Archive for the ‘Nostalgic about India’ Category
Why I love India (series)
HAPPY HOLI!
Beautiful series on ‘Why I love India’ on rediff. Living away from India, we can especially relate to Shobha De’s sentiment on what she longs for when abroad. “When I’m away from India, I miss: The smells!…The smell of masala, mogras, wet matti (earth)”
Discover the entire series here.
Amul craze
Take a drive down any road in a major metro in India and you will come across large billboards with bright colorful cartoons featuring a wide -eyed little girl and witty tag line or pun sure to bring a chuckle or smile. These are the famous Amul ads – meant to sell plain ol butter (under the brand name Amul)….but the ads themselves have become a cultural phenomenon that is now more than 30 years old!
Take a look at this one for starters – its a comment on the skyrocketing fuel prices :
Or this funny take on the cartoon Kung Fu Panda:
For all of you feeling pangs of nostalgia for these timeless cartoons, check out the ‘best of’ collection of amul ads on their website
There’s even a facebook page dedicated to the amul ads and at the time this post was published, it was at 68K fans! Check it out at here.
Utterly butterly delicious – Amul!
A stirring rendition of the Indian National Anthem
One might say every rendition of the Indian National Anthem is stirring but this particular one really pulls at the heartstrings. Conducted by AR Rahman, this version features Indian classical greats like Pundit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pundit Shivkumar Sharma. The sound of each instrument seamlessly flows into the next …weaving together a beautiful tapestry of sound.
Jana-Gana-Mana was originally composed in Bengali by Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India in 1950. As we approach the celebration of the Indian Independence day (August 15th) -its only fitting that I share this with you today.
Enjoy this if you haven’t heard it before and join in the re-discovery if you have.
RK Laxman’s “The common man”
If you read the Times of India anywhere from the 1950’s onwards, you couldn’t have missed the little comic strip “You said it” featuring the common man by RK Laxman.

The common man
This caricature could be found in the daily comic strip, peeping down manholes, observing speeches, fights and games. He is usually a silent witness to all the action around him but ah… so memorable.
So for all of you who feel the same nostalgia, here are some timeless strips. Enjoy!
The common man celebrated 50 years sometime ago -he has been featured on a commemorative stamp as well as honored by way of a 10 foot bronze statue at the Symbiosis Institute (Pune).