I AM GEN X. The statement startled me when I saw the dates for this classification—people born between the mid-1960s-1980s are Gen X!
I didn’t even know what Gen X was until I read the term in a book. Until now, I had been seeing posts of people born in the 1970s, people who were in their 50s, embracing your greys and more. But this definitive classification was a little unnerving.
How does being Gen X make me different? I began to think. I didn’t jump around like the Millennials or do Tik Tok like Gen Y. I don’t bend like the Baby Boomers. I still walk straight. I can still do my work, cook, bathe, dress up, colour my hair, wax, drive my car (my license is valid till I am 60). I still have the ability to see, hear, taste and think. I enjoy going to the cinema halls, cultural shows, gardens and sanctuaries. I can climb a jeep for the safari, hold my camera for pictures. I use WhatsApp, social media and I enjoy music.
As Gen X, I have witnessed more innovations. I lived a simpler life with less noise and more common sense, lots of sustainable methods were part of our lives. We weren’t eaten up by capitalism, consumerism, and we took care of nature. Do all these practical qualities make me old and outdated? This question baffles me at times, because in this century we raise baffling questions related to mental health, are battling a sixth mass extinction and climate change and the UN seems to be getting all the indigenous people back into its fold. Doesn’t this make ‘experienced Gen X’ the solution?
I was born in an old haveli in Old Delhi, but we moved to Panchshila Park in South Delhi when I was three years old. I walked with my mother to the Malviya Nagar market. Shivalik was only small pieces of agricultural land then, where the farmers grew fresh veggies. We would have fresh juice and buy farm fresh veggies, straight from the farmer—earth to home. The milkman came to the house with fresh milk. We bought things from the local kirana shop who was courteous and pleasing, even offered a sweet or two sometimes.
We recycled clothes by sharing with our cousins and other acquaintances. We carried cloth bags for veggies and other goods. We wore more cotton clothes and they were stitched by the family tailor. We only had what we needed. I have seen the ubiquitous salwar-kameez replaced by fusion clothing and red lehengas with pastel wedding dresses. We did not need to change our clothes hourly for Instagram or eat all the three meals in restaurants to be an influencer. I have seen handicrafts go from local to global; I have seen Khadi become a designer brand.
We went to the library, read slowly to retain, not to mumble or put jazzy bookstagrams. We spread the word about the book, and others read our recommendations. We did not tap into analytics every second or let our world be ruled by likes and pings.
All the markets in different localities had a weekly off, a different day for each market. Now, the malls have ended that. Sundays were a holiday when we went for picnics and outings. Now, the concept of separating work and life has disappeared with hybrid habits taking over.
I went to school in a rickshaw, covered like a box except for window space, pulled by a rockshaw-wallah. Later, I moved to the school bus. It didn’t have an AC nor did our classrooms. We had a small canteen near the playground at school, where we ate samosas and pakoras. We had imli ke ladoo outside the school. We drank Coca-Cola and Fanta sometimes, but primarily, it was sugarcane and orange juices and Banta soda. We even visited the Coca-Cola factory near Super Bazaar in Connaught Place; the factory closed eons ago. The school also took us to see the movie Gandhi at Chanakya Hall, which is now a mall with a PVR.
I used to suck my thumb while watching movies every Sunday on a black and white big boxed Toshiba TV. It changed to a colour TV during the Asian Games in the 1980s. I watched a few Doordarshan (DD) shows such as Chitrahaar, old movies featuring Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Nutan, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Hema Malini; the detective series on Sundays. We avoided Krishi Darshan, the DD staple.
DD also evolved to include series such as Hum Log, Swabhimaan, Shanti. We used to shake the antenna when signals went off. Now, Wi-Fi routers and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote offer us, often puzzling, infinite choices. It has ousted the cable TV of the intermediate years.
Then came an Amitabh Bachchan era to be replaced by Shah Rukh Khan era.
I enjoyed the VCR (rented movies) and the music tapes. I had a big Panasonic tape recorder. I had a huge collection of Lata Mangeshkar, Enigma, Sade, and George Michael songs. I listened to the songs played on All India Radio. The RJs of FM have taken away that slow charm; now I listen to Sonu and Sweety can do the Ishq on104.8 Ishq FM. I am witness to the rise of videos, the proliferation of talk shows and podcasts, and global and Indie music on YouTube and Spotify.
