People tend to ignore them though they pretend to
listen. After sometimes they become restless. Too many questions these old
people have. With abundance of time at their disposal they take life out with
their queries and stories. In India the retirement age should be enhanced to
80!
One young chap had the misfortune to undergo this
unique experience on that particular day!
"We never wasted things. My father used to collect
the jute thread used for tying groceries in newspapers." The old man who entered the shop tells the
first sales person he meets. The new generation man at the other end was
flabbergasted. "What is this......
jute thread and why should the old man's father amass this junk?! Has he
brought it here to exhibit? "
"The Philips radio bought when I was a kid is
still operative. Are you producing similar long-lasting products nowadays?
" he persisted.
How could he tell him that even Harrods the king of all
global shops with the headquarters in the prestigious location of London buys
it's products from China with the label " Made in China for Harrods"!
How can I convince this oldie that the society had changed and hence and the
slogan of the day is " Use and Throw"
"I used to
shave with a single blade for six months and do you know the secret young
man?" The young man with his own gala itinerary with his cell phone till
early morn and who hurries through this obligatory process doesn't even know
the brand of his bladeless shaving apparatus leave alone retaining it in a
pyramidal structure! His feigned astonishment invigorated the man further to
continue with his magical process of preserving the blade like Egyptian
mummies!
"With a thick paper you create a pyramid and after
each shave wipe the blade clean and keep it inside and lo behold the beauty
shines on as a new bride."
The young one continued his nods eagerly anticipating a
decent purchase from the man and hence determined not to antagonise him.
The old man
opened his bag and said "My remote doesn't work." In his hand was a
remote which had lost its facial imprints!
Just then the realisation dawned on the salesman that
this lengthy discourse was nothing but a prelude for replacing his remote.
"I tried the same pyramid trick with it but zilch
it was. This remote came along when I bought the TV "
The salesman heart went for a jolt but restraining
himself carried on. "When did you buy the TV from us sir?" "Five
years and twenty days back." This smart reply from the old man shook him
once more. As if adding insult to injury the man pulled out a folded bill well
preserved in his purse!
The salesman was a thoroughbred in warranty and
extended warranty system rules which never goes beyond two years protecting the
seller in all its legality rather than the poor buyer! But this man stood
before him with his measly remote and an outdated bill!
" Sir there is no guarantee for the accessories.
You have to buy a new remote. "
"What has life come to? the old man sighed.
"All your guarantees are written in the least readable font that none of
us could comprehend even with our magnifying glasses. I say give out your
guarantee in bold letters if you are a honest manufacturer! I can challenge you
with a real proof of this honesty. You are welcome to my house where you can
witness a wonder clock running in tip top condition for the past 60 years! Are
you listening young man? 60 years of perfection! And do you know it's warranty
period? It is 50 years and the clock has run 10 years above the warranty. And
do you know another thing? The warranty is printed right on it's very face!
" The salesman was dumbfounded and dazed.
" How am I going to deal with this epitome of
guarantee? Can I buy him a Chinese remote sold in dozens at Mercy Electronics
with its proliferating branches throughout the Chennai city? But there is a
hitch. What if the product failed after some days?
"I dare not face this Calvary once more!" he
mumbled to himself.
To convince the man and get him out of the shop became
a Himalayan effort indeed!
I would like to share with you yet another historical
event.
Her thatha was proudly showing her the monthly
household expense book. "Well organised and efficiently kept book with
perfect straight lines thatha." the granddaughter applauded. (The family
knows that he would not buy the readily lined accounts note book from the
market since it is expensive.)
" My dear girl the lines I draw in my account
books in my working days was the talk of the town! My petty cash voucher is a
thing of beauty..... perfect lines my dear girl.... perfect lines without an
eraser!! With such disciplined organised
system I along with my assistant could tally the monthly balance sheet to the
single paisa just in an afternoon!!"
Grandpa was trumpeting to his granddaughter who had
come out of her C.A. exam with flying colours. She didn't want to hurt her
thatha with the fact that the advent of computers has long ago killed the art
of drawing lines just like the art of letter writing is bulldozed by the cell
phones! And tallying the monthly balance sheet was an automated one today! For her part she gently wanted to push her
clever thatha towards modern system and make him computer savvy.
'Computer for Dummies' was bought accordingly and a
computer was set up in his room. But for her thatha the pride was still his own
mental abilities and in his view the computer is a useless thing undermining
the working of human brain and in the long run create a society full of
zombies!
He would go at length about his math teacher at school
who made the foundation strong for the students with the repetition of
mathematical tables and starting his every day classes with a set of mental
sums!
He would go back to history!!
"In those days there were just three matriculation
schools in the state. Math was the prime
subject. We had to do three papers of math! And paper correction was very
strict then. Even if you get centum, they would sieve through the paper again
to find a silly mistake to give them the chance to reduce one mark! And in my
batch, I can proudly say I was the state topper in math!"
"That's why thatha I want you to go into computer.
You can learn it in a jiffy!"
The man was fed up to the back tooth after two classes.
And heart in heart there was an inbuilt animosity against this competitor who
can etch lines with least effort
"My dear girl I tell you that these computers are
just creating lazy louts throughout the world. You step into the bank and the
chorus is "Server down sir." The same is true when you go to pay your
electricity bill. They sit munch snacks
and gossip!"
However much the
granddaughter tried to convince him the end result was sarcastic smile and
patronising pat at her back!
The same was true with his art appreciation.
"What sort of dance performance they give today?
There is no live orchestra on the stage to play the instruments like veena
flute and mridangam along with the musician and nattuvangam. Every damn thing is recorded! And look at the
dancers! They look like over made up dumb miming dolls! You should have watched
Balasaraswathi dance! Do you know that she sings while dancing?!! Such a
confluence of emotions and abhinaya you would never have witnessed anywhere!
When she performed for the song "Krishna nee begane baro" singing
along in her majestic voice one can witness the miracle of Krishna descending
down from heavens to join in her dance!"
"Set ideas chiseled in hard rocks impossible to
penetrate." The granddaughter was sure of it!
And whenever there was a gathering at the house the
cursory "Hi thatha, how are you?"
was the only conversation the grandchildren preferred to have with their
granddad! They don't have the patience to listen to his utterances which
usually commences with the single phrase " You know in those
days...........!"
"
Repetitions, repetitions and more repetitions"
"That's what thatha does all the time." They
grumble.
But they never
know that his active mind would never be touched by old age diseases like
Alzheimer and thus he would never be a burden on the family!
Why do we study history? To know the past events. To
understand appreciate and learn. To throw away the negative factors. With
Mahatma we Indians learnt how best to get things done and achieve. With Hitler
to avoid tyrannical negative thoughts by all means, with Nero to get rid of
sadistic intentions, the cruel monarch who waxed the prisoners to use them as
mobile torches during nights. In our own family history plays an important
role. My great grandfather was a drunkard and my own thatha learnt a positive
lesson from his dad's negativities and with his equanimity and positive acts
became the village leader!
So young people
please listen and learn that family history is part of yourself and let not the
generation gap hinder you from learning life lessons.
We the golden oldies for our part must extend our hands
in bridging the gap by appreciating the multifarious technological artistic
talents of the new age sans comparison with the past!!
