Anachronism….in the 21st Century

Author: Ratna Varma

Head of the Department of English, Delhi Public School Varanasi

These were masterpieces when the artist painted a wrist watch on Aristotle’s
wrist. Surely wrist watches were not there in his time. And Caesar, when he
pulled aside his doublet to offer the crowd his throat to cut…..

Did the Romans not wear robes in those times?

And surely clocks didn’t strike while Caesar was alive, though Brutus tells
Cassius to count the clock.

And characters in a Jane Austen film texted each other, And the Russian
commemorative coin depicted a 50-star U.S. flag while, the real U.S. flag had
only 48 stars…

The world today also seems to be misplaced.

The 21st century man in masked identity is living in minimalism while
surrounded with extravagance of the modern world.

Anachronism refers to an error in technology, something that doesn’t fit its
time period.

As an educator today I find myself juggling between the conventional and the
unconventional, between physical classrooms and virtual classrooms.

I look at my books and they look back at me questioningly.

In the past year and a half I haven’t earmarked the pages of any of the books.
My hands have been flipping through power point presentations and word files.I
miss the caress of books and the smell of paper.

I pick up a pen and my fingers feel numb- they have become so accustomed to
typing.

I wonder if physical books will be replaced by e- books in the coming years and
will represent nothing but anachronism.

I fear some day when you ask my students – who their teacher is,they reply

“What! In today’s digital world?”

Remember you are being Anachronistic!