It was the late 80s and early 90s,
at the cusp of contrasting decades
Growing up in India…
You were a high-schooler
dreaming about college
You were a college goer
dreaming about career

It was the time of a different norm
Archaic now but contemporary then
Cassette player, VCR or a Walkman,
to burn time away from academics
TVS, Kinetic Honda or a RX-100,
to paint the town red and visit the Archies

You had a cozy abode
Be it sharing with a sibling,
in a corner room at parents’ house
Be it a room with a nerdy buddy,
in the middle of a loud hostel hallway
Be it a flat with a grumpy friend
in the by-lane of a quiet suburb

You had freedom within four walls,
yet real estate was premium on those walls
If you were a die-hard music enthusiast,
the pivot was often a life size poster
If it wasn’t that of King of Pop,
It was that of a leather-clad George Michael
Sandwiched in between and dotted around were
the Stallones, Steffis, and Sabatinis

It often roused the ire
of the parent, the warden and the landlord
They wanted to see nothing but
their favorite paint on their walls
You wanted to show every poster
but no paint whatsoever at all

Decades passed, life moved on
Walls stayed put, paints sprayed on
Posters tore down, legends passed on
Music stayed alive, memories lived on

Lat and Long together
point a place on the planet
Tune and Song together
remind of a time in life
Music has an uncanny knack to bind
place, people, period; and
pain, pleasure and purpose all in one pack

photo source: google.com