I had long conversations on the big black phone, which only a few people had because it would take years to get that phone sanctioned by MTNL. We used to get paper bills for that to deposit at the telephone exchange. We stood in queues for everything-from railway tickets to post offices, banks, and government offices.
We wrote long letters on the blue paper that was also an envelope, it cost 35p from the post office. We sometimes licked it with our tongues to stick it. The postcard cost 15p. Now, there are memes, vlogs and likes, shares and meaningless comments.
We had pen pals who would write to use from other countries. I collected stamps, comics and greeting cards. We saw photographs being taken from big cameras. DSLRs have given way to mirrorless now.
We travelled mostly by slow trains, steam engines. Then came the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and now, Vande Bharat. Air travel, a luxury, now is commonplace with airports becoming megacities.
I had a collection of ink pens and ink colours—green, red, blue, black. There used to be a pen in which all the four different coloured refills were there. We could just press a switch and use the different colours. I wonder what happened to that pen.
We wrote neatly in our copies, covered them with brown paper, had satchel school bags and black Bata shoes. For PT, there were white canvas shoes.
The only cars that plagued the roads were a FIAT and an Ambassador. We possessed both, so life wasn’t a difficult drive. We haggled with the autorickshaw drivers sometimes. We sat in the black and yellow taxis and the driver used to have a meter near the winshield—meter down karo aur dikhayo kitne pe start kiya (start the meter and show us the price it starts with). Now Uber, Ola softwares decide the charges.
I haven’t travelled much in DTC buses, but then they were always falling apart. I always saw people hanging on the railing of the steps—few and far.
I went to a computer school to learn about computers, you see I was 26 when computers entered the market. I didn’t know how to start or shut it when I started working. I have seen the big boxy computer replaced with smart screens and multiple softwares.
I have saved data on floppies, USBs, hard disks and now clouds. I have seen hotmail, rediffmail, yahoo mail vanish and the rise of gmail, and customised mails. I have witnessed globalisation. I have seen the rise of AI and loss of jobs.
I use the laptop, and possess only one ink pen. I still like to read paperbacks though. And I browse online academies for courses.
I no longer wear white canvas shoes for my walks. I have transited to foreign sports shoes.
The big fat Motorola mobile entered my life in 1996. Then, I saw the rise of the STD booths, internet cafes, and I saw them fade away in time. Now, I own a foreign smartphone and use hotspot.
Every stranger was an uncle or an aunty, mama, chacha. Uncles and aunties are replaced with Mr X and Mrs Y or first names.
The family is now limited to mother, father and siblings, the extended cousins are long gone, except in smaller towns and villages.
The Delhi I was born in had lesser people, more space for elite shopping centres and the greenest trees ever.
As decades passed, and more consumer goods came, we moved to retail from the tailoring shops, to smart TVs, smartphones and laptops. No more queues, only clicks for most things. I live in a skyscraper and my smartphone is my one-stop shop. It is my TV, music box (the Walkman also came for a short while), delivery man, pedometer. The only thing that reminds me of being Gen X is the habit of reading paperbacks, lounging in my bed. I have seen the magazines fade, the newspapers struggle and the digital trolls on the rise. I saw the end of the magazine era, rise of blogs, social media and websites, I see a world full of possibilities amid the chaos.
There are no distinctions at work, writing is emojis and acronyms, and Wren & Martin is perhaps confined to a museum of grammar somewhere on Earth.
I still walk a lot daily. I yearn for lesser traffic and cleaner air. I have gone from fresh milk and farm vegetables to Amazon deliveries and courier services. I am not a name anymore, but a number. I am a slave to algorithms and analytics. I am seeing the flowers and birds dwindle and the trees covered in dust and pollution. I don’t make a noise, I simply keep walking, viewing and absorbing the changes.
I am not in a rush for I have seen the world change and I know the world will keep changing because the nature of the human brain is to evolve. And you will see the same too, as one day you will be X too.
But you know what, it doesn’t matter what generation you label me as, for the Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, I am ageless, bodyless and just another evolving life form here for a short while. They have seen billions of us come and go and they haven’t aged or changed. And they can’t be classified because they will never be X.
I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z
Read previous posts: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K,L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.
Queen of Treasures 
Such a collage showing the transition – the socialist India to capitalist India!
