By Bilyamin Abdulmumin
While we listen to the Qur’anic “Tafseer” in the just concluded Ramadan, the scholar delves into an interesting phenomenon: nostalgia. He told the tale of how children used to be of importance to their parents in those days when children of even 12 years old could take full charge of farming the parent’s farmland, the parent’s job may be only to visit the farm to supply “fura” before bidding them farewell. However, in the present day, fully matured adults in their 20s or even 30s are not worth the salt to their parents—very distinctive highlights of the difference between the past and present.
A friend sitting close by turned to me to submit: it may surprise the scholar to realise that the scenario he is nostalgic about is still in practice in some villages. In addition, some of the current cultures in practice in the town may become obsolete and a matter of nostalgia in the future. This is quite evidence of social evolution.
But what if nostalgia is not just a way to remember the past but also a way to travel back in time? In the former case, imagine peering back in time to get an idea of what life might look like for ancestors or how grandchildren’s life may look in the future.
For example, one may need to visit relatively primitive villages. In contrast, one may need to visit moderately developed areas for the latter case. Many people who are fond of village visits are already fans of this concept of time travel.
Another concept brought time travel to the fore: first contact. This situation is where one culture is completely cut off from the rest of the world. So the first time these two civilisations make contact with each other, it becomes an exhilarating experience.
One such scenario involved New Guinea islanders and Australian miners. While looking for gold, these gold explorers would stumble on a community that had never interacted with modernity. These people pre-date all civilisations heard of; they are simply stone age exemplified.
Similar to New Guinea Islanders are Sentinel Islanders in India, but this uncontacted civilisation is different; they voluntarily refused to connect with their outside world and rebutted several attempts to connect them, but in any case, they stood their ground to remain isolated.
The intriguing and, at the same time, marvellous part of the ” first contact” is that it gives a picture of the extent of how far humans had attained, coming of age from simple tools like arrows, spears, and stones to sophisticated equipment like modern farming equipment, skyscrapers, and war arsenals.
So when such contact occurs, each side will become curious about each side’s values, practices, and gadgets. While 21st-century people would be captivated by archive tools like an arrow and spears, primitive people would be overwhelmed by things we even took for granted, like sugar, soap, mirror, matches, knives, cups, and many others.
Nostalgia proves a famous saying: change is the only constant in life, whether for good, like modern technology or for bad, like moral decadence. But research has good news; nostalgia provides self-contentment, hence a health booster, so let’s watch with keen interest while our older ones continue their voyage reminiscing.
Bilyamin Abdulmumin can be contacted via bilal4riid13@gmail.com.
