Now and Then

India has been on the path of growth ever since I became a sentient being. From my early days I remember a lot of insignificant things which considered together bring out a pattern of change which on a personal front is not very welcome, but which according to economy indicates growth. I remember a lot of practices in those days which still bring with them a feeling of nostalgia and a strange sense of missing security today.

Like for instance, I remember we seldom rejected and threw away things. Things like electronics and containers and other non consumable consumer products were not made to be disposed. If a torch didn’t work we fixed it whatever the problem would have been; by changing batteries, the glass, the reflector or the gasket. 

Containers were used and reused. Milk came in bottle which had to be returned and were reused. So were soft drinks. Plastics were used but in places where they were absolutely necessary. Even the plastics were durable and lasted eons.

Bread was packaged in butter paper and not in plastics. Bicycles, consumer electronics, etc. were meant to last. And whenever they broke down they were repaired with minimum part replacement. Things were made taking into consideration the needs and concerns of the consumers and the not for the sake of bulk sales high profit margins.

I remember being happy with the things I had and so were most people. Some of the things which I used then are still somewhere asking to be used or repaired.