Everyone is a little nostalgic about their past. I hear the 70’s are actually making a comeback, style wise. So in honor of the best decade this world has ever seen, here’s a list of those things that everyone of you is sure to remember if you grew up in Pakistan during the 90’s. Get ready for the feels.
1. Playing “duck, duck, phoos” or “kiiiiiings” during recess at school.
You’d run to the playground as soon as the bell rang for recess to mark your favorite spot for your gang and play away like there’s no tomorrow. Also, just so you know, it’s ‘duck, duck, goose’.
2. Naz Pan Masala Adverts.
Some of us are guilty of spending many hours YouTubing these old advertisements (ah, the good days…. remember YouTube?). But this one give y’all extra feels, haina? bta do na!
3. Polka Ice Cream
Before the Jet Sports and the Cornettos of the world, there was the desi version of ice cream. The delectable choc bar, the creamy mango ice cream cups and who can ever forget the “Jungle mein mungle PAINDA ke dum se” jingle!
4. “Kaashtkaron ke naam aham pegham” after every 9pm news.
This may not have made sense to the city dwellers among us but we all miss sitting with our families after the 9pm news had ended to hear what new shenanigans dumbi sitti and sona urea were up to.
5. BP candies shaped into eye wear.
Here’s a look at how everyone under the age of 15 walked around with those flashy little pieces of eye candies.
6. Tariq Aziz Show on PTV.
The man has found a resurgence in fame recently thanks to the countless memes. All those who partook in the trend… Ye water cooler aapka hua!
7. Having no channels besides PTV.
You were spoiled for choice in those good old days really. Watch PTV or the colored stripes, after hours. Then along came the game changer. STN was here!
8. Shezan Juices.
Especially the Mango flavored one. It was the best fake-mango taste ever! High Fructose Corn Syrup FTW!
9. Abrar-ul-Haq: the chart topping musical superstar!
There was a time before Atif Aslam, before EP, before Ali Zafar. It was the time of Billo and Preeto and Majajan. We all loved it, danced to it and sang along to it. Abrar made Punjabi music mainstream.
10. Titanic Fever being a thing.
It was the one English movie EVERYONE around the globe had seen. Everyone knew who Jack and Rose were.
Confession time: I still haven’t watched this one in its entirety.
11. DVD/VHS/Laserdisc rentals.
With movies at 100 rupees a pop, people don’t rent movies a lot anymore. But there was a time when we’d go to the store to rent movies, whether it be a DVD, VHS or Laserdisc.
The struggle with scratched DVDs was too real.
12. Top Pops. And that seeti!
It annoyed the hell out of your parents when you’d blow it full volume in a closed-windows car. They knew, however, that they couldn’t stop you from savoring the crunchy goodness of these golden beauties.
13. Using these slap bands as foot rulers in class
14. Alpha Bravo Charlie’s was the one fandom that came this close to toppling Titanic’s.
The series that gave us our trademark, die-hard love for our military. It was Pakistan Army’s softer image, as they say, that introduced us to the private lives of those who are supposed to protect our territory.
15. Ainak Waala Jinn.
The decade that introduced us to the beauty of Mahnoor Baloch also contributed to many of us 90s kids’ nightmares in the form of ‘Bill Batori‘ the evil witch who posed a strong competition to our titular hero.
16. 5 words: Yassoo-Panjoo-Haar-Kabootar-Doli.
You tried very hard not to cry as your “friends” used all their might to strike your hands. Baba Rehmatullah, baba rehmatullah!
17. Trying to find your name in one of these:
But because your name was more than four letters long you’d never get to see it on those tangy sweet balls of gum. Anas, however, was a repeat occurrence.
18. The Futuristic Footwear.
Every decade has a contribution to the fashion so how could the 90s be left behind. We all sported these wherever we could and the fashion game for us 90’s kids was, as the youths say these days, on fleek!
These are actually making a comeback in adult fashion so here’s one thing you can relive your childhood through.
19. Our heroes on the field: A Cricket team to be proud of.
Now let’s talk about some of our 90’s heroes.We had many, many greats in cricket: Imran Khan, Waseem Akram, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar to name just a few.
Heck, we even won the World Cup during this awesome decade.
20. Who can forget the quintessential 90’s superhero:
There were these super cool planeteers who could summon our favorite childhood superhero just by combining their powers. “Captain Planet, he’s the hero, he’s gonna take pollution down to zero”.
Ah, they don’t make them cartoons as environmentally conscious anymore.
21. And finally, the biggest Pakistani event for us 90’s kids: Pervez Musharraf’s coup
While Captain Planet saves Earth from pollution, our General here wanted to “save” us from corrupt politicians. Chief sahab marched on to the then Prime Minister Sharif and executed a coup that lasted just short of a decade.
What do you remember about the 90’s?