A friend met me after a long time at a little-known restaurant which we often used to frequent for spending those lovely moments. Nothing recent was talked about; the past was recalled with rejoicing. I guess we didn’t reinvent any moment, we only relived the past. Nothing new was talked about, and yet we were not tired of repeating it. It seemed we had started from where we had left that day, many years ago.
We were being nostalgic, and it made us feel good. Not without reason are psychologists trying to analyse the enduring appeal of the past, which, till recently, was considered a sickness. Derived from the Greek nostos (return) and algos (pain), nostalgia no longer means ‘return of the pain’. On the contrary, it now improves mood, increases self-esteem, strengthens social bonds and imbues life with meaning. Else, why would someone forty-plus be ecstatic about an old forgotten moment?
Many acquaintances have gone nostalgic about ‘rim-zim’, the popular masala soft drink of the 1980s that is now being revived. One of the strong reasons for relaunching the four-decade-old drink rests on a study which concludes that, among other things, the consumers are becoming nostalgic about their taste. As fashion, lifestyle and attitudes of the past stage a comeback, nostalgia is something the market has prepared itself to reckon with.
However, nostalgia is not just about happy memories; it can also be about longing for a time when things were simpler or for a time when we felt more connected to others. Nostalgia is a relatively new concept. The word was first coined in 1688 by Swiss physician Johannes Hofer, who defined it as a neurological illness of continually thinking about one’s homeland and longing for return.
Sheer experience tells us that middle-aged people might score better than younger generations in being nostalgic. Maybe for the modern geeks there are gadgets and girlfriends to keep themselves glued to the ‘present’. But for the middle-aged, being nostalgic reminds them that their lives have been worthwhile, that they are happy, and that life has some sense of purpose or meaning.
Given the monotony of present-day life, nostalgia is seemingly becoming a great escape to the good old days. But there are those, and a good number of them, for whom the past is a flashback of painful memories. For such souls, ‘nostalgia workouts’ are the next big thing that the neighbourhood gyms will soon come up with. But for the blissful, those who have had their first brush with love, being nostalgic is for sure a way of life that is not only personal but private too that the market has yet to tap into!