We all know the old life skills we were expected to learn in
India; pass exams, study, pass more exams, study, get a US visa, and then a
green card (which I am told is not coloured green- a mirage/chimera), and then
become a US citizen, so that you can have a legit bank account in a foreign
bank without the Indian govt. accusing you of stashing black money (which could
actually be green, blue, etc.) and so on. You know the story.
These days, life skills have undergone a sea change. First,
you need to know your ipad from your Android smartphone, need to know your
Ferrari (not literally yours) from your Harley Davidson (likewise), know how to
take a selfie and post it in a flash using your teeth which are blue (which is
actually a technology and has nothing to do with what your jaws contain), and
you need to have a playlist of songs in digital form (one could be more
advanced and have a playlist of people who you have relationships with as
well), and appear cool all the time, even in a Nagpur summer reaching 48
degrees Celsius. It helps immensely if you own a selfie-stick, and have a rich
dad who can sponsor your annual foreign trips, among other things-then you can
actually be cool in the summers.
Oh yes, and you have to come up with constant witticisms and
‘deep’ statements on Facebook, while watching Bollywood potboilers (they really
need to rename these as wok-friers to keep up with changing times). You could
even be a stand-up comedian, if you are really good at the one-liners. And
forget that the US even exists. That reminds me of a joke I heard on TV from a
stand-up. He said, “Bangaloreans really appreciate humour. So much so, we
elected Siddaramaiah as CM”. No offence to the gentleman, as I hardly know him.
Prof. Jayasimha (above), and me try out our swing.
