Black to color

In the last odd twenty years we have seen considerable development , actually its at a pace that can’t be measured ,and it cannot be stopped or checked . In fact , we would get into this debate another day . On a nostalgic note, what I remember one very special and interesting way of chronicling our lives; it was through black and white permanent pictures. It was such a ritual , getting ready , dressing up in one’s finery , hair oiled and slick and then standing straight waiting to be called where the photographer came. The elders sat ramrod straight on the chairs or sofa , and the youngsters all lined up sitting on the floor or standing on the side with practically no smile.

A photographer was called only for special occasions and everyone was together for the ceremonial picture which was chronicled as part of the family history.

There were no retakes, no selfies, no taking of unnecessary pictures, just the few because the bottom line was everything cost money . Birthdays, weddings, deaths , important milestones were all marked and pictures were collected and pasted in albums where the page was black and was separated with paper and cloth bound in a spiral manner and had Memories written on it .This was kept as a piece of pride in the drawing room taken out and shown to guests . It was a matter of pride for the parents and embarrassment for the kids who were paraded out always.

Remember the times, when you were called to come and show your skills and made to enact in front of all to the present day age , where the proud mother just shows the video clip on the smart phone.

Life was sepia colored with the occasional touch up in pink done by the photographer and then we graduated to color and the practice of albums also started declining. One started making smaller albums and they started being relegated to different corners of the house. And, thus began the advent of a fast pace of life. Did we grow up? Have we gained more , are we happier with this sudden increase of materialistic possessions? Are we happier with the instant filming of every moment ? Where filters decide us,and I have known of women to stand in a particular way, pouting away just like Ms. Piggy and with hair all over . We have started documenting every moment with the fear that we will lose the picture but we lose the moment as one was busy taking pictures!

The fear of missing out has made us all in a hurry to take pictures with the best exposure , pixels. In fact , the airbrushing and the coloring of one’s pictures and just wiping away the wrinkles to enervate the maximum likes has given birth to an industry that is just dedicated to making us look like Greek Goddess and Gods. Being Human is just not enough , that also got patented you see. How I long for the days, when pictures were few, genuine ,we looked like we were, and they were treasured rather than deleted at whim! Call me old-fashioned, but the vintage rocks.

Lohri and soul to sole

Do you realise the funny thing about your chappals or shoes , you keep on wearing them , year after year and the sole wears off , we just throw them but it wears off in funny uneven way? Some portions are worn so thin and some are high and bumps are left in places. In the same fashion , we lead our lives and some encounters leave you with a warm feeling and some drain you away leaving you all wet, cold ,and desolate .

These are all learning processes .You know all those forwards you get in the morning on your Whatsapp that you are scrolling sitting on the throne ; those all were written with some kind of personal knowledge and acumen and insight .

A cynical view is that someone somewhere is being paid to write all this stuff and being paid by the mileage the quote gains . Well, I think that all these were written when our soul gets affected and it wears thin . It’s always when something happens to us , a personal incident that we learn when the pain hits us close to home but do we ever see whether the soul gets worn thin too ..I think it does. 

Every day we feel is a new day , walking in our shoes, clocking the mileage , but being so nonchalant about the incidents that happen in our lives that we don’t let them impact us any more.Has the soul become so thick , that we have an arm or around it of indifference that we lead our lives in a rut and just ignore by losing oneself in the virtual life we lead , the blinders we put so as to just be worried about the likes we get.

A Netflix drama that impacted me in a big way was Black Mirror that I watched that had a society just livin gits life based on the popularity index one had. One was measured literally by the likes and the percentage one got .

It was so hard-hitting and was a true depiction of what we are currently living our lives as. I am also guilty of using hashtags to highlight causes, to support movements online, but I wonder where does it all end? Suppose one day our lives are governed by the percentage of likes one gets ,that would in turn influence every decision of how we live , eat , where we live , our performance ,our jobs, our dating pattern, our entire lives.

This life would just be controlled by artificial intelligence and a world where everything would be picture perfect and painted in rosy hues .

Is that where we live?

Tomorrow , is Lohri, a day of celebration where we burn the fire to get rid of evils and to spread good cheer. But , do we get rid of the evils or is it just a day to have another holiday , another party and eat some more. I think the only new invention of my life is the hashtag , that has been elevated to heavenly levels to support a cause , but does the rot end? Justice for Zainab , has pained just as much as Nirbhaya did, raping an innocent child then strangulating her and letting her die.. Who does this?

This is the scourge that needs to be expunged and we have many like this in our country , this is where the universal rule of justice should step in and  we all need to unite universally as one to end this.

Walk the miles, walk the years , let the chappals wear but let the soul /sole be intact , then only does Happy Lohri happen .