I was pretty damned close- a border away but the scene was surely alot cooler in the "good old" days. Yea, we mostly had only Ambassidors and Contessas and not these Fords, Hyundais, Skodas, Bentleys, Benzs, Toyotas etc. And we also only had those ol' Stalinist bldgs instead of these sleek looking skyrises. But- at least u could puff and get blazed off your ass in front of a police station and nobody woulda given a shit. And Holi in the "good old" days were much better than the lights and sound shows you see today, that's for sure.
But hey- things are finally improving! That's a breather!!!