Twittering Generation

For a guy pushing the wrong side of forties, I am reasonably techno-savvy. The most valuable testimony comes from my son Chathu. Once I was advising him on his choice of jumper (yeah, sweaters are called jumpers in Australia) with a hoodie; which I thought made him look like a drug dealer in New York streets. He said all his friends wear hoodies. They are the in thing, the new look. What do you know about fashion? About teenage styles? Agreed; you are good in gadgets; technology… But you know nothing about us. He went on. Yeah, the compliment slipped through and escaped from his lips in the middle of all that generational angst.

But I can’t figure out facebook and twitter. Do we need short sentences with dodgy acronyms to indicate what we are thinking while in toilet? Nothing like reading a nicely coined turn of phrase, a cleverly constructed sentence that delicately underlines the ironies of life… So blogs are OK- as long as they are not too self centred. I joined facebook based on an invitation from a friend. After joining I realized that an automatic invitation went from me to so many old forgotten acquaintances with whom I have infrequently kept up a correspondence. I had them crawling out of the woodworks and saying Hi nice to find you on face book. I am in California. Watch me on the vineyard round with my daughter. Someone from Japan writes, good to know you exist. It is raining in Kyoto. Yeah, it is a bit trivial.

The interminable wait for the postman, the anxiety and expectations that accompany it, have all vanished with emails and SMSes. Now my mobile flashes a silver light when emails arrive. Being a light sleeper and Australia being 5 hours ahead of India, most of my mails arrive at midnight. I am distracted by the flashing light. But I still get up, read the mail & go back to sleep. Some of the mails are forwards that I have seen before. Some very interesting ones, nevertheless. Chathu has an itouch and I discover the joys of touch-screen browsing these days. We also have a cheap, secure Wi Fi network at home to which two laptops, one VOiP phone, one PS3, one PSP, three mobiles and the iTouch are connected. It is a networked home, I bet.

We love technology for connecting us across mountains and seas in an instant. We love technology for making things easier by cutting, pasting, scheduling and reminding us of things to do. We love technology for putting us in touch with long lost friends who send funny forwards. We love it for the cozy comfort with which we send money and book holidays. But I guess technology has also extracted its’ toll by trivializing many aspects of our existence. For making us believe that the whole world might be interested in knowing who we chill out with, how the weather is out there and whether we believe Man U will win the next league outing. Technology tells us to communicate without thinking…and turns our youth into asocial creatures, cooped up before silly machines, playing mind numbing games which challenge pretty much nothing of our modest cerebral assets. Sometimes I wish, give me a few good books and no connectivity. I might spend months in our lonely house in the village which looks so empty without my mother. Maybe I will feel rejuvenated. I will start waiting for the postman to bring good tidings from old friends.

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I read P J O’Rourke on the constitution of the US of A in twitter speak. It is hilarious. Here is the link.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000%5C000%5C016%5C721mjcvw.asp

Also discovered this author Christopher Mathew who has written the Crisp Report and Family Matters. Much in the style of Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole Diaries- of which I am a huge fan.

Also been reading Tariq Ali's Clash of Fundamentalisms and Duel-Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power. A bit repetitive but gives a different, new perspective. Also read Rashid Ahmed's book on Taliban. These works tend to be too pessimistic on Pakistan.
A friend suggests that I should read the Martin Beck series by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall, a team of Swedish writers. They are not in the library and are expensive to buy. If anyone finds them in Darya Ganj second hand market, please buy: Promise I shall reimburse..