The three girls grew up
together right from primary school. They
studied in the same school and lived in the same premises. When schooling was completed, they went to
different colleges. But they met every
evening for some time in an open area near their homes. They would sit together and chat while their
fingers moved dexterously on the keypad of their smartphone. The occasional giggle or peel of laughter that was let out did not
considerably affect their engagement with the phone. Now that they live in different places, the
relationships must have turned entirely virtual, I guess.
In the same city, I have
noticed people, especially those not old enough to dye their hair, engrossed totally
with their mobile phones while travelling in the metro trains or buses, while talking
to people in various places, or even while looking after a patient in a
hospital.
I wouldn’t be surprised to
see someone posing for a selfie with the dead body of his/her grandfather or
an aunt and then posting it at Facebook or Instagram.
Relationships have gone
wi-fi. The people far away seem to be a
lot more important, or at least interesting, than those nearby. Distance lends enchantment to relationships,
perhaps. The ‘likes’ in the virtual
world are much more articulated than in the real world. And people are far more generous with ‘likes’
in that world rather than in this. That
world! That’s a Paradise, Heaven on
earth! People there ‘like’ whatever you
do, whatever you write, whatever pictures of yourself you pass on. How nice to be liked so much!
Is that an escape into a
world of soothing illusions?
Is genuine love an emotion
which binds people together more in bad times than in good ones? Wouldn’t I rather be with my beloved one in
the storm rather than be safe by myself?
Are there real seas without those storms?
If the person who makes
you the happiest does not also occasionally make you the saddest, the love that
binds the two of you may not last very long.
Still more, things not said matter much more than those said in a
genuine relationship. What is not said
cannot be expressed in that virtual Paradise. The gaze in the eyes and pulse of the heart
are too real for the virtual sites. Emoticons are too mechanical to carry emotions.
PS. Written for Indispire Edition 128: Technology is destroying relationships.
Genuine relationships are subsumed under Facebook and whatsapp... #Relationship
This is the sad truth of life now. Technology is a boom and a curse at the same time. And we are becoming slaves to it, rather than its master.
ReplyDeleteAren't we similarly being enslaved by religion too? Look at the way militants and terrorists and fundamentalists are imposing religion on us and how many people accept it too. Look at the following link and other related articles in the latest Outlook to understand the latest innovative methods of religious crusade:
Deletehttp://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/intro-the-sanghs-stolen-child-crusade/297609
It depends on us too, how much we allow technology to enter our lives.
ReplyDeleteTell that to the adolescents and those in their twenties. Not that the others have grown up really.
DeleteTotally agree with you. Emoticons can never carry real emotions.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, they help people display emotions which they don't have!
DeleteIt's true that there's too much technology in our lives.
ReplyDeleteEven though emoticons don't carry real emotions, I like them. They help when the 'tone' of a person cannot be heard. I'm sure there'd more misunderstandings if there were no emoticons to go with the texts and messages we send out.
That's fine with light writing. Do you think serious writing can be effective with emoticons?
DeleteIt's true, emoticons can't express real human emotions!
ReplyDelete