Saree is a traditional garment worn by women in India and is probably one of the oldest attire for women in Indian and it has a great cultural significance. It is most commonly worn by Hindu women. Each colour of this piece of clothing represents a unique meaning according several casts and beliefs. Sarees in the modern day are not worn as frequently as it used to be worn before. To some it is their everyday clothing and to some “ethnic day” material. It has become an “Indian” thing as opposed to a more Hindu thing.

I watch Hollywood TV shows and movies, when there is a crossover of an Indian woman, they appear to be wearing a saree most of the time. This is one small memory that comes to me when I speak about a saree being “Indian”.I bet you can find girls using the hashtag “desi” or “sanskari” when they post a picture wearing a saree. Wait for Independence day or Republic day to come around, women will be adorned in sarees! This very fact is enough to convince that a saree is an icon of “Indianess”.     

My memory of a saree is a rather embarrassing one. My older brother used to dare me to dress myself in a saree when I was around 5 years old and my innocent brain obeyed his orders. I used to tell my mother that I wear a saree better than her. Sarees always took me in awe because I loved the designs on it. My then creative self wanted to cut pieces these sarees and put them on walls like paintings. There was one point where I used to draw sarees for my mother.

I am in two minds when it comes to thinking about whether a saree has cultural significance or seeing it as just another garment. I think this question has arisen because we are influenced by western culture. We have lost our identity because of this factor. We are not deeply rooted to our culture. We are easily carried away by the western way of doing things. We are neither here nor there. We are stuck in the middle, which just makes us look stupid. The reason to this? technology? maybe. I feel we are overlooking our tradition.

Sarees play an important role in our culture. Although, I wouldn’t associate any religion or nationality to it. After the pleasant sight of sunrise, I would place watching a woman in a saree as a beautiful sight.

Internet scams are different methodologies of Fraud initiated by cybercriminals on the Internet.  Scams can happen in several ways like phishing emails, social media, SMS messages on your mobile phone, fake tech support phone calls, scareware and more. The main purpose of these types of scams can range from credit card theft, capturing user login and password credentials and even identity theft.

Security and privacy is one of the main concerns while we are trying to access the internet. This is the scenario in the modern world today where technology has increased new heights. For crying out loud, even Jeff Bezos, the CEO of amazon got hacked by cybercriminals who are reportedly from Saudi Arabia. On a more personal note, I don’t remember being scammed online but I do remember something which I think counts as something of a scam.

Time travel to the point when I was 10 years old. I was this enthusiastic kid who desperately longed for a bicycle. It was summer time and all the children of the vicinity was getting a fancy bicycle. I sat one day in front of the TV like any other 10-year old and was cruising through the cartoon channels. This advertisement popped up, which promised a bicycle to the kid who answers a question about the show. Overwhelmed with the opportunity, I quickly grabbed my father’s cell phone and answered the question. That one question lead to a series of questions and I didn’t think twice before answering. This went on for quite a long time.

After three days of constant replying, my dad arrives home with a big frown on his face. he yelled at my mother and I was puzzled. Back of my head I knew that I was next in line. Fright took over me. my father comes up to me and tells me that his company reduced the phone bill from his salary because he had been overusing his phone. He asked me if I knew anything about it. I explained everything. He understood my need for a cycle and just embraced me. with three thousand rupees now gone from my dad’s salary, I could do nothing but apologize and promise him that I wouldn’t repeat such a thing ever again. It was this incident which made me realize that the TV contests or fake lottery prizes are techniques to make money. It was at the age of 17 that I actually knew what scamming really was. Scamming is wrong and being on the receiving end makes you feel conscious about your internet activity. To my mind, one may never know, when a scam is going to take place. We must be careful and cautious about our online activities and transactions  

Android Kunjappan version 5.25 is a movie belonging to the Mollywood sector, released in 2019. It falls under the category of sci-fi and drama. In the movie we come across Suraj Venjaramoodu who plays the role of an 80 year old father Bhaskara Pothval. Mr.Bhaskara ,according to the modern world is a person who is old fashioned. He is satisfied with the classic way of doing things. Afraid of change, Mr.Bhaskara is simple man who likes to keep things easy. His son, Subrahmanian played by Soubin Shahir, is a well educated, young man who is looking for a job elsewhere as the village he is living in is not well developed and doesn’t offer him convincing job opportunities. In the movie we come across certain clips where subrahmanian had rejected a job opportunity from a Japanese firm who offered him a likeable designation and a pay which he couldn’t refuse. He was also aware that his father age, has health issues and would struggle without him. Subrahmanian tried to play the safe option by asking his father’s consent for the job offer at hold. Mr.Bhaskara ,a cranky old man as he is , asks his son to decline the job offer to stay here with him.

