Social, technological, culture changes I observed in my life

In my childhood I lived in a village where we used to have a regular power cut for 6 hours (or) more in summer. I used to sleep on terrace (of house) to avoid the heat inside my house. But now I sleep in my own air conditioned bedroom without any troubles. villagers used to wake us up in the middle of the night to use the landline telephone for emergencies, as we were the only household with landline phone. Now thanks to mobile phones people can call anyone at anytime by themselves. Earlier the only source of information used to be an elder or an encyclopedia but now I can google for any information.

I used to play games and talk about all kinds of things with my cousins during long holidays like summer vacations at my grandfather’s house, these days kids prefer to stay at home and take some courses. In my childhood we used to play cricket during weekends but now the people prefer to play videogames instead. Awareness for health has increased among the people. Due to advent of social media we spend time with our mobile phones rather than having conversation with our friends in leisure time. This lack of social interactions is leading to loneliness and emotional vulnerabilities in people. Due to affirmation of our pre-existing beliefs in media people are becoming more divided and paranoid.

Elders of my village used to gather at the porch of my house and discuss, debate each other. Now people keep to their own houses and come out only if necessary. During festivals every house in my village used to donate dishes made in our homes to people passing by on road, we don’t do practice that tradition anymore. Earlier people used to go to pilgrimages regularly now a pilgrimage is seen as an event for the elderly and people are instead preferring travel destinations. Our village used have a festival and fair every 2 years where relatives of households and people from surrounding villages visited. Now the only people celebrating the festival are villagers. Cultural programs during the festival have changed from dramas on Ramayana events to dance performances for movie songs.

-P.R.S.Srikar

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