"In Those Days..." by Ebenezer B. Veerasingam

You know,

I have heard many a time from the earlier generation,

Lines and lines of biographies and histories,

Beginning with

“In those days...”

 

A whole list of things

Which they retrieve with pride,

Just to show

How much the present generation

Is different from them.

True, really true!

 

Compared to their, “In those days…”

Where is our, “Nowadays”?

 

We, the present generation

Are playing chess on-line,

One in Toronto, the other in Colombo,

Just to prove how far away we are.

 

We belong to the space, called Social Webs

Where most relationships begin and end.

Facebook has become our testimony ground,

And E-mail accounts, and Google Drives our treasuries.

 

Husband sends an SMS to his wife “Good night”,

Who is relaxing in the next room.

When four friends meet for supper at a table,

They do not talk much.

Instead, they chat in their online groups

And are busy checking many others’ status.

 

 

We have become equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi,

Send and receive pictures and smutty jokes freely.

But still, we struggle to know and understand each other.

 

The old man in that corner

Is surprised to see a young fellow

Who smiles at a mini screen on his palm

And laughs and shouts through two wires connected to his ears.

 

Surely, there seems to be

A Vast Difference

Between,

Their “In those days...”, and

Our “Nowadays”.