Senior citizens in the world of smart phones and credit cards

Today a person becomes a senior citizen when he or she crosses the age of 60. It is an accepted norm and with life expectancy increasing, there are thousands of them around us. Most of them can perform their work independently without assistance from others. Very few of them use walking sticks for support. In the past, such individuals used to be written off. Those days are history. Of course, they have had to learn new tricks to adapt to the changing times. These are gadgets like the smartphone, debit and credit cards, online banking, online shopping etcetera. They have mastered the arts.

They know about Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etcetera. The concept of joint family exists by exception. It is now the age of nuclear families and the children set up separate establishments. The young generation maintains regular contact through smartphones or video calling. Writing letters are primitive and the sight of the postman is rare. Those who ring the doorbell are usually the delivery boys with the items ordered online. The items could be burgers or footwear. There was a Bollywood movie starring Sanjay Dutt on senior citizens. It was “Lage raho Munna Bhai.”



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Durga Puja shopping and the associated madness

Durga Puja is the biggest festival of Bengalis. It is an occasion when families go out to buy new clothes and the latest trends in fashion come into view – the fashion is not restricted to the fairer sex but is equally applicable to the males. As has been the tradition for ages, the fashion style is dictated by screen stars. And, there are any number of outlets in the form of malls where one can get lost in the varieties on offer – if the credit card is handy, no one will return disappointed.

It is generally believed that shopping malls and credit cards are associated with the rich and the nouveau riche and, for the others, the shops scattered all over the city are the answers. These shops are generally localized in the Hatibagan area of the north, and the Gariahat area in the south apart from the famous Hogg Market (or New Market) in the center of the city on Chowringhee Road.
The marketing strategy in all shops is more or less the same – in malls it is the ‘buy one, get one free’ culture and in the shops, it is all about discounts and, in some cases, a bottle of cold drink is thrown in for good measure to influence one’s buying decision.
The annual buying spree does not end with clothes but spills over to accessories – this is especially true for the women and girls but, the men also edge their way into the slot. While the women go in for artificial jewelry, the men opt for more masculine accessories – like belts and goggles.
And – at the end of the day, there is always the inevitable stopover in some restaurant to take the weight off the tired legs and enjoy some delicious mouth-watering snacks.
However, with the advent of online shopping, much of the excitement and charm of Durga Puja shopping would vanish. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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The fear of credit cards and ATMs

I have been seeing men in their sunset days for quite a while now and can say that by and large, they all appear to be externally satisfied but, in their heart of hearts, they are a dis-satisfied lot. This arises from their incompatibility with the world around them that is changing at too fast a rate. This is borne out by the ad of mobile phone where the son taunts his father saying that the mobile phone he is using was of ‘yesterday’s standard’.
That is just one example of incompatibility.
Another is the rising popularity of plastic money or credit cards.

Everyone flashes his card for purchasing groceries or to book movie tickets or airline tickets or pay the restaurant bill. Here again, the old-timers are at a disadvantage. They prefer to stand in queue in banks to withdraw money instead of using the ATMs – they have got accustomed to handling bank notes. The very touch of bank notes in the pocket instead of the plastic card gives them a sense of confidence that money is at hand.
Moreover, with reports of cards getting stuck in the ATM or theft of the card and the bank account being looted are matters of grave concern. It the pocket is picked, the loss will be only the money kept in the purse but, when an ATM card is stolen, the thief will ransack the bank account and you will be left with next to nothing.
Mobility is another area of concern for these men and women who are past their prime. Their speed of walking has taken a beating and, even though the heart may be willing, the body does not react as it should. And, this leaves the sunset day crowd disappointed. They want to zoom by on those fancy motorbikes and automobiles –but are stumped by the number of electronic gadgets installed in the vehicles.
To the modern generation, automation is the key to success – robotics is in, manual systems are out. Therefore, cars have a whole lot of sophisticated gadgets installed on and around the steering wheel. The controls of the car resemble the controls of a space ship and the drivers fancy themselves to be astronauts!! (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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