 The difference in the thinking of the father and son is clearly seen. The father, Mr.Bhaskara doesn’t want anything but his son. He wants to be felt less lonely and taken care of. He wants his blood relative to stand beside him. He doesn’t pay heed to his health signals but rather assumes that as long as is son is beside him, everything is good. But Subrahmanian is a lad who wants to achieve something in life in terms of a career. He doesn’t want his knowledge as a mechanical engineer to go in vain. They constantly make each others’ feelings known by heated arguments and exchange of unpleasant words. Subrahmanian receives an offer from Russia which he thought was the ideal destination for all mechanical engineers. He gathers courage and puts this across to his father. His father fed up with his son’s plan comes to the conclusion that if Subrahmanian accepts this offer, he is no longer his son!

Subrahmanian with disappointment in his heart decides to move to Russia. His father is definitely on his mind. His previous experiment of hiring a house keeper failed as Mr.Bhaskara didn’t oblige to her ways of doing things. In Russia, Subrahmanian works on an android robot which is designed to assist the needs of humans. An idea sparks to him and he decides to take this robot along with him to try it at his father’s house. On his first visit to his village, he unveils the robot to his dad. His father thinks that the piece of machinery is an alien and brings a weapon to destroy it. His dad doesn’t like the idea of replacing his son with a robot. He took time to acknowledge the presence of the robot, let alone live with it. The robot brought something different unlike the other care takers. The son placed his faith in the robot and decided to fly back to Russia. No robot can refuse the orders of its master and Mr.Bhaskara liked that. He gradually started to establish a relationship with a robot. The robot did everything for him and catered for all his requirements. He started taking the robot out more and introduced him to the neighbourhood. The locals gave him a suggestion by asking him to name the robot Kunjappan .

Kunjappan had now grown so much with Mr.Bhaskara that he started wearing clothes and visiting temples.  Kunjappan could do whatever Subrahimanian did. This is particularly noticeable when Mr.Bhaskara asks Kunjappan to wipe his head dry with a towel. We also see Bhaskara open up to Kunjappan more and have a lively conversation with him. The robot responds well to his questions and relates to him as if they were together since childhood. Their relationship just became stronger and stronger day by day. He went to the extent of blocking his own biological son from having virtual conversations with him. Mr.Bhaskara was quite happy with Kunjappan because he never disobeyed any of his orders or argued. He basically said yes to everything and that’s what Mr.Bhaskara wanted, a yes man! He becomes less lonely and dependable on Kunjappan.

Meanwhile in Russia, Subramanian is warned that the robot is a test machine and must be returned at once because it had a few major disaffects which would pose a threat to Mr.Bhaskara. Subramanian is very reluctant to return the machine because he is finally getting to see his father happy and keep his job at the same time. He is faced with a choice of either having his job or returning the robot. He has no option but to choose the later. He returns home and speaks to his father about it. His father refuses to give him back and deals with his biological son like a third person. Subramanian is shocked to see his father so attached to the robot. He tries to prove his worth by asking the robot to stop doing things because he wanted to do them. Mr.Bhaskara had none of it and distanced himself and the robot by going away from Subrahmanian. He went to such an extent that he went away from home to immerse the ashes of his wife without informing his son.

On his way, he is attacked by a long time enemy from his neighbourhood. The robot tries to defend Bhaskara by putting itself on line. The blinded robot instead attacks Bhaskara. Subramanian arrives right on time to save his father. He does that by destroying Kunjappan. Subrahmanian embraces his father like a weak and helpless child. He decides to take his father home, Mr.Bhaskara says nothing but looks at Subrahmanian as Kunjappan.

