Last Generation

When I was a kid, I always wanted to play video games. My parents did get me a gaming console late in my childhood (towards the end of my schooling). I was so excited to get it, I was at it on every given opportunity. Within a week it got burnt. Yes, literally it was up in smokes. (My mom put it, I killed the golden goose.)


What that meant was I continued to spend time outdoors. I have played every childhood games that were known to exist then. I climbed trees to pluck fruits, I chased butterflies, and I  played in mud while plowing friend’s paddy fields. I played cricket and soccer on hot summer afternoons. I did get hurt many times and fall sick many times. My parents never deterred me from going outdoors. Nor did I hesitate to get right back to the fun. I remember once I played foot-volleyball with sprained ankle. Sometimes what I attempted was close to being stupid. But at that age, it was all fun and play.


When I see the kids now, I do not see the desire in them to have fun outdoors. They are happy to be playing with the new age gadgets and gizmos, indoors. Earlier, the indoor games used to be ones that exercise the brains or provide a family fun time but that has been replaced with games that promote mindless shooting and scrambling. I did not find it odd. Probably my long lost love for gaming consoles blinded me.


One day, when my kid started walking, I held his hand and helped him walk towards a coffee shop from the car. On the way, he got fascinated by a dry leaf on the pavement, flying around in the fall breeze. He promptly wanted to chase it.

When I was a kid, I did not have the wide choice in programming in TV like we have with Cable TV today. It was restricted only to the programming of the Government run television channel. Lack of choices was a minus, but the time it provided for non-TV things in life was a big plus, which prompted us all to be a better social animal than what we are now.

I do not have the right be preachy here. I have gleefully adopted these changes as a way of life. But when I look at the next generation, it makes me question whether I am doing the right thing or not. By locking myself in this technology driven “i”-life, I think I am setting a wrong precedence for the next generation. 

We are the generation that had/has the best seat in the house to see the launch of all iThings. I don't want us or my future generation to end up like the human passengers in Axiom Space ship shown in movie WALL-E. (If you have not seen this movie yet, plan to see it now)

As a little effort to keep the fun spirit alive in my kid, I have decided to shut TV off at least one day every weekend and spend that time outdoors. Not at a shopping mall gazing incessantly through windows. But spend time at a park playing with my kid, making him feel connected with this beautiful thing called The Earth. 

Choice is ours! We either become the Last Generation that knew what it meant to live life connected to this planet or become the Lost Generation.