From love letters to meeting at the ‘nukkadwala dukan’, dating trends from the 90s we miss the most!

There is something about the 90s that makes us remember those days fondly. This was the age that gave us 'Titanic' and the ever-charming Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Near home, we have blockbusters like 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hain' and 'Dil To Pagal Hain', which made us believe in the invincible power of love and indeed, young lovers had a different experience, which, perhaps, today’s social media savvy generation would find difficult to relate to. A lot about dating has changed since then but these trends from the 90s are sure to make any die-hard romantic shed a tear of joy.

We pity the lovers who had never written or received a love letter. These are not merely letters conveying the message from a beloved because some even carried the emotions stained by tears or the lipstick marks of a fervent betrothal. And these came in all shapes and sizes, some big and gaudy and others so small that you can easily mistake it for a parking ticket. Unlike SMS or online messages, love letters took it’s own sweet time to reach the destination. And trust us, the longer the wait, the better it gets!

Hello! We are talking about a time when you cannot compress music into megabytes or kilobytes and then carry it in a pen drive. It was the time of the music system with cassette players. And people would often make audio tapes of their favourite songs and gift it to their lover. Those were the days of ‘piya basanti re’ and ‘ab mujhe raat din tumhara hi khayal hai’. Who cares if you cannot take your girlfriend to a live concert by Sonu Nigam, you can always make her a mixed tape of his popular songs using your cassette recorder!

Unlike smartphones, it was not possible to know the identity of your caller on a telephone unless you had a caller id. Fortunately, most Indian homes considered caller ids as a luxury and hence never got it installed. And love-struck couples had a good time creating their own ‘codes’. Often, the boy would dial the girl’s number and let the phone ring twice or thrice before dropping the call. The girl would take this cue and wait near the phone so that no else receives the call when he dials after a few minutes. Clever, isn’t it?

There was a time when STD calls cost a bomb and if you end up making such calls from home, in case the phone had the facility, there are high chances of getting caught when the bills reflected the amount. So how would young lovers separated by hundreds of miles talk? They would go to a nearby public telephone booth, popularly known as PCO, and make STD calls. While some talked for hours and others just for minutes, it all depended upon the money they carried in their pockets!

Unlike the ‘cool’ parents of today who are open to discuss their children’s love life, 90s parents were different. If a girl talked to a boy for too long and too often, most parents would grow suspicious. And if he happens to drop her home late at night, they would wait for her at the doorstep if not at the gate. Going on a date without making your parents suspicious needed special skills and 90s lovers were masters at that.

Most teenagers from the 90s have done this—meeting a lover at the ‘nukkadwala dukan’ (corner store). Those were not the days where you can easily send a message and let your lover know about your whereabouts. But there was nothing to worry about when you have a friendly shopkeeper at the neighbourhood shop who played the role of a godfather for young lovers. People in love could easily visit the shop under of pretext of buying groceries and ‘accidentally’ bump into their lover. What a coincidence!

If you love me, love my best friend too—at least that’s what most youngsters from the 90s followed. Under no circumstances could a person offend the best friend of his girlfriend because he or she is the ally who would carry the love letters or accompany both the lovers on a date. Yes, you read it right—there will be three people on a date because that was the easiest way for a girl to sneak out of the house accompanied by her best friend.

(All images used here are representational)