Ding dong!!

One or our relatives celebrated their anniversary a few days ago. And, on their anniversary, they shared on FB, a very old pic taken in our home. And this took me down the memory lane. Now, I don’t want to sound like the ‘who bhi Kya din the’ types. But it’s really amazing how things have changed in just a decade or so.

There are many things which have changed. But this is not a school essay- ‘past and present; write in 350 words’. So, I want to write about one thing – visitors - as a tribute to this pic which was taken on one of their visits to our place.

Today, we don’t visit our friends before at least making a phone call to ask if they’re home, and free or not. In those days, nobody cared to do that. I miss those evenings when between sips of tea, mom would suggest, “let’s go to so-&- so’s house”. I still remember those days, when the doorbell would ring without warning. And we kids would eagerly wait for mom’s pleasantly surprised voice going “ahaaaa” on seeing some old friends – 'coz that meant a break from our boring homework!

We make our weekend plans, several weeks ahead, nowadays. There was a time when weekends used to be totally unplanned... yet fun. Though if you had asked in those days, “what did you do over this weekend?” there wouldn’t be any solid answer.

We invite people for lunches and dinners – and plan what all we need to cook (or bring, if it’s a potluck). But back then, servings could easily turn from 4 to 14, without much efforts. NOT JOKING!! As such, I’ve never seen my mom fuss over cooking – aaj ki ranna korbo? (What to cook today?). More often than not, our meals were planned just half an hour before eating. But that never caused a problem, even when we had surprise guests over dinner.

I love that feeling of sudden pleasures, in the middle of a mundane chore. Not that it was always pleasurable though! There have been several times, when after much coaxing and crying, dad would finally agree to take us to a movie/ restaurant; and just when we’re about to leave – surprise!! Visitors became the visited!! I really used to get annoyed on those occasions…. I still do! More so now, when the trend IS to inform people before visiting them. And it also gives me time to make my house presentable- to shove the half dried clothes into the cupboard, to put all the dishes in the dishwasher, to clear the kitchen table top, to make my daughter pick up her toys! But then, there was a different fun in arriving somewhere unannounced – that’s all I’m saying.

Technology has changed our lives big time. Long distance phone calls have turned into VOIP’s. Letters have become WhatsApp messages. And when you want to use words at length, BLOG!