Lovely!
ha ha
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s been quite a social shift, and we all have to adapt. Till another era comes up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Read the whole post very minutely and carefully and here are my opinions and observations on few things. Yes, I agree with you 200% that life when we were kids were very very simple, with limited or restricted demand. Yes, I too wore majorly stitched frocks by local tailor and that too made of same fabric as my sister. In our times siblings used to wear similar print clothes and I used to feel like that it was a symbol representing we are sisters. New clothes were only given to us during durga pujas and one in Poila baishak and as both my parents were working I got the privilege of have one more on my birthday and that to till my 7th standard. Playing after coming back from school in the evening was a must and then studies. We used to play with friends and visit each others houses and even our mothers also shower love on the their kids friends and the feeling was of different level. We grew up and the mobile era came, but for my parents it was luxury and they never give me one, but my sister after getting her first salary gifted me Nokia mobile, and I was on cloud 9. Siblings love used to be that strong in our times. Still date I remain simple in my choice of luxury… not yet Iphone owner, dont know how to do that 9 layer makeup and I wonder how can one have so much time to waste on these only. To me getting dressed up special in occasions suits is OK… I may look back dated by I loved to be the one. I really feel sorry to see that today people make gifts to other checking what’s the level of the person to be gifted or how much he spend to give him gifts. I get irritated watching this and feel how one can be so calculative in life. But yes I will confess one thing that was present earlier also and also in a sophisticated level at present is gossiping. Earlier in the evening all the neigbourhood ladies used to gossip with each other and now also I can see that in two segment … regular evening gossips or gossiping while walking and the other one is Kitty Party… earlier also it didnt suited me, neither it suits me now. I dont have so much time to waste to know what’s going on in other families. But I am available anytime if you need my help. I dont Know if I actually managed to say what I want to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I am Gen X as well! I have been through it all again through your post, Ambica. You have covered each and every aspect of our lives not missing the minutest details. I call myself the enlightened generation as only we have seen so many changes in our lives and still here to tell the tale. We are also a sandwich generation as we obeyed our parents and now we obey our kids in a way. Your post is a keepsake. I have bookmarked it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I.like the term Sandwich Generation! 🥪
LikeLike
Found your post very interesting Ambica and I read it thoroughly and enjoyed it thoroughly too.
I am Gen X as well and very very happy to be one cuz we are the privileged lot and the only ones who experienced the best of both the generations in good time. We were still young when the transition happened and we could cope easily.
Btw, I have done all the things that u have it n my childhood except riding on rickshaws etc cuz of the place where I am from.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Found your post very interesting Ambica and I read it thoroughly and enjoyed it thoroughly too.
I am Gen X as well and very very happy to be one cuz we are the privileged lot and the only ones who experienced the best of both the generations in good time. We were still young when the transition happened and we could cope easily.
Btw, I have done all the things that u have it n my childhood except riding on rickshaws etc cuz of the place where I am from.
LikeLiked by 1 person
hills and rickshaws don’t match! But plains and rickshaws are the thing, you still find them in delhi.
LikeLike
True… n when I think of man pulled Rickshaws I think of City of Joy
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have comprehensively covered the lifespan of a “gen X” very graciously, a virtue only we from the “gen x” recognise as a virtue. And I loved the way you hit the nail of the head so many times during the blog. We definitely lived better lives then than our kids, I feel. Yes, this cycle will go on, and we are nothing more than almost invisible specks in the cosmos, and therefore, I loved the way you concluded your blog so beautifully.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too am Gen X. Lots we had and lots to learn. We have seen the railways transforming to booking in person to IRCTC! We have evolved from the joy of writing letters to the joy of instant connect. Life is indeed a journey and each gen feels nostalgic 🙂
LikeLike
“We recycled clothes by sharing with our cousins and other acquaintances. We carried cloth bags for veggies and other goods. All the markets in different localities had a weekly off, a different day for each market. There used to be a pen in which all the four different coloured refills were there. We could just press a switch and use the different colours. I wonder what happened to that pen. We wrote neatly in our copies, covered them with brown paper, had satchel school bags and black Bata shoes. For PT, there were white canvas shoes.” As a millennial, I can say that at least some of our generation did and experienced all this too. Does that make us Gen X too then? Of course not, because as you said like you, all of us are just another evolving life form here for a short while.
