The Art of the Selfie

I am still learning, thanks to teachers who are much younger- because the selfie is an art that has developed during the generation who are Digital Natives, and not Converted Analogs like me. Here is a collection, mine and those of others-

Milind, a cousin, with my Mom and others.

Anushka Mishra tries one on the 13th Floor- it was not unlucky at all.

A friend in New Zealand with family.

Below, a random walk resulted in meeting Nagendra Shenoy, a former student.

 

Condensed Books

No, the books are not physically condensed. The stories are, to make them palatable to a new generation.

Ramayan

Ram weds Sita, goes to the jungle due to step-mom's shenanigans. Inveigled by Ravan in the form of a deer, goes to Lanka after a kidnapping episode with Sita, to get her back. Kumbhakarna is sleeping (for a few months), but wakes up when the war between Ram and Ravan starts. Hanuman (his tail plays a big role) and his army of monkeys help Ram defeat Ravan. Laxman, Ram and Sita come back to Ayodhya. Ram rajya prevails.

Mahabharat

There are 5 brothers (Pandavas) who have a hundred cousins (the Kauravas). They fight over their kingdom constantly, while the elders look on. Arjuna wins Draupadi in an open archery contest, but his Mom inadvertently makes her the wife of all five brothers. The fight continues between the cousins (Duryodhana is the bad guy), and in an eighteen day war, aided by Krishna, the Pandavas win. Bada Bheem is one of the heroes in the battle. But they also end up losing a lot. Weapons of mass destruction (various astras) are used from both sides.

Generation Gap

When we were growing up, the young men wore bell-bottoms and some also (influenced by Rajesh Khanna, superstar)  wore kurtas or guru-shirts as they were known for a while. Not sure what the difference is. I once wore a Hare-rama Hare krishna-inscribed kurta, may be inspired by the Dum-maro-dum film by Dev saab. Did not get around to imitating the lady- Zeenat, though.

Anyhow, our generation listened to Kishore kumar and his ilk, and detested K.L. Saigal or his contemps like Talat Mehmood (some also confused him with the comedian Mehmood, perhaps).

Now, I don't know what the young generation listens to any more, because it is not audible to me, being inside an Apple or a Samsung or their cousins. But one can make an intelligent guess, that it is different from what I listen to. But I do know what they are writing-at least for the large part, because it's so much in your face- not bookish at all. Some more shy types blog rather than facebook (the verb).

Also, I have discovered that there are techno-advances such as Skype, What's App and WHATNOT (that's not an app, at least as far as I know.

Now that I know what they are up to, I can sleep in peace. What a relief. Good night!