Humans are indeed the most intellectual machine on the Earth. We have got our Super brains which gets us ahead of the race, we were not born like this when one of us first came on to this planet. We adapted to the conditions of the planet and slowly and steadily we got immune to various diseases naturally and got rid of our tail as well!
Since, we have been creating and innovating to conduct life easily and live happily, or have we?
I remember my mother saying to me that during her childhood they used to do most of the activities either from mechanical machines or manually which involved grinding spices, getting water from the well, sifting, grinding chutneys, etc. The local means of commute was a bicycle or mostly the two gifted legs.
They ate seasonal fruits during the specific season and enjoyed it even more because they valued it. A person who loved Kacchi Kairi had to wait for around 8 months for the fruit to yield from the tree and sell at the daily bazaar which is a common thing in Indian villages. The wait for that Kairi was worth because unless there is a need no one would value it and besides a seasonal fruit was meant to ripe in a particular season to offer its benefits needed to a human during that season. A Kairi would get your temperature down, induce hunger and increase appetite in summers when you don’t feel like eating anything. Different fruits had different benefits to offer respectively.
fferent fruits had different benefits to offer respectively. would get your temperature down, induce hunger and increase appetite in summers when you don’t feel like eating anything. fferent fruits had different benefits to offer respectively.
They mostly preferred to make the whole spices and all the Achars at home which ensured hygiene, cost efficiency, and also the fun they had while all the family gathering around in the living room with the voice of Kishore Kumar in the background adding to the beauty of ambience. All of them enjoying a cup of chai with homemade chakli (Which were made during Diwali) and exactly around 4:30 the bun-wala used to come by ringing his bell to attract customers, with a bag full of pav’s and cream rolls on his cycle with a tired face peddling around the village. My grandmother loved Double Rotis so she used to make sure she had enough for the next day in case the bun-wala didn’t show up. All this was not less than a festival for them and I feel sorry we don’t have such festivals nowadays.
I remember when I was 12, I had gone to the same village with my family to live with Nanamma(Grandmother In Telugu) she used to get a good Surmai fish from the Sunday Bazaar which was an important day for the local farmers who used to sell their yield or buy it from a farmer and sell it in front of our house which was in the main market. She used to skip shops to get a fresh fish so that she can serve her grandchildren and make sure they like it. My Nanamma was not less than a chef for me she literally knew every aspect of Indian cooking. She would clean the fish in our backyard which induced good cardio and stretches, she used Haldi (Turmeric) and salt and rubbed it on a small flat piece of rock which is generally used for making chutneys. I used to watch closely and learn, I think that’s where my love for food came in and I can cook without any help. She then would make the fish with pulsu (Tamarind Gravy) which released the aroma of methi-dana, tamarind and the fresh fish. She then kept it aside till dinner because this way the fish absorbs the gravy and also some magic occurs in the night. We would start when papa came home after having a cup of chai and hours of chit chat and catching up with his old friends who chose to settle in the same village.
We used to eagerly wait to eat Chyapala Kura with Annam (Fish curry & Rice). I loved to eat the combo steaming hot and try to fit in as much as possible because once we go back, I won’t get that. I don’t know what is in the air or water in the villages, my appetite used to increase,
I guess because they followed a good schedule and diet (Fish curry & Rice). I loved to eat the combo steaming hot and try to fit in as much as possible because once we go back, I won’t get that. I don’t know what is in the air or water in the villages, my appetite used to increase,I guess because they followed a good schedule and diet elements suitable to the season, and also my maybe because my Nanamma would bring the vegetables necessary only when she needed it because we used to live in the main market.
We have grown with time and found our priorities right, today in the 21st Century, we have most of the activities which can be automated electronically or we can hire someone for that, we have everything on our phone may it be booking a cab, ordering food, ordering clothes, and the list goes on. We have TV sets to entertain us and we have big spacious rooms to live a comfortable life. But one question always haunts me is that are we really peaceful? are we really happy? Or have we just increased our sources of stress.
Seriously think about it the cab driver not coming to the location or driving rashly, or the food turning out to be disastrous, the website not entertaining returns after you received a faulty apparel, or the most common - there is nothing good on the TV to Watch.
Where is the fun in getting the packeted Achars without everyone getting involved in making that? Where is the fun in looking into the TV sets which show a happy society? Where is the fun in ordering that fish curry from the restaurant and missing the fun to make it and smell the aroma when it’s on the flame? Where is the fun in looking into the smartphones and not discussing every small detail of our work and laughing on the funny incidents which makes us even more close and helps understand who we really are.
The digital age has brought in all kinds of comfort in our life which is not wrong. This automation has made us lazy and stressful and hey who said we don’t have an app to release the stress!
We have forgot that all this was created to make us happy and we in the influence of using it have forgot the real fun in life. Fun is not chatting over a social media app which doesn’t convey your tone or even your real reactions to the recipient, why can’t we keep it limited to work and important communication which doesn’t need a phone call, why can’t we just use it to help us work better and not let it come between our relations? Why do we have a TV set on in which the actor is explaining his problems and his daily routine instead of our near and dear ones? Why can’t we make that call during festivals and wish them greetings when we can’t physically meet and send a message saying Happy Diwali? Why do we have to play games on phone instead of gathering around in living room and playing carom?
Technology is very powerful in making our lives peaceful and also it is powerful enough to ruin what we have got; I still crave to go back to my Nanamma’s house and enjoy that steaming cup of chai when the bun-wala would come to our door ringing his cycle's bell!
