Page 14 - Seniors Toady - September Issue 2020

First Person
From Serf to Surf
Nagesh Alai casts a wry but loving look back at the evolution of calling,
writing and listening to music
September 13 happened to be the 13th
birthday of my lovely niece, who is multi-
talented and on top of technology and
trends. Not surprisingly, I got a Zoom invite
from her to attend her virtual birthday
party at 4pm. Lockdown may be tough on
most, but technology has been clearly an
enabler during the topical challenging and
distancing times. Staying connected we all
are, distancing notwithstanding. True to the
trend of the day, my birthday wishes to her
elicit a cryptic “tysm” response - it took me
a while to realise that it means “thank you
so much”. A wisp of a girl who can normally
talk thirteen to the dozen when just 12, and
hold everybody spellbound, is going to be
the cynosure later today on Zoom, I am
pretty sure.
I wistfully remember my growing up days
and recall the enjoyable but inevitable ride of
the obsolescence of the old and the discovery
14
of new technology over decades since I
stepped out into the real world from school.
I started working at the age of 16 with my
father, a practising chartered accountant,
immediately after matriculating (passing
out of 11th SSC of those days). His office was S Kumar
right behind the Bombay Stock Exchange
and our window overlooked the trading hall,
now a relic (during trading hours we could
hear the shout and din of bids and buys of
the brokers with signs and gesticulating
fingers - which only the traders could make
sense of, but accurately reflected the trades
in the contract notes). As a typical office
accoutrement, we had an Olivetti followed by
a Remington Rand typewriter.
The office secretary was a proficient typist
and a stenographer. I used to be amazed
at her speed in writing shorthand while
my father rapid-fired his dictation for case
studies and tax petitions, followed by the