These are the seconds of the movie which poses the question “who is the father?”  and “who is the son?”. To my mind, it is certain that Mr.Bhaskara is the father but who is the son? Well, according to Subrahmanian he is the son whereas Bhaskara thinks of Kunjappan as his son which is clearly depicted in the final seconds of the movie. Mr.Bhaskara defines his son as one who doesn’t make him feel abandoned and lonely, the one who is beside him at all times, the one who listens but does not argue and the one who places his father above everything. Ironically, Mr.Bhaskara finds these reqirements in Kunjappan .  

Have you ever been to a movie theatre? I’m sure many teens out there have. Until 2017, I had never been to a movie theatre. That was probably because on my introverted personality and rigid parents. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as I got my first phone only a year later.  Before I had ever been to a theatre I’ve always wondered about what it would be like to sit and watch a movie on the big screen. I was often forced by my friends at school to join them for a sneak peak. The movies were for me “out of sight”. At that time, I was perfectly content with DVD’s and video tapes.

However, I must admit I have from time to time badgered my parents about going to the movies. But at the time, their only answer was “the theatre is a bad place where bad things happen.” For a long time, I learned to accept this. It wasn’t until my brother’s friends invited me to go to the movies. I didn’t dare to ask my parents because I knew that they would never grant me the privilege of going to the movie theatre. So I snuck out of my house with my brother.

When I first found out that I would finally be able to fulfill my long awaited dream of going to the movies, I was absolutely thrilled. Then I found out that the first movie I would ever see in a movie theatre would be Avengers: Infinity war and my excitement couldn’t be contained.

For the next few days before my trip to the movies I pondered on what it would be like to see a movie on a huge screen. Never before had I been to a movie theatre, so I found myself asking many questions that could come up with to people who had been to a screening. Then I did the most nerdy thing possible and researched about movie theatres. Did you know that the first movie theatre was an empty retail outlet in New Orleans?
Thankfully, movie theatres today have new 21st Century technology. This most likely contributed to my wonderful experience at the movie theatre. On my first trip can by best described in three things: nervous, excited and late.

The three contributed to my anxiety as I walked into the small, black and bright room toward the end of the hall at PVR cinemas in 1MG mall. The film itself added to my excitement. The icing on the cake was the fact that it was a 3D movie If there is one thing I would advise someone who intends to go the movies for the first time, it would be to watch a superhero movie and not scary ones. It is not fun to have ghosts, ghouls and demons popping out at you from a gigantic screen. However, I had prepped myself with movie trailers and maybe a few prequels.

Some of the negative things I must admit about the movie theatre is its long, unnecessary advertisements and the overpriced food. If I watched a movie at home, I would never have to watch fifteen minutes of previews and trailers, and never would I have spent Rs.300  on a bag of popcorn which was ironically the same cost as the movie ticket.
Nevertheless, one cannot deny the wonderful quality of the screen, sound and seating at the movie theatre. Those were some of the things that probably make the whole trip worth it. This is why I advise those of you out there who have never been to movie theatres to go as soon as possible, and bring a group of friends along with you.

It is a wonderful experience to have in life, and not going would be missing out on something great.

One day last month, I chose to do the unthinkable: I decided not to use any electronic devices for 24 hours. I picked a Friday as the day to “cut the cord” and put my smartphone and laptop in my desk drawer at home. It was a tough choice but I had to do it for 2 reasons. One, because my English professor insisted and two, because I was very curious. The latter convinced me to do this experiment.

As soon as the alarm rang, I switched my phone off. Didn’t read any messages, like any pictures or update myself with any current affairs. I left to college rather optimistically and took the bus. I found an empty seat. Now I was all comfortable and cozy but I felt that I was missing something. Surprise! Surprise! It was my phone. I usually listen to music whenever I’m out alone in public but all I can hear now was noise. Now that I had nothing to do, I decided to peak outside the window and all I could see was chaos. Parents driving their kids to school, motorcycles overtaking each other, a man running to catch the bus. I “survived” my journey to college. Although “survived” is a little bit of an exaggeration.

