Love in the 90s
Shweta and Nisha were born within a month of each other. Not from the same mother you silly, but mothers staying in immediate neighborhood. But they were more than sisters, they grew up together, fought together, played together and when it was the time to fall in love, well they fell in love at the same time but thankfully separate boys.
It’s a weird time, when the hormones finally kick in and the same boys you had so violently fought with during your childhood become suddenly the point of attraction! Something similar happened to these two as well. Shweta developed a huge crush on a guy, who once ran behind her with a stick because she jumped on the hood of his dad’s car. As for Nisha, her crushes changed as frequently as her school uniform. It was so allegorical because she studied in a school that did not have any uniform! Her crushes ranged from local goons to handsome hunks, but for reasons unknown she settled for a stammering, curly-haired boy.
Well, now that the matter of boys is settled let the story progress. As the title suggests, this is a love story of the 90s, the awkward 90s, the last lull before the huge euphoria of the 2000s. Computers and mobile phones had still not taken over people’s lives. The boring ring of landline echoed in most houses and the bi-weekly Chitrahaar was the famed entertainment dosage. So, love predictably was old-fashioned as well. These two despite their huge crushes could never muster enough courage to tell these guys how they felt about them. It was after all the guy’s prerogative to make the first move.
So, they kept waiting for them day-after-day, without any success. They decided time has come to give some subtle hints and therefore started stalking them, timing their badminton outings at the time when these two came for their football practices, going out in the evening on some or the other pretences to stroll outside the club house where these two played table-tennis and pushing their siblings to be friends with the nieces or nephews of their die-hard crushes.
Predictably, the reactions were good. Who after all resent such attentions? These two also duly reciprocated, only by stalking them back. So it was a tune of the cheesy song, ‘Jaan Tere Naam’ that played every time Nisha had to venture out her house, or the intense stares and funny one-liners every time Shweta crossed his path.
Love was in the air, and so were examinations. 10th Boards in the 90s were enough to give anyone nightmares and so suddenly love was thrown out of the windows and the sleepless nights spent thinking about their dream boys were taken over by sleepless nights cramming for examinations.
Life was completely changed during those exams, as if life itself took those exams in turn. It was for the first time ever Nisha felt deceived by her own best friend. Shweta copied all the diligent notes that Nisha had made throughout the year but refused to help Nisha with her Maths lessons, stating she hardly had time to study for herself leave alone helping anyone else. Nisha was hurt and that was her first lesson in betrayal. The second was coming soon enough, when she learnt her curly-haired crush was no longer interested in her.
Shweta’s scored ensured her a better school, with better choices in guys and she moved on to higher goals without the competition from her once-best friend.
Thus, the love stories that could have been were so cruelly crushed by the ruthless education system of the 90s!
Shweta and Nisha were born within a month of each other. Not from the same mother you silly, but mothers staying in immediate neighborhood. But they were more than sisters, they grew up together, fought together, played together and when it was the time to fall in love, well they fell in love at the same time but thankfully separate boys.
It’s a weird time, when the hormones finally kick in and the same boys you had so violently fought with during your childhood become suddenly the point of attraction! Something similar happened to these two as well. Shweta developed a huge crush on a guy, who once ran behind her with a stick because she jumped on the hood of his dad’s car. As for Nisha, her crushes changed as frequently as her school uniform. It was so allegorical because she studied in a school that did not have any uniform! Her crushes ranged from local goons to handsome hunks, but for reasons unknown she settled for a stammering, curly-haired boy.
Well, now that the matter of boys is settled let the story progress. As the title suggests, this is a love story of the 90s, the awkward 90s, the last lull before the huge euphoria of the 2000s. Computers and mobile phones had still not taken over people’s lives. The boring ring of landline echoed in most houses and the bi-weekly Chitrahaar was the famed entertainment dosage. So, love predictably was old-fashioned as well. These two despite their huge crushes could never muster enough courage to tell these guys how they felt about them. It was after all the guy’s prerogative to make the first move.
So, they kept waiting for them day-after-day, without any success. They decided time has come to give some subtle hints and therefore started stalking them, timing their badminton outings at the time when these two came for their football practices, going out in the evening on some or the other pretences to stroll outside the club house where these two played table-tennis and pushing their siblings to be friends with the nieces or nephews of their die-hard crushes.
Predictably, the reactions were good. Who after all resent such attentions? These two also duly reciprocated, only by stalking them back. So it was a tune of the cheesy song, ‘Jaan Tere Naam’ that played every time Nisha had to venture out her house, or the intense stares and funny one-liners every time Shweta crossed his path.
Love was in the air, and so were examinations. 10th Boards in the 90s were enough to give anyone nightmares and so suddenly love was thrown out of the windows and the sleepless nights spent thinking about their dream boys were taken over by sleepless nights cramming for examinations.
Life was completely changed during those exams, as if life itself took those exams in turn. It was for the first time ever Nisha felt deceived by her own best friend. Shweta copied all the diligent notes that Nisha had made throughout the year but refused to help Nisha with her Maths lessons, stating she hardly had time to study for herself leave alone helping anyone else. Nisha was hurt and that was her first lesson in betrayal. The second was coming soon enough, when she learnt her curly-haired crush was no longer interested in her.
Shweta’s scored ensured her a better school, with better choices in guys and she moved on to higher goals without the competition from her once-best friend.
Thus, the love stories that could have been were so cruelly crushed by the ruthless education system of the 90s!
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