bls31
June 5th, 2013, 07:29 AM
From my new Book BLS31
FLOUTING THE STATUS SYMBOL
As I look in my in-box the E mail stare back with ‘Sent by my I phone /I pad/ from my Galaxy Tab Mobile Device’.
Is it and advertisement or flouting a status symbol? It makes me muse of the status symbols as seen by my roving eye during the past eight decades.
Possibly the first was the mare in my grandfathers house, in our village or the Rath (chariot) in my maternal grandfather’s place both noticeable during our infrequent visits to the respective villages.
Possibly the first to be noticed and registered was the wire aerial , stretched tight, between two poles on the terrace, announcing the existence of a radio in the living room: we did not own a radio at that time.
In 60s more visible a symbol was the scooter, the Vespa having the pride of place over the Lambretta, the brand, pre-owned that I had managed to acquire, at that was closely followed by, in conversations, the refrigerator. ‘You do not have a Frdge? I recall, a lady exclaiming, in a condensing tone, to Jeet my late wife, while sipping from the glass of cold water from our Alwyan hidden in the kitchen.
Some time in the same decade we endeavoured to raise our status by acquiring a car: Ambessador, Fiat and Herald were the only brands available those days with Fiat at top of the brand totem pole and Herald being number three: mine was even lower at minus three, being a two door as opposed to the slightly better placed four door.
Moving to Delhi in 70s was being a witness to a new status symbol: the three elements Yogi proudly announcing a TV in the house from the roof tops.
DD came on the air at six in the evening and shut the shop by eleven in the night. Cithara and Sunday Movies were the favourites those days with no visitors welcome at that time
At that time, the black and white, single channel, brand ECIL TV was the toast of the town having a long waiting list.
We also acquired a Taxila with 13 Valves which used to light up like the Christmas tree, and proudly installed the ubiquitous Yogi announcing to the world of our joining the club.
The decade of Nineties was fast in furious with new symbols turning every day: brick size mobiles, costing a fortune to own and use, Asiad brought colour in TV, pushing the black and white down below. Microwave moved in to the kitchen and in conversation in the Drawing room. The high was a Marti 800, costing all of Rs 45,000, in the garage: all objects of desire and to flout if possessed.
Quickly followed the PC, laptop, tablet and a slue of TVs of all colours and hues: Flat LCDs, Plasmas, the latest fad being the LED and 3 D, all available in 32inches, 42 inches and beyond.
And then came the ultimate status symbol the all in one device held in hand to flout, the iconic I phone and I pad.
“Sent by my I phone /I pad “ as the case may be at the end of the e mail confirming to me of my lowly status, if it needed confirming, still tied to my unbranded and locally assemble PC.
What is to follow , the cars, the boys toys, with the multitude of brands from lowly NANO to the high end BMWs and Mercedes targeted at the various segments of society, cut in thin slices like the MRI pictures of the brain, telling each one where one stood.
What else on is on the menu: the big fat Indian wedding, a round the World cruse, a pent-house on the 27th floor, a villa on South of France, an ocean going Yacht, moored at the jetty in Monticarlo, a 747 as a birthday gift or owing an IPL team.
The quest for the ultimate Status Symbol, to flout, impress and talk-about is eternal and unending,
Sadly the human vanity has no limits, no bounds.
FLOUTING THE STATUS SYMBOL
As I look in my in-box the E mail stare back with ‘Sent by my I phone /I pad/ from my Galaxy Tab Mobile Device’.
Is it and advertisement or flouting a status symbol? It makes me muse of the status symbols as seen by my roving eye during the past eight decades.
Possibly the first was the mare in my grandfathers house, in our village or the Rath (chariot) in my maternal grandfather’s place both noticeable during our infrequent visits to the respective villages.
Possibly the first to be noticed and registered was the wire aerial , stretched tight, between two poles on the terrace, announcing the existence of a radio in the living room: we did not own a radio at that time.
In 60s more visible a symbol was the scooter, the Vespa having the pride of place over the Lambretta, the brand, pre-owned that I had managed to acquire, at that was closely followed by, in conversations, the refrigerator. ‘You do not have a Frdge? I recall, a lady exclaiming, in a condensing tone, to Jeet my late wife, while sipping from the glass of cold water from our Alwyan hidden in the kitchen.
Some time in the same decade we endeavoured to raise our status by acquiring a car: Ambessador, Fiat and Herald were the only brands available those days with Fiat at top of the brand totem pole and Herald being number three: mine was even lower at minus three, being a two door as opposed to the slightly better placed four door.
Moving to Delhi in 70s was being a witness to a new status symbol: the three elements Yogi proudly announcing a TV in the house from the roof tops.
DD came on the air at six in the evening and shut the shop by eleven in the night. Cithara and Sunday Movies were the favourites those days with no visitors welcome at that time
At that time, the black and white, single channel, brand ECIL TV was the toast of the town having a long waiting list.
We also acquired a Taxila with 13 Valves which used to light up like the Christmas tree, and proudly installed the ubiquitous Yogi announcing to the world of our joining the club.
The decade of Nineties was fast in furious with new symbols turning every day: brick size mobiles, costing a fortune to own and use, Asiad brought colour in TV, pushing the black and white down below. Microwave moved in to the kitchen and in conversation in the Drawing room. The high was a Marti 800, costing all of Rs 45,000, in the garage: all objects of desire and to flout if possessed.
Quickly followed the PC, laptop, tablet and a slue of TVs of all colours and hues: Flat LCDs, Plasmas, the latest fad being the LED and 3 D, all available in 32inches, 42 inches and beyond.
And then came the ultimate status symbol the all in one device held in hand to flout, the iconic I phone and I pad.
“Sent by my I phone /I pad “ as the case may be at the end of the e mail confirming to me of my lowly status, if it needed confirming, still tied to my unbranded and locally assemble PC.
What is to follow , the cars, the boys toys, with the multitude of brands from lowly NANO to the high end BMWs and Mercedes targeted at the various segments of society, cut in thin slices like the MRI pictures of the brain, telling each one where one stood.
What else on is on the menu: the big fat Indian wedding, a round the World cruse, a pent-house on the 27th floor, a villa on South of France, an ocean going Yacht, moored at the jetty in Monticarlo, a 747 as a birthday gift or owing an IPL team.
The quest for the ultimate Status Symbol, to flout, impress and talk-about is eternal and unending,
Sadly the human vanity has no limits, no bounds.