Do you remember life before the internet?

[I forgot posting this on the day of the prompt, so posting this today]

Oh those wonderful days! When people actually looked at each other when they had a conversation, when families sat around the table sharing food and exchanging stories of the day, when the young ones had only to ask and the elders who were knowledgeable about practically everything under the sun patiently explained it all to them, when every house had dictionaries and latest science books to impart knowledge…

Umm… Is that what you expected me to write? Ha! No way would I do that. You see, I am from the time before internet and I remember what it was like, definitely not the romanticised version my peers keep writing about. I have a very good memory, mind you, and as I remember it, life then was not in any way overly beautiful, or even perfect, as they would have you believe. It was just life, neither too great, not too bad.

Contrary to what everyone will have you believe, of the ‘bountiful’ time everyone supposedly had on their hands, elders did not have time for kids. They were so busy being stuffy, pompous old farts who looked down with disdain on the pipsqueaks (children) who wanted their attention. The children were spoken down to, and their curiosity was ruthlessly quashed, if it was not being overtly mocked.

Parents were no better. Most of them were too harried, especially the women (taking care of the in-laws’ family was a life-sucking duty). As for the men, they had to sit around and discuss/argue hotly about important stuff like what was wrong with the world and how it needed to be run (Hint: Their way, the best and only way) while ordering the women folk to make more chai and snacks. (These things till happens though)

Phones? Oh yeah, we had the rotary dialling phones back then, though not every household. As a senior civil servant, father was entitled to one. But most of the people you wanted to contact, or talk to, necessarily did not have a phone. Moreover, all calls outside one’s region had to via ‘trunk-call’, which needed to be booked in advance. Reaching the L&M, who was ensconced in some remote corner of the country, was out of question.

There was an interminable wait for hearing from loved ones residing far away. Handwritten letters, sent via snail mail as it is called now, was the main lifeline connecting people, the L&M and I included. The postman was the most important person in the life for most people. He was in mine anyway with the L&M and I spending most part of our life in different parts of the country.

Though it was fun at the time, unlike the whole world and its grandparents, I don’t go ga-ga over handwritten notes or letters in the present. I am done with all that, thank you. In the present, only the feeling conveyed matters to me. If it comes in the form of an email or a typed messages on WhatsApp, I don’t feel any less loved or connected.

So, yeah! I have too many memories of life before the internet.

I remember the days I waited for a telegram to arrive to know the L&M had reached his destination safely. I remember waiting for that much awaited call from someone when they finally got an opportunity to get near a phone. I remember the postman throwing the letters and magazines into the front yard and an enraged Simi (my dog) making mincemeat out of a whole magazine before I could read it.

I remember children in school passing around a black and white photo, of a (fake) mermaid no less, as something real someone’s uncle had seen with his own eyes. I was skeptical, but had no proof either way and anywhere I could go to for an instant answer. I remember living in the hostel and waiting (and dreading too) for calls from the parents, also the long wait for the cheque to make its appearance for spending money.

I remember having to go to movie halls to watch movies. Not even in my dreams did I imagine then of a day in the future of something like a laptop and being able to stream stuff to watch in the confines of my home. I remember waiting patiently for my favourite songs to be played on the radio and trying to record them on tape. The poor quality of the recording did not matter if I could just listen to it when I wanted without having to wait for the radio station to play it.

I remember going to the library and searching for books to find material related to my studies, also for books of fiction. I remember reading about the countries of the world in an encyclopaedia, looking up for meanings of words in dictionaries. I remember looking up at stars and knowing absolutely nothing about them. I remember being too scared to ask questions, of longing for answers, and having no one to clear your doubts.

Yeah, I remember those days alright, and I prefer today any day to those days.

©️ Shail Mohan 2025