Nostalgia

While I celebrate the availability of:

 

·      Thousands of channels to watch on TV, I am dismayed that very often we feel that “there is nothing worthwhile to watch,” and remember the days when we eagerly looked forward to the next episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

 

·      Endless on-line courses, from geology to history, from science to art, I am dismayed that I have lost ability to focus on one subject at a time, and remember the time when the only way to learn something was in a classroom and we had to focus on that one subject.

 

·      Instantaneous news, “Breaking news”, I am dismayed that the focus is on sensational news, and remember the days when the news presentation was much thought through.

 

·      Multiple news sources, I am dismayed that they start to look alike, and remember the days when we only watched Walter Cronkite to get “authentic” news.

 

·      The availability of zoom, I am dismayed that the ability to interact face to face is getting lost, and remember the days when I looked forward to an event because of the opportunity to mingle.

 

·      GPS for going anywhere at any time, I am dismayed that my ability to navigate is lost (creating a mess if by any chance the GPS is not available), and remember the days when I used to land at the airport, rent a car and then figure out where I was going based on paper maps.

 

·      Any music any time any place, I am dismayed that my ability to enjoy spontaneity and randomness of a radio is now lost, and remember the days of listening to “Binaca Geetmala” every Wednesday on a radio in India.

 

·      Easy and free connectivity with anyone in the world, I am dismayed that the face-to-face conversations have become now a rarity, and remember the days when the family members interacted with each other at a gathering instead of being lost on their iPhones.

 

·      The vast amount of content created/forwarded by friends/family…must read articles, videos, tik-tok, Instagrams, FaceBook, photo albums…I am dismayed that there is no easy way to prioritize what I should hear and watch, and remember the days when receiving a clipping by mail was an event.

 

·      Digital photography which allows me to create “slideshows” of my travels rather rapidly and share with far flung family and friends, I am dismayed that hardly anyone is interested in watching them, and remember the days when actual slideshows were often the reason that family/friends got together at our place.

 

Perhaps I am now old enough that nostalgia about the past is more significant than the possibilities of the future .