I remember the late 1990s and early 2000s, when I was addicted to MTV and Channel V. After coming back to school and sometimes even early in the morning it was a tradition to switch to these channels to get a taste of the latest Western pop music. After that I went to college and stayed in hostel for 4 years, away from the crowds of a city and away from television sets. I yearned to go home and watch Channel V or MTV. Unfortunately, whenever I would go home during vacations, and put those channels on, I would only see shows like Roadies or some crappy Hindi film music. Staying away from TV, and these music channels playing lesser and lesser English music, put me in a state of limbo. I was stuck with the same songs for all four years of my college years. I would say, till last year, 75% of my music collection comprised of what I had put together way back in 2003/2004. Of late, it has come to my knowledge that MTV and Channel V have completely stopped airing Western music (You may say there is VH1, but whatever!).

What set me rolling were a few trips abroad. I would say, every trip I make abroad opens me up to tons of awesome new music! Trips to US would anyway do so, because radio stations in the US play only the latest and most popular music. Like, my discoveries during the trip to Korea were Canon in D Major (thanks Yunseong for this), and Katie Melua; during my trip to the US in 2008, I was introduced to Katy Perry (thanks the cab drivers of Chicago); during the Smoky Mountains road trip Dave Matthew’s Sing Along was the only thing on my ears (thanks to Ranga and Patrik da); 2009 was introduction to Coldplay (thanks Sudeep; well I had heard Coldplay’s Yellow way back in 2004 but remained stuck at that, did not even know about the existence of Viva La Vida and The Scientist!); 2010 was to perhaps the largest collection of awesome songs, but particularly Beera (thanks Patrik da – you literally planted that song in my head). 

So coming back to the point, what am I currently listening to? My last trip to Chicago was very fruitful in opening up a huge number of awesome songs to me. But I would think it also has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of awesome songs have released this year! I definitely think so! Thanks also to iTunes, I can now tune to hundreds of radio stations from almost all over the world, listen to music from any genre, and even switch channels if I don’t like what they are playing: Mozart to Yanni, Sleeping music to Soundtracks, Pop to Rock, with Jazz, Blues and all that and much more in the middle, or just Top 40 Billboard songs! I am loving it :)

Here are a few songs I am currently listening to, and they are in no particular order (and yes I know, some of them are not latest any more):

Lady Gaga – Bad Romance (this song became the most watched video on Youtube for a while)
Shakira – Waka Waka
K’Naan – Waving Flag
Ke$ha – Tik Tok
Fireflies – Owl City
Jason Derulo – Whattya Want
Train – Hey Soul Sister
Timbaland feat. Katy Perry – If We Ever Meet Again
Raavan OST – Beera
Justin Beiber – Baby (this song’s video is currently the most watched video on Youtube)

This actually sends me back to Q4-2008, when me, Rashmi and Ramya had that wonderful run of watching some excellent movies in Chicago!

And this I recommend to all of you, if you have iTunes and broadband internet, go to the Radios section, and play from one of the hundreds of music channels, especially Absolute Top 40 (1.fm). If you don’t, you could still visit www.1.fm and play one of their tens of music channels!

Enjoy!

So the first one goes back really far into my childhood, I do not even remember if I could walk or talk back then… but it was sometime around 1987 or 88 when I was about two or three years old and I was travelling with my entire family to Nagpur. I remember the point when my eldest brother was standing in the train, and I could see mountains in the background, the train running fast around them, and he had a cigarette in his mouth. Well not the usual cigarette, but a sweet candy cigarette. It was Phantom. As kids we loved ‘smoking’ Phantom Cigarettes. The coolest part of the entire stick was supposed to be the red-painted tip which required some lick polishing to glow like a lighted cigarette end. The fad lasted many years…

And the second one, dates back to circa 1991. The occasion? Well, I stood first in my class and it was the felicitation ceremony. I got a few certificates and a pack of chocolates. As a kid I was obviously ‘happier’ to get the chocolates than the certificates! So eager to have them that I had opened the pack right there and had a few. On reaching home, my dad, like a very good dad instructed me not to have so many of them in one go. And they were locked in the cupboard. I would get one a day. Fine. Those chocolates were amazing. They had a sugary butter scotch flavour, much like the Lacto King (another gem of a childhood and adolescent memory). So about a week later, I got hyper curious to open the cupboard and have more than my share of 1-a-day. As soon as I came back home from school, I rushed to open the cupboard only to find, to my horror, none of the chocolates there any more! Apparently somebody ate them all before I could or donated them to poor kids. I have never known what happened with those chocolates. I never dared ask my parents in the fear of being questioned. So in the following days, every time I went to a shop, I would secretly look around the jars and shelves to see if they had stock of those chocolates. Years went by, and like a memory that haunted me for long, I would still walk up to the cupboard and open it to check if some of the chocolates from that pack fell out into some hidden corners and crevices in the cupboard. Alas my efforts failed. However, my memory did not fail.

It happened a few days ago, that a displanted desi friend posted this link on her blog ‘Phantom :)’. Amazed at the fact that it is still manufactured and sold, and in the same packing as about fifteen years back, I was quick to Google and find an email id of the manufacturer.

This followed:

From: Aditya Marathe
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:29 PM
To: harnik@vsnl.com; harnik@eth.net
Subject: Harnik Phantom Sweet Cigarettes

Sir,
Where in Pune can I find Phantom sweet cigarettes? I have been really looking for it.
Tell me which stores I can find it in Camp, Wanowrie or Kondhwa areas.
Thanks,
Aditya.

From: Harnik
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 5:06 PM
To: Aditya Marathe
Subject: Re: Harnik Phantom Sweet Cigarettes

You may try Chandan, Dorabjee, and several other stores in Pune.
Thanks.
Gautham Harnikk
—

I was quick to go to Dorabjee’s on MG Road and ask the manager where he has kept Phantom. He took me to a shelf only to find it empty. I told him No Way and asked him to go and search in his godown. He was prompt and came back looking for me with a cart full of Phantoms :) I got many. For myself and a few friends.

I also got a pack of Pan Pasand :) and a pack of Ravalgaon Laco Bonbon (read the second story above!).

The packing for these three things have still remained the same. As they were about 20 years back. Phantom still has mind teaser games behind it. Only, now Phantom comes in a glossy paper pack, which might just be a bit water resistant :)

This made my day :)
Valentine’s Day!

On a different note:
Phantom contains: Sugar, corn syrup, corn flour, and gelatine along with permitted synthetic food colours and added flavour.
Gelatin is of animal origin.
Costs Rs 3 for a pack of 10 Phantoms.

Warning: Smoking is injurious to health.

26782.11840