ADr

awerf
ullofHappi
ness

Acoupleofweeksago,whenmysi sterwashomewi thourdarli

ngni ece,shegotan
i
naneurget obreakopent hi
sonedr awerfr
om ourolddressi
ngt able.Onet hathad
r
emainedlockedforcloset
o25y ears.Yes,t
hatol
d.Soonherenthusiasm rubbedoffon
meandIj oi
nedi ntoseewhatt reasuremightunf
oldonopeningadr awer-cum-chest
t
hathel
dwi t
hinit
selfsuchalongpassageoftime.

Al i
ttl
ebadger ingbyl ovi
ngdaught er
spushedourf at
hertounf ast
ent helockwi t
ha
hammer .Ourhappinessknewnoboundsasourey esalmosti
mmedi atel
yexhibi
tedthe
feeli
ng.Woodenhai rpins,met albi
ndistampswit
ht i
nycontainersofcolouredbi ndi
powder ,smallwoodenkumkum cases,anar r
ayofcosmeti
csincludingeye-
shadowki t,
blush,mascar aandliqui
df oundati
on,andacoll
ect
ionofli
pst
icksf r
om themostl oved
decadewer ebef or
eus.

Imar vel
ledatt heuni
quenessoft heproductsandt heway sinwhi chwomenused
everydayproductsdi
ff
erentlybacki nthe1990s.Mascar awasaki tinitsel
fthatcame
packagedwi t
hami ni
-toothbrushf orappli
cati
on.Thebr ushwasr equir
edt obestroked
ont hesoftblackcakeaf termoi steni
ngi t.Thatthesepr oductswerest il
linusable
conditi
onwasbewi l
deri
ng.Liquidfoundationmai nt
ainedit
sconsistencyasmuchast he
gorgeousberryandburgundylipst
icksretainedthei
rcreaminess.

Whilethemar ket
ingstudentwi
thinmewasamusedatact uall
yhav i
ngthepr i
vi
legeto
seepr ot
otypesdat i
ng backto 1995 ofl
eadi
ng cosmeti
csbr andsthatf l
ouri
sh as
successful
l
yev entoday,t
hechi
ldinsi
debri
mmedwi thst
upefacti
onasIt ouchedthose
bott
les,t
ubesandboxes.

Asli
tt
legi r
lsal lofuswant edtosneakil
yuseourmot her‘
smake-uptofeelol
derand
gl
amor ous.Thej oyoflocati
ngsomethi
ngweonl ysawonact or
sonTVf orthepur
pose
ofonl
yhol dingi t,washuge.How deliber
atel
yinaccessibl
ewer ecosmeti
csmadeby
momsbackt henasopposedt othet i
mesnow whenIseel i
ttl
egirl
swiththei
rli
ps
smearedinlip-glossoreyesli
nedi
nkohl.
Ami dstthefloodofmemor i
est hat camerushingby,I
felt
how―r ummagi ng‖forthi
ngs int he
hopeofnotbei ngdi scoveredhasal way sbeenaspeci alpartofchildhood.I
twasmor e
befit
ting int he cont extoft he 1990s wher et hi
ngs uni ntenti
onall
yhappened i na
balanced way .Despi tel oving mychi l
dhood,Ial way st hought,isn‘tnostal
gia and
unbridledl ovef orchildhoodday sakint oaknee- j
erkr eacti
on?Sowhyar ethe1990s
perenniallypr esenti nourhear tsandmi ndsandi nt hespot l
ight
?I ntandem,Ial so
wonder ed, per haps considering t
heage-
str
uct ureofoureconomy havingt hepotenti
altogiv
etheelevated
demogr aphicdi vi
dend‘,asi zeablepopul ationhasi t
schi ldhoodt uckedawayi nlate
1980sort hechar ming1990s.Hence, thebigdeal aboutt hislastdecadeof20thcentury.

Enchant
ingexper
ience

Howev er
,t he reali
sation of hav i
ng ev erythi
ng i n equalmeasur et hen made i t
unknowinglyenchant i
ngf orallofus.Whi letechnologyi nthef orm ofcomputers,car s
andmobi l
ephonesassumedanexal tedstatus, t
hoseofuswhopossessedi tenjoy edit
asmuchaswer evell
edi nothersimpl edeli
ghtsl i
ker eadingChampakandTi nkleor
getti
ngreadyforschool whi l
elisteni
ngt o
SchoolChaleHum‘ ont heradioeachmor ni
ng.Ourout doorpl ay-
ti
mewasmet iculously
rati
onedbymommi essot hatwecoul dcompl eteourhomewor kontime.Wewai tedf or
RamanandSagar ‘
sRamay anawi thgr andparentsasmuchasl aughedwithparent son
watching Smal lWonder ‘
,andt herewer el i
mitedbuti conicTVshowsf rom allgenres
thatranoncableTV.I twasasi fwehadal it
tl
ebi tofthebestf rom ever
ythi
ng,andaf ter
l
appingallofitupitalway sleftuswai tingandwant i
ngf or
mor e.

Itwaspr obablythelastdecadewhenonewi t
nessedt heexi
stenceofahobbysuchas
philat
elyorlearntt
heideaofcinemahallsbeingaf ocalpoi
ntofurbanspaces,orwoul
d
know thatEcl ai
rswasat of
feeofthehighestorder.From thi
sper spect
ivet
he1990s
shouldbel audedasidef r
om bei
ngloved,forit
sfinebalanci
ngact .Thedecadecher
ry-
pickedthefinesttooffert
ousmi l
l
ennial
s.OrsoIwoul dliket
obelieve.

Andjustl
iket
hat,
Ilearnthowbef
oret hedecadeoft he2000s,womeninat ypi
calIndi
an
househol
dusedmet alstampsofi ntri
catedesigns,dippedinthechosencol our
ed
powdertoembossabi ndibet
weenthei rey
ebr ows.Iti
sbecauseoft
hisreasont hatt
he
openi
ng ofthatdrawerwasmuchl ikear evel
ati
ont o me.Mysister,though,sti
ll
rememberedafewthingsshehadlastseeni nthedrawer.
Thecust om-madedr essingtablewasf irstbr oughttoourchi
ldhoodhomei nDelhi
sometimei n1989,anditcontinuestobepr esentaroundushereinAhmedabad.That
day and the one thatunf ol
ded two weeks back:i twas almostas i fallot
her
compartmentsoft hedressingtabl
ehadmov edpacewi thti
me,servi
ngasapedest al
formyriadthingswit
hpr ogr
essingyears,butt hatonedrawerwasstil
lanchor
edinthe
wonderfuldecadeitwasmadei n,asifholdingitwithal
lit
smight
.

Closeto25y ear
shavepassedandtimehasst
oodt her
eint
act.Outofcur
iosi
tyIhad
oftent
oyedwi t
hkeysl
yi
ngar oundhometoseeifIcoul
dattempttounl
ockitwit
han
unmatchedkeybutt
onoavail
.

Thest ashbr oughtopenart

iclesbelongi
ngtothet imethathadoncebeen.Theymake
forcollect
ibl
est ome,souvenirsof1990sfashion,devoidoftherun-
of-the-
millqual
i
ty
oftodayt hatisheretost
ay.Joltedbacktothepr esent
,Ireal
i
sed,sothiswas1990s!It
hugsy ouassoonasy ouencount erameresemblanceoft hedecadei
nanyf orm.Anda
thousandmemor iesi
nvar
iablyensue.