I remember my great grandfather (who, incidentally, lived to be 105) watching cricket on TV. The volume was very low and that, for some reason, used to annoy me. It was like a constant buzz - neither silent nor noisy. His logic was that he was deaf and would not be able to hear anyway, so the television might as well be soft instead of adding to the noise around him. My grandfather has become like that too. He watches the news; he does not listen to it. It does not bother me so much because at least there's no annoying buzz.My grandfather, of late, has started talking very slowly, thinking things through, weighing his words and all that. Two days ago, he said to me, "You know ... the modern generation ... the twentieth century ... even the twenty-first century ... the world has seen many, many technological advancements." I nodded, wondering where he was going from here. A point … [Read more...]
No Television
I moved into a flat that looked as if it had been painted by the landlord himself. It had definitely been painted by someone who had never painted anything before. I loved the flat despite that, though, and I particularly liked my landlord and landlady. They were extremely curious about a girl who wanted to live all alone. More than that, they were curious about this girl who had come all the way from Pune to live in their beloved Calcutta and study there. And most of all, I was a rare specimen because I spoke little Bangla.As helpful neighbours, they came to talk to me even before I had moved in. They asked me what I did and my landlady suggested to me where I should put my bed and other things."I don't have a bed," I said apologetically."Oh, okay, okay." That was normal. "You can put your TV here.""I don't have a TV.""Oh!" That was not normal. "No TV?"I … [Read more...]