Timelines

Amid the gore and bluster of the daily news, a headline caught my eye – ‘Most US students think Beethoven was a dog’!! Every movie buff and dog-addict would know the lovable St. Bernard and I let out a hearty chuckle (and ‘boo’ to those who indulged in a cynical snigger). The original must be turning in his grave to the resounding clash of cymbals!

The article concludes: ‘…for US students who got their bachelor’s degree this year, Germany was never divided, professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics, there have always been reality shows and smoking has never been allowed on US airlines…’

This got me thinking about timelines and about how lucky I am to have straddled two centuries – the 20^th and 21^st!

Many little things - and some not so little things - help us appreciate the particular span of time that we inhabit.

For example, I grew up in the time before television which has allowed me to realise the value of a good book and the fun of evening badminton sessions (strictly non-pro) with friends. Typewriters were mechanical; this meant that you needed to be painstakingly accurate if you did not want to repeat the work you had already done. There was no spell-check or autocorrect or memory. Adapting to the computer was a snap – it has to play catch up with my typing instead! Sewing machines had to be pedaled, clothes scrubbed on a washboard and masala ground by hand – daily exercise guaranteed. Now that I am older, I can blissfully give thanks for my motorized Singer©, ‘automatic’ washing machine and food processor (although the breakdown rate is higher!). Doing things the hard way taught me discipline and precision; doing things the easy way has taught me appreciation of the inventive mind!

We have evolved and how: upcountry in the fifties, the milkman would visit with cow in tow, swatch of grass and aluminum can – milk came straight from the udder. Today, milk comes in a tetrapaks, duly pasteurized. In earlier times, meat and fish came fresh off the block wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper (roasted chana still does!); today, such food comes cling-filmed and frozen. Change is convenient even if it is not always good for us.

My generation has lived through marvelous breakthroughs in science and history; DNA has been decoded, man has visited the moon, the Internet and mobile phones have become a way of life, the Iron curtain and Berlin wall have been dismantled, some dictatorships have been replaced by democracies – the list is a long one, too long to be accommodated here.

We have seen leaders come and leaders go: the Popes from Pius XII to Benedict XVI, Adenauer to Merkel, de Gaulle to Sarkosy, Eisenhower to Obama, Churchill to Cameron (while the same Queen is still going strong!), Khrushchev to Putin, Shah Reza Pahlavi to Ahmadinejad, Nehru to Manmohan Singh – some cast a long shadow, each left a legacy either to be admired or deplored.

So much has happened!

For today’s graduate, the present will have to be more fascinating than the past, considering the strides that technology has made and the accelerting opportunities for growth. They will eventually learn that the past is prologue to the future and they will make the acquaintance, perchance, of the music, literature and pastimes that enthralled an earlier generation.

In the meantime, my contemporaries can thank technology and enjoy the opportunity to listen to ‘live concert’ quality recordings in the comfort of home. Beethoven – the original – lives again and how!