Sunday Musings Keeping pace with the times - Raj Kadiyan 

          Technology is fast altering our lives. The mobile phone perhaps is the prime mover of this change.  

          I took to the mobile with considerable reluctance and some hard prodding by the children. But I soon got used to its convenience. My first purchase was an Alcatel, which came with a heavy charger. By modern standards, it had dismal memory, but it stored my contacts. Gradually, I gave up  my old paper address book, but didn't discard it. For folks of my vintage, technology invariably requires a standby option. 

          The son is living abroad. During one of his home visits, he bought me a new Nokia. He said it was a 'smart' phone. But unfortunately, its user wasn’t. I used it in the same dumb manner as my old gizmo. Then someone told me that I could sync it with the laptop and send my SMSs through it. This came as a marvel discovery and saved me many hours of labour during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where I took to sending out lengthy daily progress reports of the baton relay,  as it moved around the Continents under my charge. 

          Later, daughter gifted me a Samsung Galaxy III. It was bigger, and I was told, much smarter. Must have been, because every time the  grandchildren visited us, they would commandeer it, download all kinds of games and enjoy chasing a temple thief or killing angry birds. The 'smartness' showed in my monthly bills.

          An iPad and a Kindle  were subsequent additions.  But one has already started feeling these are rather bulky.

          Then came WhatsApp. Though a reluctant beginner, it soon grew on me. As I started spending increasing hours looking at the contrivance, the wife complained of my lack of communicativeness. After a while I found a solution to the problem. I got her initiated into the application and passed on the Galaxy phone to her while I bought an iPhone 6. Soon she formed her own lists and broadcast groups and started spending equal time, exchanging stories, titbits and recipes with friends, including the ladies from my old battalion.  A great way to stay connected.

          The daughter always causes ripples in my placid lifestyle. "You must start using smileys Pa", she entreated, "it saves a lot of time". I then looked at the vast array of these magical creations. Never realised  the human face could convey so many moods just by twists and turns of its lines. For practically every emotion, there is a face. And of course, there are other smileys.

          I have an old colleague. We both began our struggle with computers almost simultaneously in mid-1990s. Our easy, no-secrets friendship continues and we bond well. He often boasts of being ahead of me in technology. I thought of impressing him and testing how far he was into the smiley business.

          I teasingly sent him a split-heart smiley. His WhatsApp response was prompt.

          "Even I need an ECG. When are you going?"