#generationgap #tvantenna #wetmarket
We know only what we are exposed to, isn’t it? So, it is just another Sunday when father and daughters pull into a HDB carpark; one of the oldest carparks that happen to be surrounded by the wet market. Needless to mention, my hapless soul is meandering around, making the rounds picking vegetables, fruits and groceries from the market at speeds high enough to convince you Sri Murugan Stores is going to run out of stock in the next hour or so. I am like some toy with spoilt mechanics let loose. My basket has a sample of everything on the shelves. You name it and I buy it – all things that befit survival.
In the meantime, killed by boredom, the better half notices some antennas mushrooming on the roof terrace of the car park. Like the ones from yesteryears? The ones that put a smile on my face. Because there are memories attached.
Memories of times when the television was still black and white; or when the antenna would need that occasional human touch to derive a better signal. Simply because the crow that your mother so badly wanted to touch food (some Indian ritual that makes sure the ancestors are happy up there) decided to oblige and finally perched on the antenna sending all signals astray. There are multitudes of events like kites getting entangled, rockets(firecrackers) propelling skywards in the name of Diwali celebrations and landing you know exactly where, once again leading to distorted images of Om Prakash(someone I grew up imitating) in one of his comedic acts in some Bollywood blockbuster. Those were the best days of my life – I so agree with Bryan Adams here.
The point is, by the time my kids opened eyes in this world, there were no more antennas; at least not in Singapore. And here was my better half, all perked up with the sight of it in 2018, reminiscing his set of memoirs and musings, asking the aptest question of the century to our girls – “Do you know what’s that?”
10 year old – “Yes that’s an Antenna!”
With that answer, I have all reason to commend she is the wise one! If someday, the internet went awry or Google shut down, she will still be around. Am I lucky or what?
6 year old – “Oh is that? I thought only cockroaches and butterflies have ANTENNAS!”
I have learned the hard way, this is a generation gap. And I see how it is going to widen in length and breadth over years to come until hubby and I are pronounced relics that do not understand her generation.
P.S. That’s probably when I am going to feel closest to my parents and their feelings about Generation Gap from my growing up years! Life comes a full circle after all.
Parent By Chance 