Sunday, November 3, 2013

HAPPY D-WALL-E!

This is not just another buzzfeed article.
This chain of thought  triggered when Professor Walter Lewin was explaining centrifugal force by the way his grandmother demonstrated its use in kitchen. The professor explains how his Grandma used to dry vegetables by stirring the colander ; and thereby allowing the tiny water particles to be ejected out of the colander. The professor who teaches  at MIT expressed “Ahh.. How technology has taken out the romance out of regular and common things!” Now that an MIT professor has made a statement like that,I will not sound a fool when I elucidate this with examples.
1.   Around 2 decades back, you would have to retain your slam book . You would encircle the birthdays of your close and dear friends on the calendar.You would have bought a warm birthday card and sent it miles away via post.
Now you simply leave a message on facebook after seeing the reminder;that is the lousiest way to wish considering there may be 900 people doing the same.
2.  So Ladies ! gone are the days when he would have swept you off your feet by falling down on his knees and proposing to you. Love has found a veil to hide and this time it is all online.Fear of rejection and embarrassment makes us express our first wish on phone or through chat. That is playing so safe. The very emotion is killed. Likewise you don’t get to see her shock and she doesn’t remember your facial expression either. I have also witnessed brides calling up their grooms in case the “baraat is stuck up. No excitement?No suspense?
3.    Exam results! There used to be a time  when friends would walk  in droves and the queue up in front of the result board that would be impenetrable. Each would get comforted in the other's disappointment. The jubilant topper would be taken and flung up in the air. It would be euphoria that is seen in cricket matches today.Now? You  get result via sms or on the internet and phone calls would suffice for all the jubilation.
4.   So you think you can pretend? Gone are the days when people would feign illness and remain absent from work. Now your employer will trace you down on your cellphone. Or worse install some GPS or microchip to know your location. Worst he might even come over ,give you magic pills to pop and demand you join work asap or else the stock markets crash!
5. You can no longer say “no” to that gaming console your son badly wants . You can’t give him the excuse that Nintendo Wii isn’t available in Jhumri Talaiya. Neither can you say that you don’t have cash in your wallet. He knows you have internet and flipkart offers cash on delivery.
6.Gone are the days moms used to sing their babies lullabyes. Just look for lullabyes on youtube and play them on!
7.What would have happened if there was no hawkeye and no 3rd umpire?The cussing and the debate  would have gone for weeks. India would have won so many more number of times.
8. As a child I reminisce the hours of preparation Diwali took. Right from washing the diyas,to placing the wicks after oiling diyas. In between  checking the level of oil in the diyas and replenishing some 50 odd diyas around the house. Now it is so effortless. You hardly realise the tradition of diyas. Just press a switch and your diwali lights start flickering. Though artificial lights light up,they never compete with the beauty of the traditional diyas.
Here’s wishing Happy Diwali!

  P.S I wish they had an app that could play the fire cracker like high decibel sound so that people could put on earphones  and those who despise high decibels (like me) never witness the noise. Noise free Diwali!