We all love retro stuff. Old movies, old songs, classic and vintage cars, clumsy but beautifully made old cameras ( I personally love those Voigtlanders with their numerous levers and dials) etc. It is as if distance in time blurs the image and softens it sufficiently to take away the rough edges and induce warm and fuzzy feelings for those objects and times. Thus our colleges were fun places even though we hated them in real time; Chennai was a better place to live in despite water logging when it rained and water shortages when it didn't; girls were prettier then (debatable?), and women more virtuous (lack of opportunities?).
The old Ambassadors, Fiats and Standards had more character - code word for difficult to start in the mornings, apt to stop while running, would overheat, wipers and brakes would fail without notice, etc etc - than today's econoboxes whose only redeeming feature appears to be ever increasing fuel efficiency. This last is a matter of concern to me personally and has reached the realm of incredulity - a recent launch claimed 31.2 KMs per Litre. Thats the figure they quote for very efficient small cars in the USA with the exception that the figures are for Miles per GALLON. The enormity of the claim dawns on us when we consider that 1Gallon is 4.54 Litres. Despite the fact that today's econoboxes all look the same, they are infinitely more reliable: start when you want to, stop when they have to, turn where they have to and generally behave as they are expected to. But are we happy with them, after complaining for years about the older models which did not share these characteristics? No. We want retro and are willing to pay insane amounts for that outdated look.
Take the new trend in digital cameras: a slew of retro-looking ones have been launched with modern innards but resembling the range-finder cameras of the 60s. When we had those ones we desperately thought them uncool and wished for the SLRs. When Olympus came up with their sleek and small OM range we wanted them rather than the bulky Nikons. When Contax teamed up with Porsche and Yashica to revive their brand through the RTS range with revolutionary features and superb looks, we wanted that. But fifty years on, the 60s cameras are all the rage. It seems that we prefer the modern to the products and designs of the immediately past, but given 40 to 50 years distance in time, we seem to covet the old in preference to the newest.
The general rule of retro seems to be: a) 40 to 50 years old; b) form in preference to functional efficiency and c) insane cost for given feature-set and functionality.
As in many other things we in India also love the retro. We love KL Saigal's raw singing, Talat Mehmood's silken ghazals, black and white movies of Guru Dutt, and the remembered virtues of our living spaces. We waste no opportunity to say "old is gold". Our politicians and babus also like the retro Ambassador cars (not so much out of a love of the retro as for the illusion of simplicity they appear to confer on their owners and users, I suspect). The simplicity of our political and ruling elite is very complex. Their fondness for the retro may have something to do with their hankering for the times when the rulers were all-powerful and could pretty much do what they pleased and as they pleased without all the need to consult and confabulate with the ruled class. No one embodies this more than the Raja of Retro, Mr.Pranab Mukherjee.
We have just elected ourselves a President in Pranab, who is retro personified. He resembles a 19th century Bengali Bhadralok, straight out Bankim Chandra's novels. In his beliefs he is an unreconstructed Socialist of the 60s and 70s. Some might say that that is a risk that comes with being a Bengali. His political persuasion is that a Gandhi (not the Mahatma and his descendants, but the Nehrus-turned Gandhis) knows best. His principle of governance is that a few politicians complimented by many babus know what is good for you and me and generally the less we know, the better for us. He is fond of demonstrating his retro credentials, even going so far as to amend the Tax laws recently with effect from 1962. Nineteen freaking sixty two!
His next retro act will perhaps be to retroactively right a wrong that happened in 1984. When Indira Gandhi was assasinated in '84, our retro man staked his claim to be the next numero uno. Little did he realise that in the Indian political calculus numero deux comes after numero uno and that's about as close it can get to the latter. Numero unos come from a family destined to be numero unos for ever and ever. The contest is always to become numero deux, as is now playing out with that ever green political protagonist, our esteemed minister for Agriculture with a penchant for digits in pies of various shapes and sizes. Our retro man would love to be able to go back and undo the great injustice of 1984. And then again he may yet face the mortification of having to anoint the scion of the numero uno family as the new numero uno. He may yet pull off a rabbit from a retro hat and become President with effect from 1984 which would let him retroactively decline to let an unelected ex-pilot to head the government.
