Why the cat is no more..

Nah this aint about my pet cat that's dead. Infact, I don't have one. It's about the curious cat in all of us, which used to be alive and kicking, but that now happens to be as good as dead.

I can still remember how much fun it used to be, just watching a plumber get deep into the well at the backyard when something was wrong with the well, a carpenter shaving off the swollen door during winter, or a Blue cross personnel catching the mad dog at the backyard strategically, or dropping a small seed and watching it sprout and eventually flower. Back then, as a child, we were always interested in the things around , looking for new things to learn. So have interesting things stopped happening? Or do we know everything already? Okay, there aren't too many plants around to watch them grow. But why are we afraid to try out new things? Why do we fail to enjoy the nature?

Naturally, people tend to become less curious and less interesting from ageing. But what of the children of the present? With an iPhone or a Samsung S series in hand right from the age of 5 and with any information at the fingertip (touch) one would hardly want to play around the trees, even if they could.

On a funny note, Another day when Whatsapp was inaccessible from BSNL servers, apparently, as many sites seemed to suggest, blocked, I myself was googling to find out what the problem was. There was this guy who had commented on the webpage complaining  how totalitarian our government is, to block whatsapp and how we should actually start a mass protest against it for this Whoa. :D

 These are just instances that remind us how dependent addicted we are on technology and social media. Leaving  the keeping in touch with people abroad part aside,what’s startling is, how much we cant keep ourselves entertained without technology, even for a day. How many of us are able to enjoy solitude(of course without technology) ?

With phones and apps with taglines of “do more,” I’m left wondering how much more we could be doing without the instant connectivity.  As a technophile myself , I can't help but think how blinded we are by technology and how technology tends to kill the creativity in us. The cat is no more..

What the solitude can teach you..

As I hopped down from my bus, in the darkness, I took out my mobile, half cursing my life and half still laughing in my mind. For, it was THE (in caps, as you can see) Friday night and here I was, back from a really-tiring-long day and the latter, over the Chandler's sarcasm and Joey's dumbness from the episodes had I watched during the travel-back. It read 11.15 PM and there began my lonely walk back home.

Being out in the mid-night, is not a foreign thing for me. So many times I have been there, returning from the night-shows. This time it was a little different. I was walking. There's only me and then Ilayaraja's music. Oh wait, and then my brain, which wouldn't stop thinking stuff.

There they were, in front of me, the hard-working people still busy ready-ing to close down their makeshift shops. Slowly peddling the cycle with hot can of tea beginning his day. Men and women, and children, sleeping on the platforms, carefree of the future that we all are afraid to confront not being able to sleep thinking of that, in our AC rooms, but there they were inside the mosquito-shield, oblivious of the world. 

And then, on the other-hand, there were these frames of silhouettes of people, from the headlights of the bikes. The ray of smoke from people smoking their lungs-out. Lonely sad dogs, probably wondering what-a-dog life it's leading, just like some of us are. Grim-vacant sodium-lamp-lit streets that can probably remind you of all the sad things in life, if u keep looking. Strange-looking strangers, who are probably thinking the same about you. Gang of friends having a hearty laugh not willing to leave the restaurant anytime soon. The rag-picker strolling around with hope. The remains in front of the TASMAC shop, which are strong remainder of the fact that it was Friday evening , a little while ago. 

Long walk, eh? Dint seem like it, though. 

When Occupation occupies you..

Not long ago, in the school diaries, applications, report cards, we were asked to fill this field, what was called ' Father's occupation'. It is indeed a good thing that the word 'occupation' is not-so-often used these days, for what a remainder it could be of how much occupied we are.. Atleast people like me, who have joined their jobs, one can safely say how much occupied we are , suddenly.

For those familiar with the American style of living ( which, I am sure many of you are lot more aware than I am, given the fact that I am still living in India. So what I know is from the movies, series and my friends,abroad ) people happened to have what they like and do, and a day-job, which pays for the living most of the time. And then there are others, who only do what they love. Coming to the Indian style of living, or rather Indian style of working, well almost all the time, unless you are lucky or prudent and bold enough to make the choice, the occupation occupies you.

Image Credits: cwaunion 

For people like me, who have to travel a lot to the workplace, and then work, for real, it becomes really difficult to keep up with things and people. Weekend is all that you got, for anything and everything. Adding to it, if you are totally lazy like me, you know the number of friends are gonna erode eventually*. 

Lucky are the ones who are bachelors. Well I can only extrapolate the graph of life of people who get married and the responsibilities and the stress that follows. Hence, it is indeed not a surprise that people end up losing their passion or their hobbies eventually become once-a-hobby. And guess who accompanies - Monotony!

Ofcourse there are always exceptions, including some people I know, who have been able to keep up with their interests, hobbies and keep up with their friends, even as full grown adults - A salute to them. 

Well, we have all read/heard the work-life balance debates, essays, when it comes to our own life, the question of survival or the Joie de vivre,  we all know which one to choose, dont we?

* That's another topic I'd love to write about, too. So if you re reading this, await for the post, coming up soon.

Are we missing the main picture?

Every single day I, like anybody else wake up to the Facebook notifications and the WhatsApp messages, and ofcourse, after all through the day's checking, sleep with anxiety, checking them again.. I cannot remember the time that I was out of social network for more than a couple of days. Social media has become a part of my lifestyle, today. But at what cost?

We go to a place, say a restaurant, for a reason, many a times for socialising with friends, but the first thing we do? Check in on foursquare, tag the place online, click a picture, most of the times for the world to see it, rather than cherish the special moment itself. Most of the times we are not actually on the moment, experiencing it, we are rather away, lost in  the virtual world. I know quite a many people, who cannot start to eat before clicking and posting for the world to see.

I cant help but remember this thing I read somewhere on the importance of Facebook, whenever this kinda discussion comes up..

A wise man posted online..
- "What do I miss if I dont use facebook?
- "The contact with friends whom you wouldnt have bothered to have contact with, at the first place"

While a smartphone has been able to bridge the gap of oceans across the world, we, unfortunately have happened to become distant from the ones that are right next to us, in the real world. Well, Nokia - Connecting people (for real)?

Atleast ever since the time I came to know about the concept of small talk, I have realized the bare minimal use of it in the world, for we are too immersed looking at our phones, listening to music, barely recognizing the (potential) human connections. Today it is the virtual friends that matter more than the real ones, apparently. Where is it leading us to?

The age-old philosophy of "Humans are constantly craving for Human connections" is slowing changing to "Humans are constantly craving for Internet connection".

And nothing could beat this epic line from the Awesome Fight Club movie!

"The things you own end up owning you" - Fight Club..  

While being indulged in the huge *awesome* virtual world through social media, Are we really missing out on the main picture?


P.S:
One day I came across this particular place, a place with no notifications calling for attention, no friend pinging me. I urge you to take a look at this. And then, ofcourse nothing much happened. I went back to social media. :P

P.P.S: I took more than a week, for me to sit down and publish this simple piece of writing. Thanks to my social media addiction . So that's the whole point, see?