The older generations always call while the younger ones just message or simply send an emoticon or emoji!
Then we are for now the middle generation! We call sometimes and many times we text or mail! Most of the time we are confused!
Unfortunately it may not work! If you message the older generation, they may not see the text and the younger generation keep the phone perpetually in the silent mode for them to pick you call!
The older generation prefer to call and talk since that has emotions!
Which is the like how they still like to go to the bank and get the passbook updated or get a draft made or even send money to someone! Things which most would prefer to simply do it with the push of a button!
Which is maybe why the older generation may not accept the tech! They like the human touch! They like to say hello to the teller and the manager and even the security guard of their local bank! Or enjoy the coffee or tea at the nearby hotel just opposite to the old ‘local’ ban!
While most of us may not even know the building where the bank is situated!
The whole process of going to the bank was a set routine for many those days! It would start with standing in the line to first pay the electricity bill and then the water bill and walk across the road to the bank!
The passbook was a treasure! The old and new ones stacked up by date together in the black almost torn bag which we would have got from the same bank during the new year offer!
The calendar would also be from the bank with the most important bank holidays! Some old folks would show off that they got two and maybe even three calendars!
If you had to withdraw money then you had those paper slips in which you had to fill your details with the account number and show the passbook!
Then again a big wait in the line for the teller!
Some old folks would show off they knew the teller and she or he may indulge and call him forward much to the silent discomfort of others!
Then again they actually would stay back in the line since they had all the time in the world!
A major undertaking would be the making of a draft! That was a whole different line and form! And of course a much longer wait! It was also a very critical document! One spelling error and the whole thing is done for! You had to fill everything in capital letters and clearly! Many would be bankers and doctors would have been filtered right there! Finally when you get that crisp laminated draft at the end you would feel like a winner!
Later on you had the card!
When it came there was no question of any credit or debit card! It was simply an ATM card! The card came first in registered mail and the pin came later with the carbon paper! You had to carefully tear off the cover to uncover the pin!
That card was used only in the rarest of the rare occasion though! Most of the time it would be the withdrawal slip and immediate update on the passbook!
I do not remember the last time I had gone to the bank! To any bank for that matter unless it is some big thing like a loan or some documentation issue! But still when I do go a bank especially the state or public sector banks, I do see the glimpse of the old times! The line at the teller, the old pensioners with the passbook and the old security guard who would faint if he heard a loud noise!
Of course when the wave of nostalgia pass; you would like to get it over and get out as soon as possible! Do it soon since, “jaldi kar, muzhe Panwel nikalna hai!” If you recognized that then you know it is from one of Mukesh Tiwari’s most famous one liners!
Now be happy that you do not have to stand in a line to withdraw money and sleep peacefully!
Shubh ratri!
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