On a rainy and a lazy Saturday
afternoon, not having much to do, I decided to revisit my postage stamp
collection which I hadn't touched since a long time. Browsing through this
collection which I still manage to update, a wave of nostalgia swept over me.
Those carefree days of yore replayed in my mind and I couldn’t help but think of
today's childhood and that of the yesteryears.
There were hobbies then and there are ‘probably’ hobbies now. ‘Probably’ because I hardly know anyone from the present generation who see beyond the ‘electronic world’ which has so much to offer, so much to entertain, so much to while away one’s time. In those days painting, philately, music, songs, reading etc were considered a usual way of life and one was not forced
Those were the days when radio was an important mode of entertainment. And radio meant ‘Vividh Bharati’’Bombay A’ and ‘Bombay B’. Vividh Bharati was all about ‘Bhule bisare Geet’and I recollect ‘Hawa Mahal’ (Is it still on air?). The slow, but pleasant tune of “Hawa Mahal’ still plays out in my mind occasionally. Bombay A and B was about political discussions and talks on agriculture interspersed by Indian classical music.
Television was just
launched then and was a luxury that few could afford. And the TV programs in
B/W started at 6 PM, with a soulful rendering of DDs signature tune. Chaya
Geet, Phool khile hai Gulshan Gulshan, the Sunday evening feature film
interspersed by ‘Marathi Batmya’ …and by 10pm it was all over, television
programmes done for the day. So off to bed latest by 10 PM!
Telephones meant only landlines and public call booths and not every household had a phone. It was a privilege to have one! It was ‘Bombay Telephones’ back then, not MTNL and with only 6 digit telephone numbers which were easy to memorize. Electronic diaries came much later. Telephone numbers were jotted in small pocket dairies and kept carefully in wallets or shirt pockets.
All
these meant that choices were limited in the world of entertainment and hence
the recourse to hobbies. An interest in classical music developed as there weren’t
any alternatives to listen to apart from the film songs which were duly
memorized and can be recollected with ease even today. In contrast, how many lyrics
from today’s songs can be recalled? There was a lot of free time which lead to
pursuit of creative hobbies like painting, knitting, embroidery etc.
As
I write this, the now obsolete concept of ‘Pen Pals’ comes to my mind.
Exchanging letters with people from different parts of the world, forging
friendships. Exchanging cultural notes, stamps and currencies’….Oh, what fun!!!
FB is probably an electronic version of the same.
And
how times have changed?? The B/W now seemingly humongous idiot boxes have given
way to sleek and smart LED TVs with 24 hours nonstop entertainment. Radio means
FM, blurting out the latest chartbusters. Classical music can go and take a
walk. Landlines are giving way to mobile phones, smart mobile phones which can
do everything.
What
is the outcome? Inventions which were supposed to save time have made us
busier! Hardly a program is being watched to its completion. Changing channels
frequently is the norm. Instant gratification is the need. Patience is the
casualty. We carry 2 mobiles in the innocent misconception that it will be
convenient and get more irritable when they keep ringing, sometimes
simultaneously. We don’t sit peacefully any longer, There is a constant need to
send messages, update statuses and check out missed calls….uff!
As
I write this, I question myself, am I being cynical? I think. Am I searching
for unnecessary faults in a way of life which today’s generation has taken to
like a fish to water? May be, may be not! But aren’t these facts?
Looking
outside my window I see the huge glass and concrete structures of BKC staring
at me and I compare the grand Gothic structures of yore dotting the Fort area
in Mumbai starting from the majestic CST with these. These giant glass
structures – How telling are they of today’s times? Speedily constructed
structures, the glass façade giving me an impression of what facades are
actually supposed to do. Hide the internal faults, the ugliness, the ineptness
of modern constructions; an outcome of today’s need for instant gratification.
It’s a reflection of the world that we live in today. A superfluous world!
