'What soulful chatter straight from the heart, overflowing with the milk of human kindness!'

16 September 1996 | Bonding Over Travel

#memoriesfromdiaries 💕

25 years ago! 😍

Dear reader, I want you to take just a minute off and imagine yourself at a period in time when the internet was literally unheard of, or the mobile phones and related paraphernalia were simply anachronistic, by all means!

At a period in time, when the only fount of knowledge, and the source of information for all of us college students, was our blessed libraries ALONE!!!

At a point in time, when libraries had their brightest halos and awesomest auras around them!  

One reason why getting a membership in the famous Connemara Library was a great feat and an achievement in itself.

And the moment you got your Library Card in hand, you were simply fluttering and dancing and floating straight on Cloud Nine!

But again, to get yourself a Library Membership in the famous Connemara Library, you had certain important formalities to be made!

from my personal diary entry, 17 September 1996

You had to get your name and identity endorsed and authenticated by someone in Govt service.

So I went all the way to Appa’s colleague Prof. Gurumani’s house, [Professor of Mathematics at Arignar Anna Govt Arts College] and got my Library Application form attested by him.

Today was also a red-letter day for all of us at home, since Dad gave the nod to my little brother – for buying him a bicycle.

Amma as usual, gave me sufficient money [Rs. 1000/-] for my expenses.

Yes, I was to get back to Chennai today for my studies.

Appa dropped me at the Bus Stand.

Now, dear reader, I just want you to visualize yet again, a period in time,

exactly a quarter century ago,

when many of our households didn’t even have a landline connection,

and a point in time when mobile phones were literally unheard of!

The freedom that we enjoyed, the bonhomie that we had, the camaraderie that we experienced, before our technological gadgets gently and subtly devoured our ‘we spaces!’

Be it on train journeys or bus travels, we used to spontaneously strike up on some exciting conversations with our fellow passengers, that lasted the entire length of our travel time, ain’t we?

So it was, in like fashion, I had boarded a pre-booked Govt Bus on a pleasant Monday dawning!

With a pretty moderate crowd of passengers – all of us bound toward Chennai, very quickly we all struck up on some conversation or the other with our fellow passengers!

So yes! the bus was soon engulfed in a throng of incessant chatter of all hues!

Some bonded over investing in houses, some over coffee, some over relationships, some over politics, and some over studies!

And by the time we got down, it was a farewell with a heavy heart!

Interestingly, I’ve jotted down the range of people with whom we’d had conversation during our bus travel, that lasted hours!

Here goes -

Quite adjacent to my seat was seated my old classmate in school Rajesh along with his sister. He said that he was doing BSc Computer Science in Hindustan College, Chennai.

Beside me sat my senior in school by name Deepak (who was also adjudged the best boy of the year in school), who was doing his BSc Computer Science in SRM College at Ramavaram, Chennai, and that he’s residing in Chrompet.

In front of me sat a middle-aged gentleman who said that his son was doing his CA in the reputed Srinivasa Academy, Chennai.

Our conversations hovered over a variety of topics – starting off on the Courses that were popular during our days, and the sudden mad rush for Computer Science courses all over academia, that’s been hogging the limelight for the past few years - in the early 90s.

Then as a dutiful senior, Deepak suggested that I learn to play on the guitar or any other musical instrument!

What soulful chatter straight from the heart, overflowing with the milk of human kindness!

What warm exchange of pleasantries!

What genuine interactions from the heart we’ve had back then!

A beautiful camaraderie and a blessed bonding that the pre-technological era had gifted us.

A gift and a blessing of the past, that’s been quietly usurped by our technology gadgets over the years!

A gift for which there are no parallels! 💕