Scene
1:
We
are at a fine dining restaurant. A big family of about fifteen people walks in
and settles at the huge table next to ours. It is apparent the family is
celebrating birthday of the senior most patriarchal figure. His face is
glowing, overwhelmed with the kind of love showered on him and being surrounded
by people close to his heart. After the initial euphoria subsides, slowly each
member is confined to private space of his/her smart phones. Their table becomes
absolutely quiet. He tries to talk to his grand- daughter, barely eight
who gets irritated for being interrupted in her telephonic conversation with
her canine, Bruno. The old gentleman, feeling bit awkward with the change in
the scene, struggling hard to shift his focus and hide his helplessness, takes out his cell phone and starts fiddling with it.
Scene
2
At
the breakfast table, I am trying to figure out everybody's schedule for the
day. Hubby is checking news on his cell phone as usual without saying much. My son is incessantly sending text messages in-between
munching his breakfast, his facial expressions, absolutely in sync with what I
am saying, nodding his head, looking at me giving me impression that he is
hanging on to every word being said! I give him a glare and stop abruptly. His fingers still busy dexterously typing out
messages on his cell phone, "Yeah mom, I'm listening. Go on"
Frustrated, I wonder if it was a major blunder to have spent those long hours
teaching him to hold the pencil and write! Now, he has mastered the art of
typing messages on cell phone with almost any activity going on
simultaneously.
Scene
3
A
dear friend of mine sends me message on Whats app while he is attending a
meeting. He claims to be involved and give inputs in the meeting whenever
required and also wants to catch up with me during those "empty, wasted
moments' that don’t help him do anything constructive. He feels he can easily
switch between the chat and meeting smoothly! I quip him "God save your
company", paste a smiley and leave the chat asking him to catch up
later at mutually suitable time.
These
scenes sound familiar? I am sure we all have been subjected to this. Knowingly
or unknowingly we have even done similar things. We live in times when world is
increasingly turning to texting, tweeting and chatting in virtual world 24/7.
We can connect with any given soul under the Sun; talking without speaking, hearing without listening,
communicating with hundreds of "friends". The lure of virtual
world is in freedom to involve at our discretion. No questions asked. Talking
and listening is not compulsory. A "like", a "poke" or a
simple tweet of 140 characters is sufficient communication.
We
are connected to hundreds of friends who are neither too close nor too far but
just at right distance, so that we can control who gets what amount of our
attention at what time. Our relationships whether personal or professional are
generally chaotic and change with quicker pace with each interaction or lack of
it. We are too busy to listen, to empathize, very basic ingredients for a good
conversation.
The
other day, my friend almost panicked and demanded to know why I keep my cell
phone switched off and enjoy being alone, without staying "connected to
the world". When I told her that my mind becomes “alive” when I switch off
all the gadgets and it’s a really beautiful experience, it was very scary
thought for her. We get so wrapped up in instant connections to the world that
our gadgets bring that we tend to forget there IS life beyond it. A simple,
beautiful, real world beneath it!
Amid
the crowd we are locked in our self-created cocoons, our closely guarded
private worlds where we find people to laugh with, share things, confide in. We
don’t realize the danger of virtual world; a world where all our needs can be
met without feeling the need of a person in our physical world. We barely recognise needs of the people, living
under the same roof with us but know problems of our virtual friends who we are
perhaps never going to meet!
There is
absolutely no denying that virtual world has brought people together globally
and it is a remarkable tool that can work wonders if used wisely and
constructively. Unfortunately, it is
permeating in to our real world influencing every part of our life including communication,
the very essence of most important aspect of our life - relationships.
Like drug
addicts, we check the gadgets to know what is happening at every possible
moment. Invariably, we are boggled with the incessant happenings that add
unnecessary pressure. I have seen people who are complete wreck without their
cell phones and gadgets and behave as if life has no significance if one is not
connected to the world.
It is worth trying out a liberating experience of completely switching
off from all the gadgets once in a while and strike real conversations with real
people in our life. It is more important to get a real hug, listen to what your
child is saying or hubby needs than to post those pictures of perfect life on
social networking sites and earn some admiration. That natural scene on our
gadgets looks really cool but experiencing Nature first-hand in real life is
awe inspiring, majestic and absolutely divine experience! There is no gadget no
matter how smart that can substitute authentic experience of life.
Am I sounding cynical and old fashioned? You know what, to hell with it! lol.
