Spotlight: Longing for the past

The bittersweet longing for a place and time from the past is something that can distract people’s minds leaving their subconscious minds totally confused. The elderly have this nostalgia about their past and the sweet times before the world changed into a complete digital one. However, instead of doing their best to change their present or to fight back to bring the happy days back, many people keep visualising their past and daydreaming about it. Yasser Salem says that in the past the life was simple. The family used to spend more time together. In the cold days, the warmth of neighbours spreads in the whole village. They were more spontaneous also. Rashid al Jabri expresses his regret over the change that took place in the daily routine of people. He says that in the past, people used to communicate more, they exchanged visits, and they helped each other more. This played a significant role in building a solid community that cared for both the young and the old. From another angle, he elaborates, people were more active. They worked in jobs that required physical movement, they walked a lot and they didn’t depend on transportation means. They also made everything by themselves especially their gardens and house requirements. Today, it is the opposite. Everything comes to the doorstep and they rarely do exercise. “Nowadays all that people care for is material things and appearances. They don’t look at the essence of things. It makes other people in a constant search for perfection in unimportant things. They imitate each other making the life more costly and unaffordable, said Shamsa al Riyami. The new generation has a totally different point of view. Hamza al Mawali says that he didn’t live in the past that old people now miss greatly. However, he believes, technology has made a total change in the world. “I don’t believe that I can live without it because it makes life easy, and interesting. I can’t imagine living in a world without network,” he explains. Nasser al Harrasi thinks that although today’s life is better and easier, he also misses many things of his past. He feels that the type of cartoons that children watch now is meaningless, while the situation in the past was different. The old cartoons used to convey moral meanings, and lyrics of the songs send educational massages. “Otherwise, I love it more now. You have access to the whole world through your smartphone”, he commented. Parents think that they are facing a difficult time with their children today because of this rapid change. For Talib al Wuhaibi, controlling the diet of his children has become a challenge. “It was easy in the past to stay healthy as fast-food restaurants weren’t a familiar thing. The whole family used to eat from the same dish but today each child chooses his own meal and sit in front of the TV for hours”.