He might even retroactively resign his Presidentship in order to become the new Prime Minister, his life-long dream and live that dream in the Red Fort - retroactively converted to Prime Ministerial residence of course. Truly a Retro Raja.
The old Ambassadors, Fiats and Standards had more character - code word for difficult to start in the mornings, apt to stop while running, would overheat, wipers and brakes would fail without notice, etc etc - than today's econoboxes whose only redeeming feature appears to be ever increasing fuel efficiency. This last is a matter of concern to me personally and has reached the realm of incredulity - a recent launch claimed 31.2 KMs per Litre. Thats the figure they quote for very efficient small cars in the USA with the exception that the figures are for Miles per GALLON. The enormity of the claim dawns on us when we consider that 1Gallon is 4.54 Litres. Despite the fact that today's econoboxes all look the same, they are infinitely more reliable: start when you want to, stop when they have to, turn where they have to and generally behave as they are expected to. But are we happy with them, after complaining for years about the older models which did not share these characteristics? No. We want retro and are willing to pay insane amounts for that outdated look.
Take the new trend in digital cameras: a slew of retro-looking ones have been launched with modern innards but resembling the range-finder cameras of the 60s. When we had those ones we desperately thought them uncool and wished for the SLRs. When Olympus came up with their sleek and small OM range we wanted them rather than the bulky Nikons. When Contax teamed up with Porsche and Yashica to revive their brand through the RTS range with revolutionary features and superb looks, we wanted that. But fifty years on, the 60s cameras are all the rage. It seems that we prefer the modern to the products and designs of the immediately past, but given 40 to 50 years distance in time, we seem to covet the old in preference to the newest.
The general rule of retro seems to be: a) 40 to 50 years old; b) form in preference to functional efficiency and c) insane cost for given feature-set and functionality.
As in many other things we in India also love the retro. We love KL Saigal's raw singing, Talat Mehmood's silken ghazals, black and white movies of Guru Dutt, and the remembered virtues of our living spaces. We waste no opportunity to say "old is gold". Our politicians and babus also like the retro Ambassador cars (not so much out of a love of the retro as for the illusion of simplicity they appear to confer on their owners and users, I suspect). The simplicity of our political and ruling elite is very complex. Their fondness for the retro may have something to do with their hankering for the times when the rulers were all-powerful and could pretty much do what they pleased and as they pleased without all the need to consult and confabulate with the ruled class. No one embodies this more than the Raja of Retro, Mr.Pranab Mukherjee.
We have just elected ourselves a President in Pranab, who is retro personified. He resembles a 19th century Bengali Bhadralok, straight out Bankim Chandra's novels. In his beliefs he is an unreconstructed Socialist of the 60s and 70s. Some might say that that is a risk that comes with being a Bengali. His political persuasion is that a Gandhi (not the Mahatma and his descendants, but the Nehrus-turned Gandhis) knows best. His principle of governance is that a few politicians complimented by many babus know what is good for you and me and generally the less we know, the better for us. He is fond of demonstrating his retro credentials, even going so far as to amend the Tax laws recently with effect from 1962. Nineteen freaking sixty two!
His next retro act will perhaps be to retroactively right a wrong that happened in 1984. When Indira Gandhi was assasinated in '84, our retro man staked his claim to be the next numero uno. Little did he realise that in the Indian political calculus numero deux comes after numero uno and that's about as close it can get to the latter. Numero unos come from a family destined to be numero unos for ever and ever. The contest is always to become numero deux, as is now playing out with that ever green political protagonist, our esteemed minister for Agriculture with a penchant for digits in pies of various shapes and sizes. Our retro man would love to be able to go back and undo the great injustice of 1984. And then again he may yet face the mortification of having to anoint the scion of the numero uno family as the new numero uno. He may yet pull off a rabbit from a retro hat and become President with effect from 1984 which would let him retroactively decline to let an unelected ex-pilot to head the government.
He might even retroactively resign his Presidentship in order to become the new Prime Minister, his life-long dream and live that dream in the Red Fort - retroactively converted to Prime Ministerial residence of course. Truly a Retro Raja.
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