When I got curious about the Radio as a seven-year-old, I was pranked by a neighbor Anna into believing that artists got into the radio box to perform. I used to be awestruck and would sit watching the Radio imagining people inside.
We had the large-sized Murphy ( I think..) Radio with a green LED panel on the top right.
It was easy to just believe. And I lived happily thinking Rafi and Lata were actually inside our Radio and crooning melodies 😀 .and Seergazhi Govindarajan trekking through forests and singing in Sage attire with a கமண்டலம் (kamandalam)in hand.. because that's how I visualised him from Tamil movies. So it was the same person inside my Radio.
Simple logic. Life was easy.
Fast forward several decades.
More Radio stations, TV, more channels, Tata sky, remote controls made me disconnect from gadgets and technology overload.
Was longing for the large Radio perched high on the wall in the drawing-room which catered to the entire family's entertainment needs.
Then Transistor happened and somewhat compensated for the large Murphy Radio.
Then in a swift sweep, computers, emails, pagers ( yeah, I belong to that generation!), Soap Katti ( சோப்பு கட்டி) looking Mobile phones, touch phone, smartphone, iPhone, android all of these took over.
Parallelly social media handles emerged. The least fussy being FB.
Twitter was never a favorite as it restricted my freedom of expression with just 280 characters. I need 200 odd characters just to clear my throat or get started.
Instagram being a compelling call makes me struggle with it, and always feels like a math exam with that aftermath அப்பாடா! feeling after each post.
Fast forward again.
Zoom out... to webinars. Zoom, thankfully, is a user-friendly platform, and just when I thought I had arrived, Clubhouse gate crashed on me.
à®®ுடியலே...நான் வரலை இந்த விளையாட்டுக்கு.
There is this option to 'leave quietly.' So is there a chance I may leave noisily? That scares me. Then there is a Townhall. Several rooms.
Explore hallways. Start a room.
Ayyo !!! These were precisely my ideas, fantasies with the large Murphy Radio in our Hall.
Copyright infringement. Don't you think?
Takes me back to the big Murphy Radio days, and I no longer feel silly about imagining artists inside Radio, thanks to the prankster Anna.
After all, doing the same now in 2022 in a virtual clubhouse.
My fantasies of people inside Radios would have been buried with me in my grave if not for this virtual Clubhouse.
While I thank Clubhouse App for helping me come out, the world needs to know that I am the original inventor of this concept.
And I didn't patent it.
