Changing with Changing Spirit of Time

One witnesses change in almost every walk of life to the extent that only change is constant. 

Brevity is the essence of WhatsApp communication. If you are in it, by now you would have uncovered that DM means direct message; DP means display picture, and GBU means God Bless You. However, the more difficult terrains, for me, are: TBH means To Be Honest, IDK means I don’t know. K means OK, and FOMO means Fear of Missing Out (Ex: You attend a function for FOMO). 

In medical parlance, you no longer refer to a person as physically disabled. It is outdated and amounts to looking at the darker side.  One should be positive, and use the term physically challenged. Speaking of staying positive, I had an English friend in Geneva. Even in day-to-day conversations, I never heard him speak in negative terms. Even to convey: “I don’t like him,’ he would say: “he is not among those whom I like the best.” No wonder he featured regularly in a Morning Pep-Talk Show in one of the Swiss radio channels. 

Change is no less in the cine field. Thriller, suspense, science fiction, action or horror have long eclipsed family dramas, comedies, historical or religious movies. In the 18 or so years that I spent in the village, it was full of them – and them only. The only occasions I can recall where ‘thieves’ figured in movie titles were: “Malai Kallan”, or “Kalvanin Kathali”. I am sure it must be so in other Indian languages as well.

Also, while buying readymade garments, I have to remember to specify, Regular Fit; otherwise, I end up getting a Slim- or Smart-fit trousers or shirts packed up – ideal for gym-goers. Don’t be surprised if the shopkeeper occasionally responds, “Regular fit out of stock sir.” It is his polite way of telling you that they are here to cater to the fashionable segments, and not the customers of yore.

In the electronic communication sector, E-invite is the order of the day. In olden days it used to be very much a guess work for the host on how many would attend Muhurtam lunch, how many Reception, and so on. Not any more. Now the e-invite incorporates bullet points to respond on what time of the day you would arrive – in the forenoon or afternoon and when you would leave (for hotel accommodation), how many persons would attend (1, 2 or 3 – which means the host does not ideally expect more than 3)… Stay tuned to computer applications, otherwise life will become something less. I shall deliberately skip the ‘e-Khatha’ (in Bangalore), to avoid earning the ire of many of my fuming co-residents.

I guess that the door-step delivery concept has made the fastest stride. From a one-time same-day-delivery, the promise has progressed to within-two-hours. As this piece goes to press, it stands at within-ten-minutes. Yes, in good old days we used to ask someone, “Would you like to join me for lunch at Volga?” Now it is, “I am ordering some dishes from ….. restaurant, and getting it delivered through Zepto, Zomato or Swiggy whosoever brings it fastest. Would you like to rush to my home and join the fun?”

To end the piece, I recall a filler I read in a magazine. It ran like this. One fellow told the other that very soon a day would come when at the press of a button while still lying on one’s bed, a tooth-brush would pop up, then the paste would apply itself on it, and a handle will brush it without your having to hold it in your hands…. So automated it is going to be.  “Good,” said the other, “but who will push the button?” Yes, for each technological progress, there will be an equal and opposite expectation.

Regardless, the moral is: change with the changing spirit of time.

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