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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Lord Shiva tries to buy tiger skins online (satire)

Till now, Lord Shiva used to have an ordinary cellphone to contact others in Heaven but, his daughter Saraswati had gifted him a new handset – it was bigger in size and it had a whole lot of buttons. He had difficulty in remembering which button was meant for which purpose. He was fiddling with the buttons when he accidentally clicked on one of the online marketing sites.
He wanted tiger skins very badly. Nowadays, there is a ban on killing tigers and he was stuck with skins that were several decades old - he was isolated from the latest fashion trends.

Durga was watching him from the corner of her eyes and enjoying herself.
Lord Shiva was confused by seeing so many thumbnails that depicted dresses, footwear, accessories, jewelry, cosmetics.
‘Click on what you want to buy,’ Durga said.
‘You mean you just click and buy?’ Shiva asked.
‘Yes – of course, before buying you must check if it is suitable for you.’
‘How can I do that unless there is a salesman or salesgirl?’
‘The mobile is your shop-cum-salesman. Click on the item you want to buy. Suppose it is a shirt. Once you click on it, it will ask you for your size, choice of color. Then it will display its variety along with cost. Select which one you want, put it in the shopping cart, pay the amount by credit card and it will be delivered at your doorstep. By drone if you want it urgently.’
‘Seems very simple,’ Lord Shiva said. ‘But don’t I get to touch and feel what I am buying?’
‘You don’t need to,’ Durga said. ‘The brands are famous and they don’t cheat. They deal in millions – they will not stoop so low as to cheat you out of a few thousands.’
Shiva did not bother to reply. He searched for tiger skins. And – he got tiger balm, posters of ‘save the tiger’, and books on Tiger Pataudi, Tiger Memon, Tiger Hill but no tiger skin.
He looked towards Durga – she was trying to get tickets online for the latest blockbuster.
‘I am not able to get tiger skin,’ he said.
‘Dear Lord, it is time for change. You must go for something else that will look like tiger skin but will not actually be tiger skin.’
‘Go in for a plain dress and get it colored to look like the original,’ she said.
‘But that is not ethical, that is cheating,’ Shiva was shocked.
‘My dear husband,’ Durga smiled. ‘That is what is happening all around us. Either join the stream or be left out.’ (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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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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