It was during the morning hours of getting ready for work and the usual Music channels were upbeat with new tunes and songs. My mind just popped some images of audio cassettes of yonder that once used to find ample space in my schoolbag, drawers, cupboards and always seem like trending without the hashtags or Instagram stories. We didn't need social media channels to tell us what was cool - we could pretty much handle this on our own. We didn't need Likes on our images to realize that what we had was of some value and liked by others. These were really plasticky times and still they now seem a lot more real, less commercialized, more restrained without getting suffocating. This was during the late 80s and early 90s.

Music was soulful, trash and disruptive at the same time. Nearly everyone around me, from balding uncles to teachers about whom we fantasized, was deep into exchanging or swapping audio tapes. The music scene was equally crowded but then, everyone was trying to do something new, though "new" could be heavily inspired. I recall the songs not being digitally mastered to the extent that the real talent, or the lack of it, of the singer never surfaced. Today, things have changed drastically. You don't need to be musically or vocally talented. You just need to have the right people to manipulate things on your behalf.

This defines the current lifestyle trends too...an era of simple-solution-seekers, not simplistic folks, people who want everything procured, processed and packaged for them because making an effort can take a toll on their daily routine which on any day invariably includes breathing-in air that could kill the Gods. You should be better networked. You don't need to work your ass off to get ahead in the race - you should know how to trample others and find the easiest path. 

In comparison, just like lifestyle choices, diet goals and moralistic sensibilities, the music scene back then was more organic, creatively pulsating without trying to be drastically different. The energy was self-created and palpated - we didn't need to shove it down. These were times when young families could afford to spend time together. Grandparents had a role in parenting and friends could be trusted without reading about lifestyle blogs. Offices would shut by 6 pm and Family time didn't have to be a keyword that your psychologist keeps reminding about...back then, we yearned for things to get more space-age but now, me and my type have realized, the price we are paying is not the deal we had hoped for...