Twisty Tale of Technology

Rohan: Grandpa my mobile phone fell and the screen has cracked. I just bought it last year.

Grandpa: Ok so repair it

Rohan:  Hell, I have to spend Rs 6000 to repair it as those guys say the screen is connected to the touch screen, whatever all that means.

Grandpa: So, spend it.

Rohan:  Ahh, feeling like throwing away the phone.

Grandpa: So, throw it.

Rohan: Grandpa! How do I then connect to my school friends, college friends, work colleagues, yoga friends, ex-work colleagues, my UK university guys, Zumba dance friends. Grandpa, seriously man tell me how did you guys live in your times. You’ll must have lived in such isolation.

Grandpa: Child, we also connected with each other through this landline phone which is sitting in this very location for the last 30 years and still works. I can’t even count how many times you pulled the wired and dropped the phone when you were a child. I called your grandma from my office landline to this home landline, from the home landline to my friends and uncles and aunties and with the International Subscriber Dialling or ISD, I connected with my friends abroad. I must have spent less than Rs 5,000 over the last 30 years on repairs, largely to pay the MTNL workers when the line is not working.

Rohan: Well, this is my 8^th phone over the last 10 years. Man, I must have spent …. Never mind Grandpa, you might get a heart attack.

Grandpa: Don’t worry, my heart is not as weak as your mobile phone but it is as strong as my landline.

Rohan:  When troubles come, they come together…

Grandpa: Yes, that is so true. There was a time when there was no money in the house and your grandma felt sick and….

Rohan: Grandpa I am not talking of those troubles. All through last week my laptop has been giving me problems. Grandpa why does all this happen when my earnings are low?  My laptop battery is not working and I have to get a new power charger. An original power charger will cost me Rs 2000 plus. Even my computer mouse is giving me problems. In any case, my laptop is already 5 years old. I may just need to buy a new one. But I can’t afford Rs 50,000 plus at this point. My God, what will I do if the laptop conks off? Oh my gosh, all my writing work that I have to do. Besides my online classes, YouTube, my editing apps, Instagram, google, word, photoshop. Grandpa seriously how boring life would have been for you without all of these.

Grandpa: Here see this is my typewriter. This is 50 years old.  It has never let me down. 

Our television was our YouTube, our local library was our google, our photoshop was our local photo studio. No, we didn’t miss anything. We did everything in style my dear grandson without having to spend so much of our earnings and so much stress to have what you call enjoyment.  

Rohan: Grandpa, you are ‘Old’ fashioned

Grandpa: Yes child, you are ‘New’ fashioned