As we reminisce about a time when joy was safeguarded within the confines of our homes, we ponder the evolution of modern communication

I recently came across this famous quote by Khalil Gibran, “Travel and tell no one, Live a true love story and tell no one, Live happily and tell no one, People ruin beautiful things.”

In older times when we were children, we were told by our elders not to display our good fortune, lest we catch the evil eye. That meant we had to keep the happiness, the good fortune, or anything good in our life, within the four walls of our house. It was not a successful pearl passed on to us by our forefathers. There were avenues where we could still boast, like in school or during the mandatory evenings out to play with other children in the locality.

Those were different times. A visit to our grandparents’ during the holidays, or the new toy that we had received from our parents for our birthday, or any other such possession, was valuable - to be cherished and talked about. Even laughter and happiness were something to value and to pass on to our near and dear ones.

Things started changing. My letter-writing stopped. Emails were the new order. However, Government departments and corporations have yet to discover the paperless office. A hard copy of the communication, with a physical signature, was still required to be sent through post for it to be accepted.

People said that any document without a physical signature was not legally enforceable; however, I believed that the reason was far simpler — the postal mindset doubted the receipt of email communication by the recipient. This was not baseless — the mail still finds ways to reach the spam box. But more likely, it had more to do with the sender’s capability, or lack of it, in operating the computer.

I started writing after my relative withdrawal a few years back from professional life. In the olden days, the only recourse that I had for an outreach, was to send my manuscript with a self-addressed stamped envelope to the limited number of magazines and journals available at the time — to eventually receive a rejection. But I had the satisfaction of waiting in anticipation for a few weeks if not months. Now times have changed. I recently sent my article to the editor of a reputed daily by email and within hours I received a cryptic reply, “Regret.”

There is a popular serial currently airing on the TV. Two celebrities have a conversation over coffee - with a k, with another celebrity and talk about mundane subjects. A recent episode captured the changing times perfectly. A star from the 90s was asked about the one thing that she missed not having during her heydays. Her reply was spontaneous, without missing a beat, emphatic and crisp - “Social Media.” I cannot even imagine the plight of the corporates who continue to prosper because we are obsessed with social media if people start following Mr Gibran’s advice! Not to talk of the withdrawal symptoms for a generation brought up posting all their happiness and even sorrow, on social media!

(The author is an electrical engineer with the Indian Railways and conducts classes in creative writing; views are personal)