C.A.A.D.D??

I first heard of the term "Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder" a few years back - perhaps 10 years back? Or was it 9 years? 8 maybe? I don't really remember, as I grow older it seems to me this really doesn't matter. Not that I suffer from AAADD.... what did you say? Eh? What?

But, listen.. here I am, plonked in front of my telly watching the French Open, Djokovich is being shown the ropes by a guy I hadn't heard of (well, he wouldn't have heard of me neither, duh!) - Andreas Seppi, 22nd seed, up two sets, before Djoker got back in the 3rd. High quality, engrossing game, a viewer's delight. And, something rather unusual, in a French Open, a clay court tournament, I'm seeing a lot of rushing up to the net, not merely baseline rallies...

Began watching tennis back in the 80's, I remember. Around the same time that we began to have colour telly broadcasts... we had, then, a Solidaire CAT 1000 SE. (The image below is NOT me or mine, got this from the net - but that could well have been me and my brother, perhaps! Proudly posing before the newest family member!)

And Doordarshan. And, what, 4 hours of programmes? Which included news in English (from New Delhi), news in Tamil (in lieu of news in Hindi) from Madras, and then of course programmes such as Chitrahaar, Krishi Darshan (or "Amci Maati, Amchi Manoos", or down in Madras "Vayalum Vaazhvum"), adult literacy classes (I remember, even today, quite vividly Professor Paa Nannan teaching the viewers how to write "a", "aaa" !)

And OF COURSE within those 4 hours we had, too, those rather wonderful moments of sublime nothing.. remember this?

 

 SORRY FOR THE BREAK

And we'd spend our time, patiently gazing at this fascinating screensaver which, often, would wave and weave gently, our patience back then boundless, time running out like the sand through an hour-glass... we could spend a minute, sometimes even 2 or 3, waiting for the screen to come back to life.

And today, even as the Djokovic - Seppi match, fascinating contest stretching to the 5th set, continues to be a game of top quality tennis I have been hitting all the channels right from BBC, NatGeo, Star Movies, Comedy Central, News the whole damn works. Not because the tennis is boring. It's like that chappie who climbed the Everest, when they asked him "Why?" - "Because it's there!"

So, where once we sat, unmoving, eyes riveted on that "Rukhavat Ke Liye Khed Hai" or "Sorry For The Break" screen, today I am (and I'm sure YOU do this too) unable to watch any ONE channel or programme without reaching for that remote and hitting the channel surf button...

It IS "Attention Deficit Disorder" - got nothing to do with age, though. In fact, I guess the younger one is the more acute this problem has got. I call it "Choice Activated Attention Deficit Disorder" - C.A.A.D.D.