The Magic Of The Nostalgic Nineties- 4

 

While we are talking about the 90s, I have to mention the top-ruling serials of the time that made life much more entertaining, and sometimes spiritual too.

Every Sunday, I and my sister had Maggi for breakfast. How can I talk about 90s without mentioning my beloved Maggi! They might say it is not healthy today. I don't know what goes behind the process of making the noodles - lead, iron, calcium?? All I knew is that, it contributed immensely to my happiness all these years. It brought in spice and warmth on a cold, dreary day or a gloomy and rainy day. It warmed the stomach, heart and soul. Maggi, I will love you always!

To get back to the 90s, I and my sister would eat Maggi while watching the serial Chandrakanta. It was probably one of the first fantasy-centered serials of the time and everything about it fascinated me - right from the title song, to the characters, to the long, flowing and beautiful robes that the ladies wore in the serial. Not to mention the antagonist Kroor Singh! His eyebrows were the scariest part of his face. And when I grew up and needed to thread my eyebrows but dreaded visiting the parlour, all I needed was my friends to point out that my eyebrows are looking almost like those of Kroor. Not a single word was required after that to motivate me to visit the parlour!

Ramayana was another favourite and I developed a huge crush on Arun Govil (who played Lord Ram) and Sunil Lahiri (who played Lakshman). I hoped against hope that I would look like Dipika (who played Devi Sita) when I grew up. 

Mahabharata was something beyond my understanding at that time, though the characters fascinated me. After watching the serial, for me, Nitish Bharadwaj became the face of Lord Krishna. I remember being captivated by him the most! 

As I neared teenage, I discovered the Jeanie in the bottle. Yes, I am talking about I Dream of Jeanie, one of the best serials I have ever watched! It was instant love on seeing Anthony Nelson aka Larry Hagman (Duh, who wouldn't fall for a strapping, tall, handsome astronaut like him!). I adored Jeanie aka Barbara Eden and watched her outfits with fascination and envy. She was such a fashionista at that time! This was one serial that I got addicted to badly. I regret nothing!

And then came the serial to end all serials. Like the meme goes - Life was tough, but six friends made it easier. I discovered the magic of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I fell in love with all of them. I rejoiced in their little celebrations. I cried over their painful break-ups (Regardless of whether you were on a break or not, you both should never have broken up, Ross and Rachel! You are lobsters to each other!). I doubt any other serial has ever affected me the way this serial did. And here is a little secret - Teenage was especially difficult for me. I was a plain Jane, didn't have much of a social life and almost all my friends were in relationships while I was single and socially-awkward. I never felt beautiful. I never felt that people would accept me for what I am. But F.R.I.E.N.D.S helped me here. They showed that true friends are those who see our original selves and stick beside us, come what may. The six friends became friends to this loner!

There is another serial from the 90s that I just discovered recently and ended up watching all the seasons of the same. The serial is Golden Girls. It centers around a group of four senior ladies who live life with zest and enthusiasm. I think this serial started somewhere around the late 80s and ended up in 90s, few years after F.R.I.E.N.D.S began. If you haven't watched this yet, I highly recommend you do watch it! This serial gave me hope that old age need not be dreary or dull. Age is just a number and these ladies proved it!

90s was the time of good television, needless to add. I don't know what kind of serials are prevailing today. But I am thankful to YouTube that I can watch the episodes from the old serials whenever I want to and get transported back to what I feel was the best time of life!