distinguish between present and past generation in a drawyer full of happiness
Answers
A Drawer Full of Happiness’ is an article ‘Open Page’ that was published in ‘The Hindu’ on March 25, 2018. It was written by Anchal Jagnanai, a Healthcare Editorial Associate at PlexusMD.
The writer and her sister joined together and wanted to see what treasure might unfold on opening a drawer-come-chest from their dressing table that had remained locked for close to 25 years. Out of curiosity, the writer had often tried to unlock it with an unmatched key but to no avail. It was first brought to their childhood home in Delhi some time in 1989 and it continued to be present around them there in Ahmedabad. A little pestering by loving daughters pushed their father to unfasten the lock with a hammer. Almost all other compartments of the dressing table had moved pace with the changing times holding myriad things. But that one drawer was still moored in the decade it was made in as if holding it with all its might.
The articles kept hidden in the drawer belonged to the time that had once been. They are souvenirs of the 1990s fashion. They are wooden hairpins, metal bindi stamps with tiny containers of coloured bindi powder, small wooden kumkum case, a wide range of cosmetics including eye-shadow kit, blush, mascara, and liquid foundation and a collection of lipsticks. The writer marveled at the uniqueness of the products and the ways in which women used everyday products differently back in the 1990s. (Mascara was kit in itself that came packed with a mini-tooth brush for application. The brush was required to be stroked on the soft black cake after moistening it.) That those products were still in usable condition was bewildering.
As little girls, all of them wanted to sneakily use their mother’s makeup to feel older and glamorous. But the prudent mothers made the cosmetics deliberately inaccessible to the little girls. But, in the present-day setup, we find little girls with lips smeared in lip gloss or eyes lined in kohl. Then mothers used to keep certain things under lock and key lest they may divert the attention of the children. Moreover, the writer’s father never opened the drawer as it contained ‘the treasure’ of her beloved wife. He wanted to keep it intact forever in fond memory of her. But when badgered by loving daughters, he was rather forced to open it.
In those days, technology in the form of computers, cars and mobile phones was not at hand for the children. But they reveled in other simple delights like reading comics like “Champak” and “Tinkle “ or getting ready for school while listening to ‘School Chale Hum’ on the radio each morning. Their outdoor play-time was meticulously rationed by mothers so that they could complete their homework on time. The children used to watch Ramananda Sagar’s ‘Ramayana’ with grandparents. They used to laugh with parents watching ‘Small Wonder’. In those days there were limited but iconic T.V shows from all genres. (They had a little bit of the best from everything that left them waiting and wanting the more. Then they had no hobbies like philately and craze for cinema halls.) According to the writer’s perspective, the 1990s should be lauded aside from being loved for its fine balancing act.