Wednesday 21 October 2015

Cheers to Togetherness!!!

V
ery recently I came across a brilliant ad: Kissanpur – Discovering Real Togetherness. It wonderfully narrated through the eyes of an old man. He looks around and notices that these days everyone is busy in their mobile phones; talking, texting, listening to music, browsing and so on. The old man, untouched by the new changes feels bad. He is also shocked to notice that people have become selfish and have almost forgotten what joy togetherness can give. One day, a young woman residing in the neighborhood, leaves behind a tomato-like plastic cap. The old man, with the help of children around, plants tomato plants. As the days pass, he is soon joined by everyone and they celebrate with a wide smile when tomatoes are grown!


Like that old man, I have always noted that everyone (including me) have become more engrossed with their mobile phones. We don’t care much about our surroundings, but only for the virtual connectivity that our smartphones promises.

Just imagine:
Ø  Mobile phones let us not to mug-up our near and dears’ contact numbers.
Ø  We started feeding our dear one’s birthdays and anniversaries Calendars in mobile and computer made it easier to feed instead of storing in our memories.
Ø  Smartphone apps gave an excuse from registering the landmarks in our brain while going through a new route.
Ø  Video chats has made us lazy. We travel less to our loved ones place.
Ø  Computer came and we forgot to write.
Ø  E-mails resulted in almost no handwritten letters. The anticipation and the anxiousness of waiting for a letter is gone forever.
Ø  Photographs can be shared in a click… By Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, e-mail or even MMS. Result? The eagerness to meet our loved ones in person is gone!
Ø  E-shopping came. Joy of shopping with family and friends gone.
Ø  Cricket and tennis is played online. Even running is done via Templerun!
Ø  Even a piano is played through app and not by tapping on the keys of a real one!

Anyways, I thank my stars because I understood that I was getting addicted to my smart phone at a very early stage. Any addiction is a bad addiction. So I forced myself for a digital detox.
Ø  I deliberately left my mobile in silent mode.
Ø  I banned myself from carrying my phone when I took small breaks at office.
Ø  I assigned a fixed time to go through the messages and reply, mostly at the end of the day.
Ø  I altered the WhatsApp privacy setting and ensured that neither I nor my others could see each other’s last seen.

This happened a year before. Guess what? I was surprised to note that I did not miss my mobile phone at all. On the contrary, I was relieved!

 If face to face interactions require 50% - 100% of your attention, talking on phone requires 20%-50%. And, texting requires 0%-20%.I ain’t joking! Ask yourself - How much more attention/time do you need to type “k”, “Hmm”, “S”, “na”, “?” or the famous smilies?

These technologies are supposed to free us from troubles and complications. But, they have only further complicated our lives! So dear readers, rescue yourself.

The best present to your loved ones is your “present”, “you” and “your time”.
Connect to them physically… meet them personally… talk to them face to face…
Stop tapping your touch phones…
Touch people’s heart!

Cheers to togetherness J

2 comments:

  1. I loved your take on this Loco.. Seriously.. thought provoking post you've written!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete