The Magic Of The Nostalgic Nineties - 5

 

As I took a print-out of some notes for my kid's classes, my mind reeled back to a place somewhere in the 90s. I traveled back to a place that I don't believe, exists today. Or maybe it does but not in large numbers as it used to, before. 

My mind went back to a cyber-cafe.

A blessing for teenagers in those days. Feeling bored? Visit the cyber-cafe. In a long-distance relationship? Visit the cyber-cafe. Need a print-out? Visit the cyber-cafe. The cyber-cafe must have seen so many stories! Stories of beautiful relationships and painful break-ups. It must have felt the fear of the kid logging in to check the results of their exam. It must have felt the anticipation of the nerd to see his/her results. It must have felt the dread of opening an examination paper. It must have heard so many prayers, so many sobs of happiness and grief - so many feelings associated with this place!

I have had my own sweet tryst with the cyber-cafe for many years. My cousins are scattered all over the country (and abroad too). One particular summer vacation, we all met at my dad's house in Chennai for the first time. Our meeting could be best described as match-stick and fire. We all bonded closely right in the first meeting and the bond has only strengthened with time. 

There was a slight problem that we all were scattered in different parts of the country. So we decided to stay in touch through emails which were a hot trend those days. The weekly emails started, with each one of us visiting the cyber cafe to send out emails which were marked to every one of us. Gradually we discovered video-chats. The emails progressed to video chats and conversations and the cyber cafe became our own hang-out point. 

I have wonderful memories associated with the cyber-café. I and my friends have spent many hours there, chatting with cousins, other friends and family. The fight for a computer with webcam was fierce, given that only two or three computers had webcam installed over them. The cyber-café operator must have been fed-up with almost everyone telling him to intimate them when the computer with the webcam was available for use, which was very rarely. Some of the best times of my life are those spent in the cyber-café.

The cyber-café brought a revolution in the field of communication and technology. The letters vanished slowly as emails and yahoo messenger became the new rage. For a while, it was as if a golden age of communication had descended upon the society, enabling people to stay in touch with their family and friends at the click of a button in an object named The Mouse.

Then the mobile came. Along with it, came the Message app. Which then upgraded to Whatsapp and several other apps. Lengthy emails reduced to monosyllables. Chatting over Messenger reduced to forwarded memes sent in a group.

Today my cousins, friends and family all are in a whatsapp group. And yet the conversations are very less! The bond is still there. But somehow the emails disappeared, along with the chats and conversations. Video calls happen every weekend where I get to meet my family.

Are there still cyber-cafes around? They probably are, though I am yet to see one in the place where I live. Today online classes, office presentations and sessions happen over the mobile. I don't know whether any one still visits the cyber-cafe. I believe that a golden era of communications, video-chats and emails ended when more technology replaced all of these.

I wonder what happened. Did the relations seem more precious because they were so difficult to access before, or did the easy availability of resources today to stay in touch, diminish the value of relationships? Where we used to write lengthy emails before, now we exchange forwarded messages. Memes. Jokes. Whatever happened to good old communication? 

I know the answer. It is still frozen in the best part of life. We call it The 90s.

And herein ends my Nostalgic Nineties Series. I lived and relived every beautiful part of that golden era. And now I am just waiting for a Time-machine to bring me to the present.

Although I don't mind waiting a bit longer here.

Only a little bit more.