Now that I reached college I never had the need for my phone. I like talking to people and connecting with them. With my friends around there was really no need for a phone. Classes commenced as per the schedule. During lunch my friends and I would normally game but I couldn’t join them as I left my phone at home. An idea sparked, I convinced my friends to play basketball. Quite frankly we had a really good time. All our worries and thoughts just vanished during the match. It refreshed us and we had a very good bonding session. What generally is a text message was now a verbal conversation. One of my friends wanted to make basketball an everyday thing.

The last hour came to an end and as I was walking to the bus stop, I admittedly wondering about the messages I was missing, who called me and what people were doing that day. The task was half complete, I might as well complete it. I desperately needed my phone as I took the bus home. The journey felt like a lifetime! It was very frustrating. I finally reached home. I did nothing but sleep to kill time.

My ultimate focus was to complete the experiment and I successfully did. The next morning when I switched my phone back on, my notifications flooded! I even received a message which read “ Hello !! are you alive?! “. This experiment didn’t just fetch me content for my blog post rather it made me realise many things. The first being our addiction to the smartphone. It’s a pretty obvious one, isn’t it ? I was restless without my phone. I just wanted to feel my phone and not necessarily using it. Smartphones are the ultimate time suck up of our daily lives. I’m glad that I convinced my friends to play basketball, it was something different, an intake of fresh air.

I also realised that its important to periodically cut the cord. After playing basketball. I could physically feel the relief from being untethered to my smartphone. It almost felt like freedom. I wasn’t beholden to the people texting me, calling me or updating their social media platforms. I could hear my surroundings instead of the monotonous sound of my Redmi ringtone. As with exercise, eating healthy and getting enough sleep, I reminded myself of how good it felt to live in the moment.

Technology was never always a part of me. I grew in a time where technology was slowly evolving. Each step of evolution brought me something new and memorable. If owned a museum of my personal history of technology, I would include the following 5 things:

1.Television

The television was probably the first piece of technology I was introduced to. I guess people born in the same generation as me wouldn’t deny that fact. The Television or the TV as it is commonly referred to, broadened my imagination and took me to new worlds. Cartoons like ‘Tom and Jerry’, ‘Thomas the train’, ‘Oswald’ made my day. For example, the show ‘Dora the Explorer’ would always conclude the episode with a question, “So what was your favourite part?” and I would reply hoping that Dora would listen to what I say. This established an emotional connect between the television and me.

2.PlayStation 2

Since both my parents were working, they used to leave some money for my brother and me to grab a snack or two. Instead, we would save that money and visit gaming parlours, there were days where my brother and I would starve to play a game. They had this black, cuboid shaped machine with two controllers. I still remember my first game, it was ‘WWE’ a wrestling game where my brother and I would compete. I didn’t worry about losing at all, the graphics of the game was what mesmerised me. I tried different games and they all had different settings. It felt like as if I were a part of that virtual universe. When I first held the joystick of the ps2, in knew it was going to be something special.

3.Laptop

Probably the most expensive gadget bought till date, the laptop was quite helpful in many ways. It’s a grey DELL Inspiron series 3000 with an i3 processor. The technology nowadays has evolved so much that my laptop is just a grain of sand. The laptop helped my brother quite a lot with his work related issues and projects. For me? the laptop was nothing but a gaming device. I started played more games and learning a lot about customising them. It is at this point that I earned the tag of ‘Gamer’. The cliché stuff remains movies, Youtube, presentations etc.. but the laptop introduced me to online learning and I think that’s most valuable trait I’ve received from this device.

4.WiFi Router

A very underrated device which is now a necessity in everyone’s home. The WiFi was what helped me interact with people online. I became socially active. I started learning new thing and kept up to the trends of the modern world. I learned to play the guitar by learning online or I learned to play football by watching the professionals on Youtube. The point I’m trying to make here is that the wifi or the internet made me come out of my “shell” and showed me that there’s a whole world of new possibilities.

5.Smartphone

I think this device is probably on everyone’s list. My very first smartphone was an elegant OnePlus One. It’s a bit fancy for a first phone. I was in 12^th grade when I got my first phone. At this point I knew how to use a phone. This device didn’t make much of a difference in my life and that’s the reason it is placed in the bottom. I craved for a smartphone when I was in high school but when I got it I realised that it wasn’t something great. But credit when its due, it helped me to connect with more people and made me feel responsible.

