Random Thoughts on the Tring Tring

"OMG!" "LOL" "BRB!" are some of the few words that had me rather foxed when I was first greeted with them over various chat sessions. It took me a while to get used to these short forms. And longer than a while to accept them as part of the gen y's (or is it gen z,now?) regular lingo. Nah! no harm, really as long as it stays away from verbal, face-to-face communication!
The cellphone sure has changed the world picture with more than just a loud bang...it has done so with a reverberating blast, the effects of which can be felt in the remotest corner of the world. Remember those huge black boxes with thick, twirled wires that had the power to wake up the dead from their graves with their menacing "Tring trrring?" Ha! One was forced, as it were, to pick up the receiver and holler a 'Helloow'(especially if twas a 'trunk call.') Why did they call them 'trunk calls' anyway? Dialling a number was even more painful...the eternal wait for the dial to roll back down. Gosh! It'd have been so much better to use it as a hypnosis tool instead, so long was the waiting time. Well, wasn't this black box(let's call it BB for now, no sarcasm intended regarding the short format) more of a family get-together forum than a phone? The entire clan used to rush near the phone to hear what the caller had to say. And, oh, don't forget the 3 minute limitation a trunk-call had...what's worse, having an operator listening to a private conversation! What DID lovers do in those days? Imagine having a heart-to-heart with your sweetheart with a giggly operator throwing in a 'thee-hee-hee' with every "I love you, dahling!" And what about the P.P. calls? How annoying for a neighbour to have to scamper each time there's a call for Chopraji across the street! On second thoughts, it may have been interesting to know about the lives and the goings-on of others. Did the son of the family fail? What happened to the mausiji who'd been nearly kicked out by her daughter in-law? Do sit down for a cuppa chai and Britannia biscuits...hmm...was the BB responsible for good, social mingling? Cut to the current times. Individual numbers, private calls. Personalised ringtones. Oh, and not to forget caller tunes. Who knows what's happening in the next room, leave alone the neighbour's house. Neighbours? What's that?
Not long ago I heard them say that the world has become smaller. They also say technology is bringing people closer. Hmm, I wonder.