I was born in the year 1983, it was the same year the "Time" magazine eschewed its "Man of the Year" award in favor of "Machine of the Year" - the computer was the winner (1). In that way I can say that I grew up during the time when information technology revolution had just about begun. Well, this post is not about information technology revolution but it’s about the time when there was limited or no access to such technologies.
Yesterday my cousin, Sridhara came over to our place with his newlywed wife Supreetha. Mom had invited them to have dinner with us. We had a general discussion before having our dinner. During that time I shared my experience of visiting Sridhara's place in Mandya (2) nineteen years back. In fact I had nearly spent my entire third standard summer holidays at his place during that visit. I fondly remember how Sridhara and his brothers were such a crazy cricket pundits when it comes to cricket statistics whether it is test cricket or one day international (well, they use to play as well). I guess my interest in cricket can strongly be attributed to my interaction with him back then. Somehow this cricket thing came up in our discussion yesterday as well. Though Supreetha was no way interested in cricket, we continued to talk about it and this time my dad also participated in the discussion that too with extreme enthusiasm. Let me tell you about it.
Dad, like always, started sharing his insights with his all time favorite match that happened between India and West Indies way back in year 1975 - that was the time when India was getting belted by Andy Roberts, a West Indian super fast bowler. Dad still remembers, little emotionally, how he and his friends got greatly disheartened when the radio commentator announced the fall of the tenth Indian wicket while their favorite batsman G R Vishwanath remained not out on 97, and how eventually India manged to win the match. He also recollected, with a bit of agony, the very famous India-Pak final at Sharjah (3), in which Pakistan's Javid Miandad hit a six to a full toss delivery bowled by Chetan Sharma in the last ball to win the match. He even mentioned that there were intermittent power cuts during the match which made them go to nearby localities where ever there was power. From that part of the discussion I could sense that his generation Indian cricket fans couldn't get over that defeat against Pakistan, perhaps even now. My cousin Sridhara was able to comprehend to most of the stuff as he was very aware of all the matches that my dad was talking about. I was just a listener till they came to Sachin Tendulkar era. While in no time, Supreetha went to the kitchen to offer assistance to my mom in the food department.
This discussion further led to a discussion on how things were a lot different back then, I mean during 70s, 80s and 90s. Dad recollected the time when having a mobile radio receiver, which they used to call as transistor, was like having an IPad now. He went on to tell about a program called Binaca Geethmala that was aired by Radio Ceylon with the famous Ameen Sayani's voice starting with "Bhaiyo aur Behno" - this is something all my uncles and aunts can imitate; in fact I do remember listening to the program during early 90s when it was aired by All India Radio. That radio program aired countdown of the then Bollywood songs which apparently got the whole nation’s attention. I was also told that everyone in the house remained completely silent from the start to the end of that radio program.
After some time Supreetha and my mom joined us at the hall when the discussion had picked up fair momentum. Mom made an entry into this discussion by pointing out this link between the insanely popular television series "Mahabharata" by BR Chopra (4) and my early school days. When this serial was initially aired I was in first standard and our school didn't have a weekly holiday on Sunday but instead we had it on Monday (as Monday was considered very auspicious day by many God Shiva devotees dwelling in Gulbarga district). While the TV program was aired every Sunday morning 9:00AM, my school also rang its first bell. Since the program was super popular and also in a way religious in nature, many didn't turn up or were reluctant to attend classes. Mom recollected how she had to fight with the school authorities to change the timings of the school on Sundays so that I could see the program. Sridhara and Supreetha also reminisced their days when seeing the television programs such as Ramayana, Rangoli, Chitrahar, Jangle book, Duck tails, Mungeri lal ke hassen sapne, flop show and also those weekend Hindi and Kannada movies was such a delight and a satisfying experience. What made the equations completely different from then to now is that we had only one TV channel called Dooradarshan – the National Network, which offered us the much required entertainment that too at no cost.
Sridhara and Supreetha left our place after having the dinner, I’m sure they enjoyed the time spent at our place. After they left I was wondering if its still possible to live a life with such minimal access to technology. I don't think so but what I feel is that I have just written a post which may sound very strange to my nephew or my niece when they grow up to read this post.
-----------------------------------------------------------
(1) January 1983 issue of "Time" magazine, The man of the year 1982 is the computer though.
(2) Mandya is a district in Karnataka state
(3) Sharjah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Where cricket matches used to be held every year.
(4)Baldev Raj Chopra (B.R. Chopra) was an Indian director and producer of Bollywood movies and television serials
