“Grand free
old man” (probably a fake account) whom I follow on twitter and whose
whereabouts, I have absolutely no idea of, once tweeted like this-
‘Once upon a time I had a life. Then
I bought an internet connection.’
What these
words of emotional coherence tell you is the ugly truth of the modern day. About
that world which has changed from sleepovers and hangouts to notifications
and pokes. A heart hurting situation in which you and of course me, play a
shamefully crucial role.
But what
made this generation stuck in a couch and a laptop and occasionally walking
around with a radiating device held close to their ears is a question of great
relevance. And the answer lies in the not so complex realms of our curious
minds.
What
happened was that we became lazy in seeking something that we
desperately need. And that something is nothing but ‘care’. Yes, one of
those beautiful four letter words whose understanding, importance and exchange
mechanisms changed considerably over time. [Wonder why these four letter words
are always complex!]
There was
once a time when we used to say “I have this feeling (good/bad) and I
need to make this call or meet my friend because I want to share it with him/
her.”
What time
and technology made was a partial reversal of the above attitude, contaminating
it with laziness and introversion, which now goes something like this- “I
want to have this feeling (good/ bad), so that I can put them as my status
and see how many around me truly cares”
Apart from
this change of perception and appreciation of the abundance of life, there’s
still another snake, crawling under our basement. And that is something which
the dictionary calls- a ‘misinterpretation’ and what I call – a ‘mis-hope’.
To explain this self-designed and stupid looking word let me take an example.
Every day
you communicate completely digitally with people around you. Some of them you
know, some you think you know and some you really don’t know (Beware of
the second group). You text them, chat with them and rarely smile with them
when you actually see them.
And as an
attribute of the already mentioned care seeking behavior of the so called ‘normal’
human beings, you tell them your problems, your happenings and intentionally or
unintentionally your deepest secrets.
Now just
imagine. That person who you think feel the same as you feel for them might
be laughing at your problems, making fun of you on the other side which you
have absolutely no access to. And who knows, that person that you trust by
means of some emoticons and electrical signals may not even be a ‘single’ person.
Of course
the world is not all the same and change is an inevitable phenomenon and that’s
why I still stress on those ‘mights’ and ‘mays’.
But what we
need to understand while conquering heights and fulfilling dreams is that
evolution and regression are not always contrary. They often go
hand in hand. Giving ups, shut downs and limitations can be a wonderful
experience. So walk with your buddies, joke with them, fight with them and let
them fight with you. But most of all- Be connected. Not to their updates
but to their lives.After all,
what do you think would be a better bed time story for your kid?
Something
which begins like –
“Once upon
a time daddy had this friend. And I used to chat with him/ her every day. And we
shared our lives across miles and one fine day we actually saw each other
………..”
or
“Once upon
a time daddy had this friend. We used to laugh, cry and dream together. We used
to bunk classes and go to movies. We played soccer with pepsi cans. And we used
to be always there for each other. We used to talk about our lives, this world
and what was beyond. And we really, I mean really cared a lot…”
