Flashback to the 70s- Part 1

Recently, I met a friend of us who had come from abroad after a long time. During the conversation we discussed the conspicuous changes in children post covid. The most alarming observation made by my friend, who is a Bharatanatyam instructor, was the cognitive tardiness of students. Pre covid, her students used to learn the dance in a year, but the present-day doom scrolling addicts find it difficult to maneuver hand-leg-eye in co-ordination, leaving them struggling to learn even after two and a half years. A sad reality, which hopefully will change in due course. Some countries had already shifted away from technology-based learning to class room teaching and pen and paper. As a quinquagenarian born in the 70’s I consider myself lucky to be able to grow up in world devoid of technology, albeit technology helped me later. It opened a world of knowledge, information, tai chi for health, global cuisine and so on.

In my childhood we connected with relatives and friends through regular get-togethers and letters. We got to know about what happened around the world through newspapers and radio. During vacations, at my maternal grandparents' place, we used to sit with them and cousins at night listening to drama aired through radio, which was a prized possession in homes at that time. Other major entertainments were outdoor games such as tag, hopscotch square, hide and seek, blind man's bluff, watching movies at the local theatre etc……. TO BE CONTINUED