SOME BY-GONE ITEMS
Several things flash in my mind, all at a time just to remind me as to how much of change we have come through without being conscious of those. Where to start from is a dilemma. What to prioritize is another dilemma. So, let us begin with the day break.
With very few exceptions, toothpowder has nearly disappeared from household, obviously bringing in the paste version. Another forgotten habit is the neem twig plucked early in the morning, for brushing the teeth.
Yet another facility eternally lost is fetching Cow’s milk, drawn from cow’s udder right on our premises and accounting of the supply by leaving a stain painted on our exterior wall by the index finger of the supplier. Counting the number of bars, monthly bill would be settled-- amicably of course. These days, milk is largely served in packets held in cold store till distribution. Though milch animals are not in sight, huge volumes of milk are delivered by several independent milk supply agencies across the country.
News paper versions have multiplied; but all of them have one or the other political slant. So to say objectivity in reporting is a bygone culture. Another intriguing occurrence is the progressive decline in patronage for English News papers. Clearly the old belief of improving one’s English by reading English paper has taken a fatal blow and rightly so. Often those papers report in a shabby language devoid of elegance and grammatic precision. Quite often we find literal translation of words from regional language; worse still is out right printing of words from Indian languages, practically denying the reader the opportunity to learn the corresponding usage in English. Both English and English news paper look pathetic to say the least.
The use of bicycle looks a habit confined to students of higher secondary schools in Tamil nadu.
Another neo-pattern is some gadget plugged to the ear, making it hard to decipher if the person is hearing impaired or insulating self from the immediate environment by obstructing the noise.
Even the language in vogue among the youth calls for a special learning by elders before they can engage in a meaningful conversation with them. Even vernacular utterances are contrived to mean a specific thing not familiar for the elders. Eg; In Tamil, journals claim “mokka jokes”. It is neither convincing nor comforting. There are several short terms which refer to some event or gender and unless briefed it is beyond comprehension / common sense.
Another bygone feature prominent among the present PG students in Tamil nadu is ‘fearless use of English’ even for official transactions.
Prof.K.Raman
We use to burn the husk and add salt to make tooth powder.Tooth brush is a sophisticated version of neem stick
ReplyDeleteOur milkman(konar) used to bring the cow at 4am and after showing the empty vessel only he used to squeeze the udder. One day he came at 3am and made us to wake up. He was returning from the cinema theatre after seeing Sampoirna Ramayana in the night show.
That picture takes 4 hours for completion
That was the reason for his early arrival on that particular day
K.Venkataraman
Toothpowder, cows being brought for milching all vanished in my growing up years
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