She is a journalist's daughter. Newspapers, white papers, ink written articles, type-writers and fountain pens were her entire life. Even when she recalled her school days, one of the most vivid memories was graduating from a pencil to a fountain pen in the fourth grade and then finally to a ball-point in high school. There was so much emphasis given to good hand-writing...it was almost like it was a reflection of who you are. She recalled her Dad's famous phrase in Malayalam that translated to "Your fate's writing will depend on your hand-writing". Less than 2 decades now and everything's changed.....Kids are born browsing the laptop and using touch phones. Her daughter started writing with a ball pen the first time she actually wrote on paper which was after her practice sessions on smart boards and leap frogs etc. Hard to believe.
Same with books...There was nothing like the smell of an old book. The touch, the smell and the feel of paper was as important as its content. But with the advent of ebooks, online reading and the wiki-world, the anticipation of waiting for a favorite author's book hitting the stands is extinct and so is the pleasure of pulling out an old book off the racks and finding a book mark with scribbles that kindle a fond memory from the past. Something the next generation of kids would possibly never know.
Same with music....From the days of cassettes/tapes to CDs to iPods and podcasts. The pride of owning a cassette that no one else did or passing on a box of tapes from one gen to the other will soon be unheard of.
Also, letters. Yet another aspect of old school that was very close to her heart. She still remembered the days when her Dad would write to his Dad(in Kerala) in a blue envelope (they called it the inland letter). He would ask her to write the last few lines inquiring about his health and sign off. It took 7-10 days for the letter to reach Kerala and then the wait for his response began. She would wait for the post man after school everyday to see if her grand dad wrote back and had something nice to say. Finally, the letter would arrive but since it was addressed to her Dad she would wait until he got back from work to open it. Finally there it was, the handwritten text on the inland letter and not once would her Dad skip mentioning how impeccable her grandpa's hand-writing was, even at 70. Her daughter on the other hand skyped with her grandpa and it would be highly ambitious to hope that she would constantly correspond over email when she grows up. For all you know, she'll be face-booking him.
While technology is a great thing and internet is the biggest invention after the fire and the wheel and ironically it is her bread and butter, she couldn't help but think of the simpler times when life was as basic as it should be.....While technology claims to have made everything easy and simple, had it really?
A million-dollar question.........One that only a transitional generation(s) could answer....It baffled her to think how much change her grandma who was born and raised in the 1920s had seen. From days of the gramophone and radio (that she had to walk about 10 miles to listen to) to television and internet and email. From the hand-held phone (mouth piece separate from he ear piece) to land lines to cell phones to face-time....She'd seen it all....the evolution of man-kind to its pinnacle and the progress of a generation that was faster than the speed of light ....yet she stood poised and undeterred in the face of change. A moral/ethical standard and strength of character only someone from her generation is capable of projecting.
Of course accompanied by all the social changes. From a male dominated family setup, from fidelity and loyalty being the pillars of a sound marriage, from the girl child being a second-class citizen, her grandma had witnessed women empowerment in all its glory. While that sounds like a good thing and she was a strong proponent of equality for women, she couldn't help but wonder if the failings of the society on the social/moral front and the lapse of a generation's ability to choose right from wrong and the demise of character in young adults leading to drugs, premature sex and criminal tendencies had to do with the liberated woman syndrome. One that leads the woman to believe that the upbringing of a child is not her sole responsibility.....
Sad but isn't it true? Wish she had a time machine so she could travel back to those simpler, happier, more contended times and give her daughter a tour of the same. A glimpse into a glorious past that is now lost in the ramblings of a power driven, speed focused and ever-changing society.
Of course accompanied by all the social changes. From a male dominated family setup, from fidelity and loyalty being the pillars of a sound marriage, from the girl child being a second-class citizen, her grandma had witnessed women empowerment in all its glory. While that sounds like a good thing and she was a strong proponent of equality for women, she couldn't help but wonder if the failings of the society on the social/moral front and the lapse of a generation's ability to choose right from wrong and the demise of character in young adults leading to drugs, premature sex and criminal tendencies had to do with the liberated woman syndrome. One that leads the woman to believe that the upbringing of a child is not her sole responsibility.....
Sad but isn't it true? Wish she had a time machine so she could travel back to those simpler, happier, more contended times and give her daughter a tour of the same. A glimpse into a glorious past that is now lost in the ramblings of a power driven, speed focused and ever-changing society.
