His fingers are interlocked, his breathing is slow and measured and every line on his face tells a story. Behind him, I notice the screen of his laptop is flashing, and his cellphone lies on the table between us.
At 85, my grandfather, Jerome Pinto, has lived to see
libraries make way for the internet and cooking fires be replaced by electric stoves. He's seen technology develop around him and, in the words Robert De Niro utters in This Boy's Life, he "know[s] a thing or two about a thing or two".
He grew up living a "simple life" in a small village in Magalore, India. "[It was] very structured ... I had a very strict schedule and very little free time. School was a priority."
In talking to him, you soon notice the contrast between the life of an early 20th-century teenager and a modern-day one. The impact technology has had on society is astounding.
My grandfather has strong opinions on the changes technology has made, saying, "Now that I'm retired, technology has prevented me from feeling lonely. It also connects the world." However, he adds, "... it also has the power to drive everyone apart."
During his childhood, they had no electricity, so they read by day and played when dark fell. "[Later] electricity was introduced, [but] I used to collect firewood for cooking and heating. We also had horse-drawn carriages."
If that seems unimaginable, picture the awe I felt at hearing how long and hard he worked doing jobs technology now takes care of. To begin with, his walk to school was 5km and, he says simply, "it took up a lot of the day".
I'm instantly ashamed of the three minutes it takes me to get to school. So, I ask, did anything exciting happen on those walks?
"I remember [my friends and I] used to place marked stones behind bushes on the way. If my friends had already passed these marks they would turn the stones over, if not, I knew that they were still on their way so I'd wait for them." Who needs texting?
As a child, he "relied more on nature" than we do today, but that's not to say he was not as enthralled by technology as the rest of us.
"When we heard a hum, we would run to the window to see the aeroplane."
He also deems the purchase of his first television a "life-changing experience". These days he is using his laptop to write a book on the history of religions, and is now considering buying an iPad.
I could never imagine a life without technology, and it is amazing to think that my own grandfather has seen it all evolve before his eyes and now.
Nowadays the little effort it takes to get information is both helping us become more efficient, but also encouraging laziness. I'm lucky my grandfather can tell me these stories to keep me grounded.
As I get up to leave, he texts his daughter, and I make a mental note to do a Google image search for "horse-drawn carriages".
Leyla Kumble, Year 11, Glendowie College
His fingers are interlocked, his breathing is slow and measured and every line on his face tells a story. Behind him, I notice the screen of his laptop is flashing, and his cellphone lies on the table between us.
At 85, my grandfather, Jerome Pinto, has lived to see
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