Sab Kuch ‘wahin’ hai par ‘wahi’ to nahin hai, when Gulzar wrote this line for one of the scenes in Ijazat (watch it once before you die, if you haven’t) he would not have realised its accuracy in today’s life. It means everything is still there but it’s not the same anymore.

I am sure most of you will agree that life (style) has changed drastically in last 10-15 years or simply putting it, from my 20s to 30s. Oh shit I am 30+ now….. really :-/ .

And no debates on whether the change is up gradation or down gradation, that’s purely subjective.  But you do feel the difference in the way we live, eat, communicate, drive, shop and many more.  Though most of these changes are technology driven but few are lesser tangible. .  

Below are some of the changes which I often feel. It’s pure non-fiction and if you relate to it, it’s a sheer coincidence.  

From mobile phone to a genie – It’s not that mobile phones were not there 10 years back (in fact the first mobile call was made way back in 1996 in Calcutta) but only few had it and the poor device was used as a phone only. Today it has a become your genie; besides calls & mails, I use my phone for searching songs, checking movie shows or nearest restaurant, reading news, tweeting and writing boring stuff like this. Recently my wife asked me ‘if given a choice between choosing your phone and me what would you choose’, it took me almost 23 seconds to say “you baby”. It’s not only the wifey, even the landline phone is envious.    

The death of a man – Few years back we all had a man in our life… the walkman. Recently an old walkman was discovered in the house, my niece was clueless and asked what it is? On being told it’s a walkman, the grandfather of her ipod; her blank expressions & indifference were palpable. No doubt the current way of listening to songs is easier and stylish, but I still remember the good old college days when walkman was an accompaniment with the notebooks. Note book is still alive in the form of laptops but the (walk)man has died.

 Becar to Car – I used to miss my school bus more frequently than the power cuts in UP. Fed up with dropping me to school every day, papa got me an LML Select  scooter. Who would have thought that a scooter in need would later become my best buddy indeed. It’s accompanied me to my grads, masters and initial few months of my first job. My attachment with my first vehicle was way more than what it is with my current one, a car. After all my scooter was there with me when I was “Becar”

Mere brother ki shirt – If you have an elder sibling with same shirt or shoe size, I am sure you would relate with this. After all, younger siblings are chips of the same block.  Wearing my big bro’s shirt, shoes used to be my favourite pastime especially on days when he needed it the most. There was immense joy in unpacking & wearing the new stuff which your elder brother had bought for a special day and wearing it casually on any ordinary day. Today we have our separate wardrobe and we hardly share clothes. But I know there are 2 new packed shirts which he had recently bought………… huahaaa 😉

 

Just chill to Big Chill – Well this one is quite a natural progression once you start earning. Eating out few years back was confined to just tasty & economical food and global cuisines meant Chinese or at best a Pizza. Whenever friends are around, going and chilling at any restaurant was termed as eating out.  Things have changed over the decade; the choice of restaurants, location and average bill per dine out. Now, eating out means exploring new restaurant and cuisines in different parts of the city. 

Vineet