Tennis – Rainbow Thoughts

For someone who was born in 1960s or 1970s they would have cherished their life the most in 1980s and am no exception to it. Am going to go back to my school days and remember the things that I have liked the most in 80s that I miss today. Hopefully, I will also take you back to 80s.

Television – Most of us had Black and White Television at home and it was during the 1982 Asian Games we started watching color television in India. My father bought a Color Television around this time, we were the few ones in our community to have a Color Television at home. These were the days when there was no Cable or Dish. There was one National Channel and some of the popular programs I remember are Around the World in 80 days, The Lucy Show, Different Strokes, Spider-Man Cartoon, Star Trek, The Goodies, Chitrahaar (Hindi Movie Songs), Oliyum Oliyum (Tamil Movie Songs). We loved watching the English News in 80s, we did not have the debates and the News Anchor read News with a smile unlike what we watch today. My favorite program was Quiz Time hosted by Siddhartha Basu even though I never answered most of his questions. Finally, going to my favorite subject Sports, we were lucky only to watch live Cricket Test matches played in India, watch only the highlights if played away from India and in Tennis it used to be only the Wimbledon Men’s and Women’s final. We were also lucky to watch the World Cup Soccer final and highlights of Olympics.

Tape Recorder – We did not have the smart phone those days. We used to have a small Tape Recorder to listen to our favorite songs. I remember buying TDK D-90 cassettes to record my favorite numbers. I also remember using the Tape Recorder as a Radio to listen to my favorite songs and most importantly Cricket Commentary in short wave if India plays matches overseas.

Sports – As mentioned earlier, I was following only Cricket and Tennis those days. Star Television came to India only in 90s which is when I started following my favorite Formula One and MotoGP. Apart from Cricket and Tennis, we were lucky to watch World Cup Soccer and Olympics. Some of the Athletes of 80s who are still my favorite are Diego Maradona, Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Kapil Dev and Carl Lewis. One thing that always stays on my mind is watching the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket played in Australia and India winning it.

Internet – We did not have the internet and we didn’t have Facebook, WhatsApp, Netflix and Google. Life was much better without Internet and we were well connected with our friends and family without Internet. Friends were wished on their Birthday with Greeting Card and it was the Postcard that was used to communicate with Family and Friends when we travel.

Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD Booths) and Telegram – Communication cost was so high those days and there was no mobile phone. We used to have Landline Phone at home and most of us did not have STD or ISD connection to make calls to other cities in India or Overseas. There will be shops with Landline phones to make STD or ISD calls. Also, if there is an emergency or an urgent message that needs to be sent we were relying on Telegram from Post Office. In those days if there was a Telegram delivered at home, people will start worrying before they read, most of the times it will be a message about one of our relatives passing away.

Walkman – We did not have the smart phone and it is impossible to carry the Tape Recorders when we travel to listen to our favorite songs. It used to be the Walkman that will travel with us for songs. These Walkman consume lot of battery and it will be the Reynolds Ball Pen that we used to rewind or forward the cassette.

Pepsi Cola and Big Fun – We did not have either Pepsi or Coke those days. We used to have Pepsi Cola Ice which is nothing but Ice on a pouch. This used to be very popular those days. Finally, it was the NP Chewing Gum and Big Fun Bubble Gum. NP Chewing Gum was so popular and I don’t remember sitting in the classes without chewing this. Cost of Pepsi Cola Ice was 50 paise, NP Chewing gum 15 Paise and Big Fun 30 paise.

Games – After we return from school or if it is a holiday we will be in our community ground playing cricket, seven stones, Kings etc.., If it is the summer vacation we used to play matches with other community and we will be at our home only to eat and sleep. Thankfully we did not have the Mobile Phone and Video Games. It used to be so much fun playing Cricket with our friends, fighting after the match and next day playing few more matches and fighting. These are the fighting out of the interest we had on the game with our friends after the match and not remembering anything the next day.

I wish we go back to 80s, life was much better without Internet, we were better connected with our friends and family without WhatsApp, as kids we were playing on the Ground and not inside our home and finally Television was much better without Cable or Dish.

Hope you enjoyed going back to 80s. It will be nice if you could use the comments section to share what you liked in 80s. Take Care and Be Safe.

Am from India and am one of the few who follows most of the sports other than Cricket. I used to follow Cricket madly until the launch of IPL. Even after IPL I used to watch Test and One Day matches, after the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar I rarely watch cricket. Today, I wont be able to tell the playing XI for India or any other team.

Tennis Am always a big follower of Tennis. I don’t think I have missed watching a Grand Slam final for more than 30 years. I love the Wimbledon and Australian open, I like US open to some extent, French open is boring. I have admired players like Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters in Womes’s Tennis and Borg, McEnroe, Becker, Edberg, Sampras, Federer and Djokovic in Men’s Tennis. My favorites in Tennis are Sampras and Federer. They both are complete players, they both have an unique style, they both are emotional to some extent and they both are the biggest ambassadors to this game. Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slams Singles and I was hoping he will win the Wimbledon 2020, its not going to happen since this years Wimbledon is already cancelled. Roger Federer is the Perfect Gentleman any Sport has seen and he is the Best Communicator. Sampras won only 14 Grand Slam Singles but the kind of opponents he had Federer didn’t have until Nadal and Djokovic. Between Sampras and Federer if am asked to vote for one, my legend in Tennis is always Sampras. He is the Best I have seen and he will remain my only legend in Tennis.

Image Courtesy: https://www.tennisworldusa.org

MotoGP Thanks to my classmates and Thanks to Star TV in India in 90’s I started watching MotoGP. I started watching this sport from 1997, this was the time Valentino Rossi started riding in 125cc Championship. He then moved to 250cc in 1998 and MotoGP in 2000. There were some great riders in MotoGP like Biaggi, Kenny Roberts Jr, Nicky Hayden, Stoner, Lorenzo and Marquez. During the last 2 decades I have watched some wonderful clashes on the track, what will always stand out for me is the clash between Rossi and Sete Gibernau. Rossi is now 41 and still racing for Yamaha. He will always remain my biggest legend in MotoGP. He loves this sports so much that The Doctor will never retire.

Image Courtesy: https://www.roadracingworld.com

Formula 1 I have to once again thank Star TV to introduce me to this Sport. I started watching Formula 1 in the early 90s and I straight away became a big fan of Senna and Schumacher. Senna lost his life on May 1, 1994 at San Marino Grand Prix, I was watching this race live on TV and I could not believe what I was watching. After this I have watched all races of Schumacher, enjoyed it and celebrated his wins. Schumacher was dominating Formula 1 so much that the FIA have to keep changing the rules to see a different winner, but the winner was always constant. Days of Schumacher in Ferrari were the Best Days of Formula 1, after every race win by Schumacher I used to party with my friends in a pub at Chennai. Schumacher retired from Formula 1 in 2006 and returned to Formula 1 in 2010 to drive for Mercedes. I didn’t like his return until India hosted a Formula 1 race. I watched this race live, became emotional to see my Biggest Legend of all Sport and I clicked this one. He had a freak accident when he was skiing in 2013 and he is still recovering. I keep praying for him every day with the hope he will be normal very soon.