocolate the most loved in our times.
7. RASNA & TRINKA: The sweaty summer days were welcomed by the kids, because the heat guaranteed a few glasses of RASNA (made popular by the cute girl declaring “I love you Rasna”). Another favourite drink in those days was TRINKA. Miss them both!!
8. AMUL SPRAY MILK POWDER: I doubt if there is even a single one from my generation who has not devoured this heavenly powder in spoonfuls and savoured the lump that got stuck to the palate.
9. HOMA BREAD: Forget the multigrain loaf and the brown bread. To me, “bread” is synonymous with “HOMA”.
10. HMT WATCHES: The pride of the wrists of each grown up of our times, “wrist watch” meant HMT. With due respect to the Rados, Seikos, Espirits et al, the pedestal is already occupied by HMT, trendy or not does not really matter!!
11. GOLD-SPOT: Its lemony twin LIMCA survived the race of time, but GOLD-SPOT (“the zing thing”) vanished without a trace.
12. MAGGI: These noodles in yellow packs used to come with a bonus –the free gifts! I remember the sketch pens, the plastic toys, etc. MAGGI is perhaps the one product that has withstood the battles of completion over the decades, and came up as a winner (though the pack-size has reduced)
13. OPEN JEEPS, FIATS & AMBASSADORS: Move over the Audis, the BMWs……Give me a JEEP, anytime, anyday.
14. TINKLE COMICS: Suppandi, Tantri the Mantri, Shambhu shikari, Naseeruddin…I miss you all.
15. CHINESE BALM: The one and only answer to headache.
16. LAJUKI LOTA ( “Touch me not” ): Touch these small plants and the leaves curled up!! Never seen one for ages.
17. BURNOL: Every kitchen had to have a tube of BURNOL. Till date, it is the best and the only remedy for kitchen burns.
18. DOORDARSHAN NEWS READERS: Rini Simon, Komal GB Singh, Meenu, Salma Sultana (she used to look like Sonia Gandhi), Kaveri Mukherjee (beautiful eyes), Sadhna Srivastav (elegant), Sunit Tandon, Gitanjali Aiyar, Manjari Joshi, Tejeshwar Singh, etc. These lovely people, who were more like the neighbourhood crowd rather than larger than life icons, made Doordarshan bearable when “Rookawat ke liye khed hai” was the most common one-liner on the small screen.
We craved most of them with near-religious zeal. We loved them with the innocence that only childhood can have. Yes, when we licked the last morsel of Amul chocolate from our fingers, the elders discussed who will read the news at 7.
The grainy screen has blurred many an image, but the silhouette still haunts. Is not it?
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