GOOD OLD DAYS

            In the year 1967, when I was 8 years old, the world was entirely different! In fact it has not changed much even in thousand years before, but now in 2002, it has changed beyond recognition!

            I was born at Sion in Bombay. Although we were poor we enjoyed a life lot better than now. We lived in a chawl, but we had a big fort near us, in fact we were living just below it. So we had a very big fort to play. .

            In the year 1600 Bombay was just a jungle with few fishermen living here and there. It was a beautiful seven islands then. Later the British came developed it into a city, joining all the islands building concrete dwellings, making roads, building industries, made it a concrete hell. Though the Bombay is a mega city now, the Mother Nature was the loser, its land near the sea was taken away for building skyscrapers, all the sea routes inside the city were blocked, and almost all the city which was just a green land until 1600 was turned in to a major concrete block. The Mother Nature is crying.

            So this is the story of Bombay, and now back to my good old Sion, my fort was broken in to two pieces, one near the station and one near my house, it is where I spent my childhood.

            My father sent me to a good school. He was illiterate, but he had a dream to educate me and he succeeded in it.

            After school hours we used to climb the fort. There were big jambul trees, tamarind trees, and many verities of flowers. The fort was our mother in those days.

On Sundays, all the girls and boys of our chawl went up the fort and play. The fort was

Completely in ruins, but the nature was intact, we climbed trees, picked flowers, ate jambul, ate tamarind whole day, and we played with girls also, we had a great fun in those days.

            Today, the Mumbai has moved beyond recognition. The days have come where we see fathers, sons, and son in laws sitting together and partying. Gone are the days when we used to respect each other, salute each other. Family traditions are lost some where in this transformation. Family cultures are lost, I am not criticizing, I am just watching at the changing world scenario. In those days we never used to talk straight with fathers, always used to abide by their rules. Now the scenario is changed. Fathers are abiding by Sons rules nowadays.

            But today’s generation have more knowledge than we had those days. This is an internet age. The world is moving fast, very fast. In those days, before the emergence of T.V. sets, we used to sit in the gardens or in the open discussing current topics, about Pakistan, and about our chawl development. There were plenty of topics to discuss till we get bored. Today people are glued to the television sets till mid night, be it news or soaps or Pakistan. There are no old grandma stories, no meetings every day, except watching TV.

            In those days Mumbai ended at Sion and there used to be an old check post near Sion fort highway (Now it is removed for road widening). Now the Mumbai is gone beyond Chembur, Govandi and Trombay in the East! Bandra was the last destination for Mumbai in old days. Today it has gone beyond Borivili, Nala Sopara and still moving ahead!