These are the 5 devices that acted as milestones and brought a new spark in my life.

. Our culture loves to produce labels for everything. So it may not surprise you that there is a term for people who were born before a certain age but now live in the digital age. They are referred to as “digital immigrants”. We may know them more commonly as seniors or grandparents sometimes parents too.

The label attached to those born during or after the digital age are the digital natives. They have always lived in a world of digital technologies. We think of them as the whiz kids with programming, the ones always attached to a cellphone or other device, and the ones who are younger.

Generally, the digital immigrants are those who have slowly adapted to web surfing, emailing, texting and the instant world of social media and on demand entertainment. In the modern world, you can have a mix of immigrants and natives and it may seem that a generation gap exists. But as more and more immigrants immerse themselves in the digital world, the gap is closing, and perhaps disappearing.

Honestly, I have no idea where I belong. The simple reason being I was born in a where technology took a dramatic change. I’ve seen the evolution of technology as I grew up. What once was paper and pen is all touchscreen now. From the old Nokia phones to apple IPhones, technology reached new heights. As a kid I wasn’t that exposed to technology. Besides I was brought up in a rigid family where we didn’t sink into any trendy gadgets.  I still remember playing board games and running out on the streets. So am I a “Digital Immigrant”? yes,I guess I belong under that category .

Later I was introduced to the growing technology. I took to heart to learn how to use modern gadgets. Now I am really comfortable using any form of technology. I am in sync with the madness of technology. I am a wiz kid as one might say. Does this make me a “digital Immigrant”? I do not know.

What I most certainly know is that my parents are digital immigrants. They are not exposed to technology and are comfortable living without them. Credit when its due, they how to lead life without the help of any gadget. I still remember the day we bought a new television. it was a LED screen 3D tv with features that I’d never heard before. Learning to use a television was easy for me. It was matter of hours. On the other hand my parents found it really hard. According to them, if one switches on the television the desired channel must appear. It’s hard to blame them because they are from a generation where technology wasn’t the main focus. Therefore, if they wanted a particular channel, they would call me to switch. It got really annoying one day that my dad rang me up when I was at a party. He wanted to know the number for the news channel. Enough was enough, I thought to myself.

I decided to teach them to operate the television. they were disinterested at first but they took it to themselves. Now they are able to operate the television to an extent. What’s important is to have an open mind to learn. It’s not rocket science. I’m happy I made a difference in someone’s life in terms of technology.

It comes down to creating opportunities where they learn from each other. The generations, in some ways, feed off each other. Digital immigrants invented the microchip, the Internet, the cellphone, text messaging, all decades ago. But the greatest users are the natives. Collaboration is the key. Allowing for a variety of people with a variety of abilities and experiences must be paramount.

What can I say? I have no words to explain. The device that gives me joy in times of need ,it brings out the gaming spirit in me. Yes I am talking about the joystick. To others this might seem more like an object made up of buttons and a wire, sometimes wireless. Be it any game, holding it gives me happiness.

I still remember the first time i was introduced to this gadget. Roughly around the tender age 5, I used to visit the paying game stations. Whilst my parents were off to work, they would always leave behind some money for my older brother and me to buy a snack or two. Instead we traded our snack for gaming. We decided to give it a go.  

It was a public place, I could feel the raging atmosphere of the angry teens who were losing games , even swearing at times It was not an ideal place for a child like me to visit. I played my first game with my brother. Clueless and lost, I was made to sit and hold the joystick. My brother  and I could relate to wrestling as we watched WWE on TV everyday. So picking a game wasn’t that hard. I was mesmerised by the layouts and gameplay. The realistic graphics drew my attention. But I was there to play, not admire the game. As I pressed each button on the controller, I learnt its importance. I was curious to explore. I began to press random buttons just to get that “game feel”.

I lost the game. It was not surprising because luck is not a friend of every 5 year old. But I knew that this was a start of something. Now gaming became an everyday thing. Fast forward 13 years, I am a gamer who appreciates the creation of every game. Thus ,my relationship with this gadget began.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

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