Life in a whole new orbit

PPS Gill

A VIEW from my study of different shades of green on a wall of trees that ring the rectangular park is inspiring. The other day, sharp and short showers dusted the plantation; birds flew out to perch on electric wires, fluttering their wings to dry. The setting sun’s rays bathed the multi-shaded green foliage. Serenity and silence enveloped the park. Watching the fleeting clouds, marvelling at nature, I was in a trance!

Four decades ago, stopping on the way to Shimla, I saw a deep, wide valley covered with a thin sheet of mist, struggling to veil the green beauty. Simply serene and enchanting! On a tree was nailed a wooden plate. Though the paint was peeling off, the writing was visible: Van ki shanti mein sangeet hota hai (Hidden in the tranquility of forest is melody).

The ring of my mobile phone shook me out of that misty trance. ‘What are you doing?’ My impromptu reply was: ‘Trying to listen to the sounds and stirrings of life in the silence of the house!’ This domestic silence sans the melody that pervades tranquility of the hill-forests! The echo of this silence is deafening, when the family’s communication lines turn cold, or snap — the prattle of grandchildren; no shouting and screaming mothers; fathers pretending to be busy on their phones! But elders are left out. Estranged relationship eclipses engaged relationships. Missing sounds and stirrings of life turn a home into a house.

Still thinking of the solitude of the valley, I wondered: How time marches on! How homes with families turn into houses, and later, an empty-nest-syndrome feeling sets in... How relations change! How the present divorces the past! In the past, social interactions were the norm. Talk of safety and security was unheard of. Social mahaul was one of camaraderie and companionship. Today, social interactions have been overrun by mobiles and Internet; safety and security are in peril; and a depressive mahaul of fear, anxiety, despondency and uncertainty is pervasive. 

In 1953, I was four years old and would walk to and fro half a mile to my school in Shimla — alone. Parents were not worried about safety. Today, it is different. Parents drop and pick up their children from school. They are not even allowed to go unescorted to neighbourhood parks. Exposure to the outside world was limited then. So was the reach of the media and the means of communication. Exposure to the outside world is now unlimited. The media reach is wide and means of communication multiple. 

Today, the carefree environment of the past is missing. Parents batter children with dos and don’ts; diktats are imposed, seldom discussed or debated with children. Life is in a new orbit! The present-generation parents do not listen to their parents, and expect their children to listen to them!