Remember video cassettes?

Before floppy drives, CDs, DVDs and external hard drives, those little black boxes contained people’s entire worlds. Mine as well.

As I disposed of over 50 of them a few days ago, I was fondly reminded of how important they used to be to me. 

TV recordings of Disney Hour, numerous animated movies - from Cinderalla to Chip ‘N’ Dale to the Asterix series, taping of documentaries by National Geographic broadcast on Oman TV, figure skating, old hindi and bengali movies. 

My personal favourites - the Miss World competitions where Miss Venezuela would always look the best but not speak a word of sense and a recording of the A R Rahman concert in Dubai. 

Not to forget the video recordings of our trips around the world when we had a video camera the size of a bazooka and lugged cassettes along with us wherever we went.

When I say that I saw DDLJ and other popular Bollywood cinema of the nineties for the first time almost ten years later, when I came to India - most people stare at me with gaping mouths. I caught up on two decades of Hindi music, courtesy Radio Mirchi in Pune. 

Thinking of my very limited means of entertainment, I honestly think to myself - how did I do this? How did I live 17 years without television, friends, parties, extended family? And how did I turn out to be such as  so called ‘people’s person’ having been on my own for most of the time I can remember?

I guess I worked around it. Maybe these cassettes helped me. 

There was a feeling of sadness while I threw them away. All those cassettes who had been my friends, accompanying me when I was bored, excited, troubled or even happy.

I will remember them.