Posted in Books, Writing

The Young and the Old–Other People’s Blogs

Posted on by roshendalal

I am  impressed by many of the blogs I have read here, most of them well-written and thoughtful. The Robotic Hermit, Arti Tyagi, Elle, and so many others, seem to be great bloggers, though I haven’t had time to read all their posts. Toutparmoi is writing the thoughts of an Elizabethan cat! Intriguing. The other blogs I follow are good too, and some have thousands of followers.
But I have been wondering if all these bloggers are young people. I am impressed, also, with their dedication and the ease with which they handle technology. Some write on video games and TV serials, and some subjects and themes are new to me.
Growing up without television or computers or easy access to phones, meant that a whole lot of time was spent reading. There were vacation months when I read three books a day, and all this reading certainly shaped one’s life. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, I remember books and poems of all kinds. I can even remember some of the first books I read!
Are there other older bloggers here? Do older people like different books, or do good books reach across generations? These are some questions that came to my mind.

Author:

A writer with twelve published books, on history, religion and philosophy, along with several articles, book reviews etc. My latest book is J Krishnamurti: A Life of Compassion Beyond Boundaries.

11 thoughts on “The Young and the Old–Other People’s Blogs”

  2. Roshen, I’m no spring chicken. I was 14 before I saw TV, and probably around 11 or 12 when our household got its own telephone. Before then, in times of emergency, we used the pay phone just over the street or asked a neighbour if we could use theirs. (The great thing about pay phones was, you put in your money, dialled the number, and pressed Button A when someone answered. If no-one answered, you pushed Button B to get your money back. As charming little children, we soon figured out that you could stuff the Button B slot with tissue paper, pull it out later, and grab other people’s money. But I digress.)
    Yes, I think those of us born shortly after WW2 (and earlier) were, by today’s standards, very literate, very soon. Between the ages of 4 to 9-ish we went from learning to read to what would nowadays be called Young Adult fiction, or light adult fiction. In our teens, those of us disposed to keep going read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. We also had grammar, spelling, and punctuation hammered into us at school. But were we as confident as teenagers are today in our speech, our view of ourselves, and our ability to achieve in life the things we hoped for? I think not.
    It took me many years to accept that yes, I could submit a novel to a publisher.
    And as for computers – well, I was first exposed to them in my day job (that’s another story). I bought my first home PC in 1993. For a long time I regarded it as a glorified typewriter that later gave me access to the internet. It was only in October last year that I decided to try blogging, and I can’t believe how much progress I’ve made since then. And how much support I’ve received from other bloggers of all ages along the way.

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    1. You are so right–things were a little slower here in India–we did have a phone by the time I was 9 as my father was in government service, but there was no automatic dialling–I got my first PC in 2002, if I remember right, and hardly knew how to use it then. The internet was a mystery for a long time. Colour TV came to India in 1982–there was one in my family home, but I got my own only in 2008! Yes I read adult books before the age of 9, but really can’t match the youngsters in confidence. I have other blogs, but haven’t been consistent or focused–hoping to be more so here. almost lost this comment, so clicking on ‘send’ now.

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      1. I think there’s a happy medium between competence and confidence. One is not much use without the other! And I do think good books reach across the generations, but I accept that younger generations may come to them later than we did.

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  4. Dear Roshen
    Since i do not fit into the older blogger category. I can only answer one of your questions. That some things like good books, good movies are evergreen. No matter what generation you come from you will connect with them and enjoy them. After all even after such a long time we are all still puzzled by Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile and we all still admire her beauty. Some things are simply timeless…

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  5. I’m in contact with lots of “older” bloggers! And I do think it’s great (although perhaps that is slightly condescending) that they are able to handle the technology with so much ease – I didn’t grow up with internet as I am probably the last generation that can still remember getting the family’s first computer but my later teenage years were filled with it.
    In terms of books – no, I don’t think age affects whether you enjoy a book. I think experience can affect that – a 20-something new mum and a 40-something new mum may enjoy the same book, but equally a 20-something mum and a 50 year old woman who loves travelling and has never had children may not. And I have a lot in common with my mum (aside from the children thing!) and we both really enjoy the same books. I think, like with most things, it is all about shared interests rather than the year you were born!

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