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Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Viswamitra, Jul 1, 2017.

  1. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    January 1, 1967

    I woke up at 5:30 a.m. listening to Vishnu Sahasranamam played in the cassette player. I wished happy new year to both my parents. My mother was wearing a white towel around her hair to dry it out after her shower and my father was still tied up in Yoga and Meditation started at 4:30 a.m. Quickly brushed my teeth and had a cup of milk. I had a wonderful shower with hot water drawn from coal-fired copper boiler. I got dressed up quickly and ran to the Temple that was 7 blocks away from home. I listened to the melodiously sung Thirupavai-Thiruvambavai by the priests. After Aarti was finished, I completed circumambulation of the inner Parikar and waited for the priest to distribute piping hot Pongal. I came back home at 7 a.m. I went around the house into the beautiful garden and plucked Hibiscus, Jasmine, Parijatha, etc. in a nice basket and handed them over to my mom. I also plucked a few lemons, tomatoes, green chilis, curry leaves and coriander leaves in my second round.

    I gently opened the tap at the backyard and water was nicely flowing through the channel to supply water to the banana trees. After finishing the water supply to the banana trees, I attached a hose to the tap and watered the lemon and orange trees on the side of the house. Then, I kept the tap open for a while for the water to come through the channel and reach the front of the house to water all the Jasmine, Hibiscus, Parijatha, etc. Mango, Coconut and Jackfruit trees were already large enough to survive with water table underneath the ground.

    I came back inside the house and looked at the time table to understand the classes I needed to attend for the day. I gathered all notebooks (with homework) and books and arranged them in a cloth bag hanging from my shoulder. I politely said no to my mother when she asked me to take breakfast as my stomach was filled with Pongal while she was packing my lunch. 8:30 a.m. I parked my bicycle in a stand outside of the house. I played with my dog for a while until it is time to leave for school at 9 a.m. Even though the classes started at 10 a.m., the school assembled in a common place to do prayers, hoisting of National Flag, Oath of allegiance and National Anthem.

    The school got over at 4 p.m. and I was back home by 4:15 p.m. 3 miles of biking took only 10 minutes with high energy of a child. My mother was ready with evening snacks and cup of milk. I finished it in less than 10 minutes and rushed to play outside with my friends. Somedays, we played cricket and other days we played ball-badminton or shuttle depending on the availability and the consensus of the friends. After two hours of exertion, I returned home to get milk from the milk van delivering milk at a place in the town. After that I washed my hands and legs and chanted Slokas for good 15 minutes. Sharp 6:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. is reserved for studies and homework. At 8 p.m., all of us assembled at the dining table to have our dinner. My mother talked about all family matters, letters received for the day, school related stuff, etc. with my dad and he in turn talked about work-related stuff and about his colleagues with her. I used that time to give a list of things I aspired to have knowing some might be approved and others not. Sharp 9 p.m. is bed time for me. I celebrated all festivals at home. During holidays and weekends, I enjoyed helping my mom to grind something manually or running errant for her. I never walked and always ran to get things for her. I went to our maternal grandparents’ place in a village for summer breaks and used to have a lot of fun throughout the summer. I was always happy those days and I was pretty sure my parents were very happy too.

    January 1, 2017

    50 years later, I woke up to the alarm in my mobile phone at 6 a.m. I didn’t feel like getting up from the bed and kept looking at the mobile phone for emails and messages. When my wife woke up, I said “Happy New year” to her. She made coffee for both of us. We discussed how various puppies in the Facebook did wonderful things while Orion was watching us looking into the electronic gadgets. I never play with Orion as much as I should. Being a holiday, I was not even motivated to walk an hour which I do normally. Taking Orion out for a walk is a stress for me because I could not stand the humidity outside. At least 3-4 hours, I surfed the internet looking for items to shop, looking up for solutions for health issues, responding to emails, posting something on Facebook, IL, etc. I was flipping the remote constantly to watch some interesting TV shows but found nothing. We both had lunch at different times and took an afternoon nap. Both had shower later in the evening and my wife went for her chants while I was hanging around enjoyed doing nothing. Later, she suggested that being a New Year day, we needed to visit Temple. I got in the car which was 10 yards away from our living room and drove to the Temple. Even while driving, I was listening to either music or speaking on the phone with someone or checking messages while waiting for traffic lights. My phone was constantly telling me how far away I am from home. It also gave me my favorite news listed in Google.

    I feel something has taken over our lives and we have become subservient to the technology. Where is my happiness? Where is my freedom? Why am I not involved in physical activities or socializing? Since when I am no longer excited visiting someone? Since when I started finding excuses to attend a social gathering? When did I observe the full moon intensely for 5-10 minutes? When did I last look at the rainbow with all my heart and soul? When did I visit a park and watched the birds, squirrels and bunnies? How often I observe the clear sky and the stars? The people belonging to the previous generations used to observe fasting and silence as discipline whether you call it spiritual or not. I guess, I need to observe no gadget and no internet time voluntarily to do activities that would get my happiness back. When will I be free from the clutches of Attention Economy to pay attention to my freedom?
     
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  2. iamsrihere

    iamsrihere Platinum IL'ite

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    Very well written sir. I can very well understand how you feel about life changing.My dad also cherishes his school and college days so much.He enthusiastically talks about the summer trips to hometown and watching the famous Tamil films in theatre.He still remembers the year a movie got released and in which theatre he went along with whom..

    And I remember the 90s life where we were still living the life you have mentioned above.We were planning physically more active and we got things done out of enthusiasm.Waiting to hear our favorite song in DD or TV was much more a fun than YouTube these days..

    I feel too much of availability has killed our spirit of longing or fun.Today even the mobile alarm is so bland and less amusing.I still remember the alarm those days which gave us thrill about waking up and expectation about the day ahead.While we think we have made life easy by availabilities we have killed the fun of journey or the process of getting things done..

    I have so much more to write about this but I think I will stop here otherwise I will go on and on..
     
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  3. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi @Viswamitra Viswa
    I really enjoyed reading the life of a busy young lad whose life was playing and studying and small errands for mom and dad. You kept me enthralled.

    You sounded sad in the second half.

    Hope I don't sound preachy. You can still do most of the things... walk in park, listen to Suprabhatham on Jan 1, and many others. Only, you may not be able to run like the wind any more.
    Technology is not at fault; we are. When we don't exercise moderation and use tech. excessively we abuse ourselves indirectly getting into its grips.

    I think no-technology one day a week is a good "vritham" to observe. Go for it and "free" yourself.

    Once I come home I put my cell on charge and never use it till I take it to work next day.
    I have placed strict restrictions on myself using internet.

    This just to make you feel better about the passage of time.
    My grandfather used to lament how he enjoyed travelling in "maatu vandi" over many days and nights sleeping in woods. He felt trains and buses robbed that enjoyment.
    For me train journeys were delightful.

    My dad used to lament anout how I did not have the luxury of stealing mangoes and tamarind, with those orchards turning to housing complexes.

    Good snippet Viswa.
     
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  4. Upscale

    Upscale New IL'ite

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  5. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Dear V sir,

    First things first! This sentence here made me go really! Really V sir, that weather in January and you don't want to
    walk Orion :biggrin:

    I have to be honest, I do not have vivid memories of my childhood but I understand what you are saying. I think what you took for granted while growing up is what is being sought out now, probably. But you do make a valid point about electronics - I often make an effort to go electronic free and my days are quite good. And as if to conspire with me, the universe provides plenty of opportunities to me - both in respect to what it can offer and the way my electronics can conk off or go bonkers.

