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Friday 21 March 2014

END OF AN ERA

A TALE OF TWO PLACES-
THE GUNJ and THE FLATS

It would appear strange to a teenager of today but there was a time not too far back when there were no smart phones or laptops , no cable or set-top-box TVs. Historians will delineate it as the "pre-internet" era.

It was in those pre-internet days that there existed a place in India known as Gunj. Yes, in my salad days in Lucknow, Hazratgunj was "The Hotspot", a must for all socially-alive folks. It was there that you would go in the evening, no matter how far it was from your house.This addiction was known as 'Gunjing'. It comprised of  strolls from the Benbows confectioners (now
Chhangamal cloth house) to the classic Mayfair Cinema (now closed) and from the famous Ramlal tailors&drapers (now a restaurant) to the swanky Royal cafe in Halwasiyas (not any more there) and then either settling down in one of those big and comfortable green cane-chairs (these have been replaced) in The Coffee House or hanging around a magahi paan shop (betel shop), depending on inclination and availability of time. As all sensible people of that era headed for Gunj in the evening , the place acquired a cult status and came to be regarded as a recognised rendezvous of frisky people irrespective of  age. One would even locate long lost friends from other cities in Gunj, either in the 'walking corridors' on the two sides of the wide road or in that timeless, sprawling, Coffee House.

'No place can be like gunj', a diehard Lucknowite would justifiably claim. With an indulgent smile an outsider may let it be accepted but, come to think of it, 'The Flats' in Nainital was a close second. Ofcourse it was not quite like 'The Gunj'. For one thing, there was no 'walking corridor' where you would invariably run into a friend Or a big and laidback coffee House - where you would endlessly chat with friends, and hang on for hours ! But 'The Flats' was otherwise a unique place for an evening-amble and for meeting people. At the peak of the tourist season it had the air of an ongoing carnival and the infectious excitement of a glorious holiday. And then there was that charming skating-rink where you could sit for a long time,resting your limbs and watching graceful, cheerful people skate, to the soothing sound of the serenading skates constantly rolling on the polished wooden floor.

That was way back in time. That was in the world that existed before the internet hit the world and turned it upside down, bringing about a metamorphic transformation to social interactions. These two places - GUNJ & THE FLATS -  are no longer the same. The
joie-de-vivre has been taken out of both. For ever.

With time the meaning of the word 'socialize ' has undergone a total change. Everything now is via internet - in the virtual world of the intangible and limitless, in the world of faceless and unknown and, at times, fake people. We are now in an era where gingerbread is no longer a bread , where 'Ice cream sandwich' is not for eating,  where games are played on  laptops and where a group of normal teenagers sitting in a restaurant never ever gossip. They silently face each other, eyes glued to their smartphones!

Yes, it is indeed the end of an era!

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