I feel nostalgic for the era of simplicity we’ve moved on from. While the new one brings technological advancements, sure, but I still miss simpler times. Back when our biggest pastime was curating beautiful songs for our playlists, and then simply listening to them. I mean really listening to them, doing nothing else, feeling the lyrics play fiddle with the notes in our hearts. Nowadays, things seem to have lost their significance. I surmise, somewhere along the line, visuals have taken away the background score.

Back then, finding or shall I say ‘scoring’ a great movie DVD used to be one of our biggest achievements. We would watch it, then re-watch it so many times until we memorized every dialogue, hell even hummed every piece of music that played with a scene.

Going to the theater used to hit different. Now, with today’s OTT platforms and the multitude of movies released every year, it suddenly feels like being overwhelmed by an avalanche of abundance. The supply is so vast that we can barely compete. In the past, I wouldn’t miss a movie I truly wanted to watch, but nowadays, they often slip by unnoticed.

The pursuit for a great game was real. Finding a good one, and then sticking it throughout vacations, playing it, perhaps even overplaying it, watching the credits roll by, and then sharing it with friends to showcase its brilliance-those were the moments that mattered. Today, there are so many of them that you don’t really know what to pick. So many similarities exist that take away the joy of a game being unique.

In our world, stories were housed in a book. You could often find us nestled in the corner with one. The way fiction affected me pulsated a knack in me inspiring countless creations. Vacations meant a thing. The wait for summer holidays was real. Festivals carried explosive fun—a promise of sweet adventure.

Every evening was dedicated to playtime, an hour tailor-made seemed for fun and games. Countless hours of cricket, trying to squeeze in two to three matches before the sunset, as if the sun itself dictated our game plan. Climbing trees and swinging from them brought endless joy.

Study time would generally follow. “Wash your hands and legs before you start studying,” would be the holler coming straight from the parents. ‘Homework’, despite how scary it sounded, was the only task we had.

We had an allotted time for TV. Patiently waiting for our favourite cartoons brought its own exultation. School was such a big part of us that it felt as if it was our permanent place in the world. Back then friends meant a thing. We truly believed the word ‘forever’.

It’s all very different today. The heart of today’s child beats for a mobile phone. Kids have fewer friends and they hate school. They prefer videos to books. Outside is no longer fun. The sun has been become more punishing than ever.

It feels as if someone has picked up and placed us in a futuristic world, the kind they talk about in sci-fi books or movies. The sun still rises and sets, yet time feels different. As if we are no longer being cared for, as if we are no longer under the watchful eyes of nature. ‘Simple’ has ceased to be a word in our dictionary.