The Stories Behind Old Stuff - It's Time to Go

 I was rummaging through my stuff and found some stuff I saved up over time - an ipod that my brother Ram gifted me, an old telephone book, a pair of dark glasses...I don't use them anymore so they'll go. But they have interesting stories.

The IPod

The first music system I was ever exposed to was the record player at home that my father had. He bought a large collection of records and enjoyed his music. The next system he bought was the small single speaker cassette player sometime in 1982 - we moved to cassettes then. I hooked that up to the huge radio we had, which was not working very well then and it would make a louder sound but soon I graduated to buying my own stereo - a Phillips car stereo which was hooked upto to two small speakers. This contraption served me for 6-7 years through my college years and provided endless hours of pleasure (all repairs wee done by the thin chap fellow at Ameerpet - he'd get it going somehow. There were a couple of walkmans - I don't remember buying them - though Ratna Kumar gifted me a CD man which I rarely used.

My first big investment was the Phillips Deck - an all in one mini deck that Phillips thought of which did not need a separate player, a separate amp, a separate woofer and separate speakers. It came all in one with two speakers and man, was I over the moon when I bought it with money I had saved in Pune in 199192. That deck served me well for years and years and such lovely memories I have of Pune and later at Hyderabad - the many parties we had at my place. When it became old, I got myself a Sony deck in the late 1900s - now this was a huge improvement on the Phillips one ad had a CD player and a twin cassette player so we were in good shape with it for years. More parties and such.

And then Apple came with the iPod and Apple music and digital music killed all the fun in music. However the ease with which to carry 500 songs in your pocket in a sleek 2GB iPod was incredible - the sound quality was brilliant too. But it was way too expensive at 7000 bucks. Ram knew of my madness for music and on his trip to Dubai once, bought me this iPod. Ah, what fun, I loaded it with my fav songs and the iPod accompanied me everywhere - in the pocket, in the car and gave me years and years of great music experience. I think this would be closer to mid 2000  - 2005 or so or later. I remember considering buying a bigger iPod for storing more songs but then the smart phones started hitting the market and I realised that the phones would do the same job.

Of all the music gadgets - the iPod still remains - and as a wonderful reminder of the good old days. Thanks Ram.

  The Telephone Book

It was our only source of storing contacts - this tiny book that someone would gift us or we would buy at the Greeting Card stores. Filled with names, addresses, telephone numbers, birthdays and the like - it was our lifeline. I carried it in my pocket then with the same kind of care that we carry a mobile now. Lose it and you'll lose contacts that you may never find, addresses you'll never get. It's incredible how we got along those days - writing letters, sending greeting cards, making PP calls on STD after 11 pm.

It has some very interesting numbers and I shared pics with a couple of my old pals. This book was from the 1900s and had entries till 2010 almost. Until I got my first mobile phone I guess.

  The Coolers

It was always a style statement and we had no real reason to wear dark glasses in college then but when i started doing long distance drives I found them quite useful. I bought this pair in Somajiguda, made a big exception and spent happily to buy the pair and they served me very well for many trips over the years. Once I got glasses and the power increased enough for me to not be able to use the dark glasses I have stopped using them.

But they're in good shape my coolers and I wonder if I can find a home for them!

  The Watch

My first watch was a Titan - a simple fellow which I wore on my right hand - a gift from my brother-in-law or from my mother I'll never know (he took me to buy it and told me that my mother told him to, which was probably the truth). That served me until it died - I wonder how - but it did serve me many years. And then, the second watch I had was a gift from Shobha and Anjali who did some kind of bidding on a flight and got me this. It was quite nice and I used it for many years - I liked and I will still keep it and perhaps even use it. 

But then the mobiles came and we didn't need watches anymore - just like we don't need cameras anymore (hey, where are my old cameras - my Kodak Croma and others), or iPods or any players and so many other things. I would love to see how many days I'll last without a mobile now - I'll try it out sometime soon though. 

I think it needs a battery - I'll get it fixed.

 My First Mask

This was in early 2020 - COVID 19 had just made its entry and we were seeing it come closer and the need for masks was felt and I remember telling Shobha to buy a few when she had gone to visit Aunty at Pune - and she came back with a couple of these. 3Ms - N95 - which were rather advanced for then - but rather tacky as you can see. The band was pretty bad but hey, the initial days in Ratnadeep, I was the star wearing the only N95!

 There are stories everywhere we look around and I am amazed at how many things have helped, entertained, given me convenience or pleasure and how many people have gifted me these things. Its a fascinating life!