We all talk about rapid pace of change being witnessed all around and commonly used term these days is disruption. But in reality, let’s ask ourselves honestly that what has really changed in say last 50 years?
– Seasons come and go every year in a cyclical manner! Right now monsoon has set over Mumbai and it is raining like always!
– Since my childhood when the price of wheat floor was 10 paise to a kg to date when it’s Rs50 to a kg, the noise on inflation refuses to die down!
– Love of Indians for a male offspring continues unchanged for centuries what to talk of 50 years!
– We used to lament about traffic then and after widening of roads and scores of flyovers, traffic remains a major issue!
– Kids have all along hated exams and awaited vacations.
– Film buffs await release of a new movie each Friday like they have been doing for decades!
– Mumbai was commercial capital of the country then and enjoys that status even today!
Change is really a hype! But if we dwell a little deeper, we will realise that though certain things have remained unchanged for decades yet it’s not “business as usual”!
– Seasons come and go, yet summers and winters are shorter but more intense and each rain floods the city killing a few hundred people in the process.
– At monthly salary of Rs100/ wheat floor at 10 paise a kg seemed expensive but at Rs5 lac a month, Rs50 a kg for wheat floor hurts!
– Desire for male offspring has not changed but abortion of female foetuses was unheard of in those days.
– Traffic has seemed bad all along but who had heard of traffic jams in Varanasi, Indore or Mangalore?
– Kids have all along hated exams, but young boys and girls committing suicide under stress was unknown!
– Plans for movie releasing on Friday used to open on the preceding Monday and “House full” boards were a common sight during the first 2-3 weeks. Now blockbuster movie making 100 crore over the first weekend can be easily watched on the first day!
– Mumbai continues to be the commercial capital though the national capital boasts of world class metro network, roads smooth like cheeks of Hema Malini ( to quote our beloved Lalu Yadav) and the largest airport with 3 runways!!
We worry about technological disruptions but ignore subtle changes happening all around us!!!
Arvind Arya blog 