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Sunday 22 June 2014

Change is inevitable.

"Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds, cannot change any thing" said Lord Bernard Shaw. This is one of the quotations which  is truly applicable to life and  incidents  from real life. A man is born as a baby,  grows , and has many experiences in his life time. Every thing in life is perishable. Scientists  keep inventing new  gadgets to make to life smoother for mankind.  People like me who are now in their eighties, have witnessed innumerable changes in their life time which the youngsters of today will  find  difficult to believe.
                       I have seen  several new inventions in life. In olden days,the people, even in their dream, could not imagine the present day advancements. The present generation also  has no knowledge how the people lived those days. The "wonders" of science were there in those days also.which have been modified and improved with the passage of time.The first item,(a wonder of science for those days) which comes to my mind  is the refrigerator, which  ran on kerosene oil. Yes you have read it right!. We had a frig in our house in the  early 40 's  which worked on kerosene oil.  An iron box, about ten inches long was filled with kerosene oil. On one other edge of the box was a wick, dipped  in a  lantern ,which was lighted and  the box was inserted into a compartment beneath the frig. It remained 'cold' for two days, after which the kerosene was filled, the wick was trimmed and the frig was ready for further cooling! There was no electricity in the town, where my father was posted. The frig was imported  from U.K. There we had a small generator, through which we got light for three hours in two rooms.  Hence there were no ceiling or table fans.( AC  was a product not even in any ones dreams). In the middle of a room was a decorated cloth, with frills, hooked to two opposite walls served the purpose of a fan. It had  a rope in the centre. One man was on duty to keep pulling the rope, which enabled some movement of air in the room.
               Those days cars were not manufactured in India. We had a British Car, Hillman. To start the car there was  no key. It had a handle, which had to be fixed with the engine and rotated. It was a Herculean task.The telephones were also very rare in those days. The subscribers could not dial the number. It was dialled by the Telephone Exchange.
  I will skip some more items of those days. I come to some modern day gadgets. For example Television. The first black and white TV was installed for public  in the premises of Sports Club of India , Mathura Road,Delhi, in early 60's. My father bought a TV in the year 1968.  Those  days the the transmission was for only one hour. Only News and Krishi Darshan were shown. A Hindi Movie was shown every Sunday ( completed in four instalments on four Sundays). Colour TV was introduced in 1982 coinciding with Asian Games. After this there was a an increase in the number of channels.
                        These days so many new items are flooding the market. The mobile phones have  changed the pattern of talking and writing. The SMS's and Whatts APP have revolutionised the method of exchanging conversation and writing. The post card and telegrams saw their death recently. The old, friendly postman does not exist now.
 For cooking so many new devices are available in the market. Radiation Stove, Chapati Maker. and many more new wonders of technology have become very popular. Computers, Laptops, Tablets ,I Pads and what not are  being improved everyday.
Technology has  completely changed the life style . Modular kitchens, Lavish bathrooms ( you don't have to touch the pot seat. With a push of a button, the seat is raised),swimming pools in the house and with  many more  new devices the life is changing. There seems to be no end.
           What is your opinion  about the  rapid changes  in technology, which has brought about a complete change in the modern life style.









9 comments:

  1. Nice post madam! noting is more surprising than the pace of change!

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    1. Yes Ankita. The change is always for the good.

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    2. i mean 'nothing'

      sorry typo mistake :P

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  2. Yes all the new technology is helping us to make our life comfortable,so change is good here.

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    1. Thanks Nima, the new technology is changing at a fast pace

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  3. A beautiful post Ma'am. Thanks for sharing about life at that time. I feel there was a beauty and life was much simple in those days and tech has somehow complicated lives, the human touch has diluted.

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    1. Thanks Vishal. Those days things were not so complicated.

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  4. Technology, in my opinion, complicates life. But I don't think there is much of a change - technology causes as many problems as it solves. Just my opinion.

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Yes technology does complicate life, but still it is welcome.

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