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Wi-Fi Relationships


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



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Comments

  1. OnePourTreeJuly 29, 2016 at 6:35 PM

    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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2016 at 7:25 AM

      Aren'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:

      http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/intro-the-sanghs-stolen-child-crusade/297609

      Delete
  2. sunaina sharmaJuly 29, 2016 at 7:13 PM

    It depends on us too, how much we allow technology to enter our lives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2016 at 7:26 AM

      Tell that to the adolescents and those in their twenties. Not that the others have grown up really.

      Delete
  3. Purba chakrabortyJuly 30, 2016 at 2:33 AM

    Totally agree with you. Emoticons can never carry real emotions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2016 at 7:27 AM

      On the contrary, they help people display emotions which they don't have!

      Delete
  4. D.NambiarJuly 30, 2016 at 5:00 AM

    It's true that there's too much technology in our lives.

    Even 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2016 at 7:28 AM

      That's fine with light writing. Do you think serious writing can be effective with emoticons?

      Delete
  5. RinzuAugust 4, 2016 at 9:37 AM

    It's true, emoticons can't express real human emotions!

    ReplyDelete

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