Loss due to technology

A thought crossed my mind the other day that with the rate at which technological progress and advancements are happening. Wouldn’t our future generations miss on some of the beautiful experiences we have had as kids?

I still fondly remember the summer vacations of my childhood. The 2 months of summer vacation divided between my paternal and maternal ancestral houses in Kerala when we came down from Mumbai. It was a time when all of us aunts, uncles and cousin would have a ball of a time walking around in the lush greenery surrounding the house. Splashing and bathing in the pond or the river, plucking ripe cashew from the cashew trees, picking fallen nutmeg, mangoes, guavas and the endless amount of fruits that doted the house. Running behind chicks which were specially hatched for our arrival by my maternal grandmother timing them in such a way that they would have hatched just the day we reached or would hatch within a day or two after our arrival. There were so many endless activities that beheld our attention in the months that invariably flew off fast. Even though there was no TV in both these places it was never missed or for a fact thought about at all during the stay.

But when our kids have their summer vacation what would be kind of experience they would have? The experiences they would have would be of watching TV, playing games on the computer, surfing the net. Wouldn’t they miss on all the amazing memories that we created on the wonderful experience that we had in the 2 special months every year of our life?

Would they get to have a vacation where they would be one with nature? Just walk around and play in nature’s bounty, play with free flowing, pure water, get unabashedly drenched in the rain, feed the cow and its young, run around behind the chicks, hunt for and pick warm eggs once the hen start clucking after having laid it.

I don’t know! But I have a gut feeling that they won’t. We have missed on many a wonderful experience that our parents have had during their childhood. Though the cycle of life might let our kids grow in an age where technology is far progressed from what we had in our childhood, they would be missing out on a lot of the real life experiences which we as their parents had when technology had not advanced this much.