The year 1998

let me take you for a ride in my time machine. the year is 1998. i am 12 years old. in that time there was no such thing as Google. When you wanted to learn something you went to this place called a library where books were stored. Often the library wouldnt be having the book you wanted. Only a handful of people had mobile phones, forget mobile internet very few people had PCs and even fewer people had internet in those PCs. It was a time when no one knew what a recession was, the price of petrol was Rs. 23, and to talk for a minute on a mobile phone cost about that much. Justin Beiber was a two year old toddler he probably could mouth the word "baby" then. Mark Zuckerberg was 14 and already was thinking about building a social network. The weather behaved normally no one knew what global warming was and no one cared. For a family like mine going to a restaurent used to be a big deal. People used to be happier because they were happy being themselves and not trying to be someone else.People were either friends or enemies.. the "frenemy" hadnt been invented then. And there were no "fuckbuddies" back then. The politicians havent changed they are more or less the same faces we see today and so are the Bollywood stars. There was no such thing called a mall or a multiplex. In the wineshops of guwahati there used to be only one or at most two brands of beer and no can beer. MP3 players were not available commercially. The "celebrity sex tape" hadnt been invented , the internet coverage was poor and mainstream channels wouldnt be broadcasting that stuff. i had read the first Harry Potter book and was eagerly waiting for the movie ..the actors were as almost old as i was which made the experience special. It was a time when the band Coldplay wouldnt have been classified as Rock. Children didnt need to visit Psychologists for "anxiety before exams", or addiction to drugs or alcohol. We have come a long way since though it doesnt seem long, maybe because it all happened so quickly.