    You know V sir when I visit my grandmother who is 94 and ask her to repeat all the shlokas and sing songs explaining to her that I am going to record it all, it is as if she has been given another chance - she will light up like never before wanting to do everything for her grand daughter, makes me replay everything and I have to promise every time that I will play all of that to her great grand kids - she sees the virtue in technology. I am not at all discounting what you have said, perhaps exposure to technology like my grandmother does, once every year might be the key, well not that really infrequently but just sayin....

    Enjoyed reading about your childhood!
     
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  6. amunique

    amunique Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you so much for the write up. infact i was imagining the greenery, the good old days.. :) cha what a life we live now a days :( feeling sad.. very sad.. will this ever change?
     
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  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    @iamsrihere,

    Thank you for your first response to this snippet. You have perfectly related what I have reflected here with that of your father's feelings about his school and college days. As you rightly pointed out, only in this millennium, the life has changed forever.

    Frugal life had its own thrill. We remained very simple in our aspirations. We used to have long conversation with the parents and meet friends in their residences. Verbal communication and body language combined built life-long friendship. I met a friend of mine after nearly 45 years and he used to be my schoolmate. We talked until Midnight about our schooling and what kind of fun we used to have.

    If we had to speak with children, we need to do so when they are checking their text messages. They keep texting to each other and God knows, how those friendships work. We used to physically build teams to play together. I am not sure whether technology took control of our lives or we lost control of our lives ourselves with no determination and will power. We exerted our body as much as our mind those days. If some kids learn Karate, Soccer, Baseball, Cricket, Football, etc., it is only for a limited time organized by others. There is no informal plays in the playground.

    Viswa
     
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  8. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Kamala,

    Thank you for your response. I was not talking about the entire second half of my life but only the recent years when we got too much indulged in gadgets and internet surfing. No, I won't take it wrong and you are right about exercising moderation and self-control. By nature, you are a very disciplined individual and it shows up in many of your posts including Time Management.

    There are many things said about how to remove addiction in human beings that include removing access, rehab exercises, group therapy, removal of withdrawal symptoms, emotional, psychological and medical support, family support and many more.

    Surfing internet or playing with gadgets is an addiction and it requires a lot of self-control and restraint. There are no clinics and it has not been formally declared an addiction as yet. There are corporations building a huge business based on surfing habits of individuals selling products or services constantly. Every one of our clicks makes sense to someone but ourselves. Attention Economy is a huge market everyone talks about number of eyeballs in the internet. The departmental stores are closing many stores as eCommerce had taken over their business. Whether it is business or personal, one needs to exercise caution. Even at work, most have the habit of checking emails so frequently, their time is taken away from important things to be accomplished for the day. Often, we write something avoidable and press the send button purely due to emotional outburst.

    Writing snail mails those days were an excitement and an activity by itself. We enjoyed doing it. Nowadays, sending email is to be responsive or sometimes to clear the check list. Mentality has changed substantially.
    Moreover, if one person suffered addiction, other family members jumped in and helped and when more than one are addicted, I am not sure what is the solution. Habitually, for all of us to sit down on a table and have dinner together is hard at home unless we go out for dinner.

    Don't get me wrong. I still read physical books, have a long walk, watch rain, etc. but I do it because I need to learn something or I need to remain fit or I have no power or internet and not because I enjoy doing it. I find a lot of consolation reading Sabitha's snippets about how she enjoys nature even though it is in the same medium I am trying to get out of. Perhaps, I need to take more vacations and it is hard when I work on my own. :)

    Viswa
     
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  9. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    @Upscale,

    Thank you for reading and I am humbled and honored by your appreciation.

    Viswa
     
  10. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Viswa,
    This is my first read in IL. It was not accidental. It was recommended by a fried. I joined a few minutes before. I liked it.
    Life changes every second and 50 years is a long time. If we closely walk even a day has many colors from the time the sun rises to the time it sets. No technology is involved. Technology is a means only, a good servant but a bad master, as they say.
    It is this technology only that brought us here in IL.
    Enjoy life, it has many colors and some yet to reveal.
     
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