Ever Wondered What Life Was Like 24 years ago in India and America? A Glimpse of 1995!

Is it not axiomatic to say how different life was in India as compared to that in the United States during 1995?

Its 2019, quite a while since 1995, and sometimes its important to look back on some of the years that mattered to you the most. People used devices such as pagers (and beepers)  to receive messages; and/or also to reply to them.

In India, it was the time when the Shiv Sena came into power in Maharashtra and Bombay became Mumbai; it was also a time when Mayawati (Mayawati Prabhu Das) became Uttar Pradesh’s first Dalit chief Minister. 

It was the year the iconic film DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge) was released, the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra.  

  

In the United States of America it was also a time when Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) was the the 42nd president of the United States (from 1993 to 2001). 

The South Africa State President was Nelson Mandela and the Prime Minister of India was P. V. Narasimha Rao.

The world's seventh longest and the United State's largest airport - the Denver International Airport (an international airport in the western United States) was opened in 1995! 

After eight wonderful seasons of Full House, the world said good bye to Danny Tanner and his three kids!  

Madonna, Van Halen, Alanis Morissette, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, Ace of Base were some of the popular bands (at least which I listened to!)

 Pocohantas, Clueless, Jumanji, Braveheart, Casper, Toy Story (the very first ever animated feature film) were some of the popular movies of the year!

The final, yes 'FINAL' strip of CALVIN AND HOBBES was published! “I believe I’ve done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels,” Bill Watterson had told newspaper editors that year, shortly before he brought the story of his tiger and the boy to a close.

After a 20 year hiatus of severed ties with Vietnam, President Clinton announced a normalisation of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam! Wow, I didn't even know that!

Michael Jordan rejoined Chicago Bulls (returned to NBA) ending his retirement!

It was also the year that the Million Man March took place in Washington D.C. by the Nation of Islam (NOI)in Detroit Michigan(founded by Wallace D. Fard, also known as Wallace Fard Muhammad) leader Louis Farrakhan. 

The main aim of this movement was to foster a spirit of self sufficiency and support  within the black community. The event was also used as an event aimed at combating the negative racial stereotypes in the American media and in popular culture.

For the millions of people residing in the United States and across the world, it was the time when Microsoft launched its Windows 95 Operating system, which went on to sell tens and millions of copies in its first year itself! It was perhaps also the same time before living standards and employability began an inexorable decline right to this very day!

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates (left) looks on as “The Tonight Show” host Jay Leno co-hosts the official launch of Windows 95 at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, on August 24, 1995. 

If you were from that generation, what do you actually recollect from the 1990s or more precisely 1995? The self-styled King of Pop, Michael Jackson had corralled all three major service providers (America Onine (AOL), CompuServe, and Prodigy; and accessible on the Internet)

Michael Jackson Web chat 1995

https://youtu.be/IOA9E4dFqmw

A documentary about the changing urban backdrop of New York City. 

NYC Vanishing Landmarks: A 1995 video time capsule - The Urban Eye pt. 1 https://youtu.be/Ome6yVU2fTE via @YouTube 

View this nostalgic tour with Jerry Rio as he takes you on a as he explores the disappearing icons of this metropolis and find out what New Yorkers think about unchecked development and the corporate homogenization that has altered and destroyed much of the uniqueness of the New York City landscape

It was also the year when OJ Simpson verdict came out acquitting him of murders of both his ex wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. It was also the year when Tiger Woods, just a 19 year old professional golfer had won the US Amateur Championship and the fifth opening of McDonald's in Moscow, Russia. 

The year when the golden age of video games existed such as Super Mario World, Wing Commander, Final Fantasy III, and Commander Keen. Road Rash, The Legend of Zelda, Mortal Kombat, Sim City, Playstation, The Need for Speed, etc. Gameboy (the Dot Matrix Game), a game console manufactured by Nintendo which had games such as Tetris, Tennis, Yakuman, Super Mario Land, Alleyway and Baseball. 

 Then remember the Game Gear…another game console, which topped up others released by Sega? Of course there were others like Atari Lynx – the world’s first handheld electronic game with a color LCD and Turbo Express (handheld video game console). Weren’t these the good’ol days, the simpler times!  

   

It was also the nostalgic times of TV shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, Are You Afraid of The Dark, Saved By The Bell, Family Matters, Goosebumps, The Mask, Beverly Hills 90210 and many other TV shows! 

Instead of having iPods, there were disc-men and VCR’s. Bands like Nirvana, Guns and Roses, Sheryl Crow, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Tupac and Hootie and the Blowfish were really popular! 

As an Indian kid, so many things such as a Camlin/Natraj compass box or even a Milton water bottle were huge! Greeting cards were always sent out for birthdays or festivals and were meant to keep!! There were also ‘actual’ libraries we visited to borrow Archies comics or interesting books, unlike the present Kindle that is being used now. 

Advertising in India was at a high with foreign companies creating interesting advertisements such as Coke-Pepsi, Bajaj-Hero, Onida-Videocon-BPL,Closeup-Pepsodent and Fevicol. Remember TV when DD1 and DD2 for the cable? Well that was the deal, back then! :) 

There was a separate time for friends and for family! 

Nineteen-year-old Tiger Woods proudly hugs his winning trophy during the 1995 U.S. Amateur Championship tournament at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 27, 1995.

 Ronald McDonald performs in front of newly opened restaurant in Moscow on Friday, August 18, 1995. Now there are five McDonald’s restaurants in Moscow. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A Russian Army colonel and his children enjoy a meal in a newly opened McDonald’s restaurant in Moscow on August 18, 1995. 

A young Rwandan refugee carries a bag after he was obliged to flee along with thousands of Rwandan refugees from camps in Eastern Zaire on August 22, 1995, as Zairean authorities stepped up a forced-repatriation drive.