LikeLike
Guess, I’m Gen X too! These categories are making things easier to study – this is what they say. But, I personally don’t like these divisions and be a part of GenZ jokes 🤣
Liked the article though. It took me down the memory lane:)
LikeLike
What a trip down memory lane! Your journey from analog to digital resonates so much with my own experiences. From the days of renting VCRs and writing letters to now using smartphones and browsing online courses, it’s incredible how much has changed. Your reflections on how Gen X adapted to these shifts while holding onto the essence of simpler times are truly heartwarming.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a Gen X too and this post brought about such a wave of nostalgia! No matter where we lived all of us had similar childhoods and were brought up in a cosy family atmosphere where material pleasures mattered less than human relationships. And yes, we have seen everything from telephones to smartphones, bulky computers and floppy discs to sleek laptops and tiny memory cards. Life has changed around us and we have seamlessly blended with everything with every passing decade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a millennial and I miss the old days so much. So can totally relate to what you mean. I still love magazines and paperback books. I love the feel of paper. I try to teach my kids the importance of everything that my parents used to make me value.
The world has really changed. It’s scary mostly. But then change is the only constant in life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This labels of per generation has been a topic of my sisters and cousins last week and we can’t help not laugh about it. As grown ups nowadays, we don’t feel that our age gap is that far yet when talking about old stuff such as our old school and how it looked like when we actually went there (obviously, we went on different years, some like 10 years apart..haha).. I can hear our laughter until now!!! The changes we found out is amazing!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too belong to Gen X and didn’t know that until I read your post. I have done every single thing you’ve mentioned. The best thing during our times was that we didn’t care what others had or not, we were happy with the limited things we had. And that’s not because we couldn’t afford it; that’s because we didn’t need anything ‘extra’. The world is evolving, and it should. Old should give way to new, but how much of the new is needed, I’m not sure. Your post made me nostalgic and very happy! Thanks for bringing back the old times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a gen Y member and have some related version of Gen X and I kinda enjoy this generation compare to Gen Z . They are speedy , and don’t know to stop, they don’t know to slow down .. but I love their live the moment phase. I guess every generation has their own charm and who are witnessing most of the generation and adapt quickly are the best.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed with you Ambica. We used to swap clothes with cousins and also stich frocks. Watch black and white television and doordarshan. We went school by walking a long distance. Never had cocacola only had sugarcane juice. I also witnessed revolution.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a gen X too. Our generation has seen a lot and witnessed the transformation from gen x to y and z. Very interesting topic for a post, most people are unaware of these term yet.
LikeLike
I am a boomer but I can relate to a lot of things you mentioned. Good old times. We used to book the coupes when we traveled. TV was barely there when we were growing up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can imagine, TV entered the time I entered the world! Coupes were classy then, now it’s vande bharat and the mono rails.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a Gen X too and thanks so much for the trip down memory lane. I remember the picnics at Lodhi Gardens and the food from the vans at India Gate. The clothes rotation too. Great times. Technology has brought us closer but also driven us apart.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pros and cons of evolution! but we all end up the same, looking for comfort in Nature and our solace with loved ones.
LikeLike
Enjoyed reading the post Ambica and the sense of nostalgia it conveyed. Are you sure you’re not a Xennial? ( born in the late 1970s into the early 80s. I’m one. )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Am 1970 born
LikeLike
Though I am a Millenial, I have shared similar experiences. I loved your description of school days with the rickshaw rides and samosas at the canteen. It brought back so many sweet memories of my own school years! My juniour college canteen served samosa with sambhar and though it may sound a weird combo, it was so delicious to a hungry tummy. We would write a letter to our parents for Diwali as a part of school activity and mail them to ourselves through the post office. It was such a memorable experience. No matter the generation, we all have our unique experiences and wisdom to share.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This brought back so many happy memories.. I wish we could have kept living in some of the ways from back then 🙂
btw, the pen with the 4 colors still exists – ask the local stationary shop, and even miniso has it now!
PS: youngsters of today have not even heard of wren and martin – the first time i realised that, i was flabbergasted! I was so proud of my copy and diligently would do the exercises too 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
good to know about the pen! Wren & Martin, that language is long dead, I guess, everything is Google now!
LikeLike
I agree with the Gen X category. I too fall in this category. Even I used to save my data in floppy disks, CDs or in computer memory. Many things still resemble. You revived the memories.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a millennial but a lot of these things existed even in my growing years. Your post was therefore a wonderful walk down memory lane. And those pens which change ink colours at a click are still around!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d love to check the pens out in stationery stores now👍
LikeLiked by 1 person