I believe it was MK Gandhi who once said, “Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.” Luckily for him, Facebook and Twitter weren’t available back then, and this statement made some sense.
It has taken us many ‘smart’ developments to get us to where we are right now. People spend hours using their organizers, mail clients, and even their phones, to improve their work efficiency which would definitely improve without these distractions in the first place. Keeping in touch has become literal at times, with e-pokes being sent across FB networks! It has become routine for me to login to FB atleast once a day to check out what’s happening with the people I know. (Shame, shame to me too!)
The great thing about it is the ease with which we can network, regardless of the distance or the time elapsed. Though some good has come out of this new development, the meaning of the word ‘privacy’ has been obliterated. Stars tweet their schedules, including time spent in the loo and fans lap it all up. It took Tiger Woods just a single message on his website to communicate that he was taking a break from golf to repair his home tottering under his infidelity (-read many many-), and the whole world was made aware of his decision from just that source.
It is not only the technologically inclined who can keep track of these things. Media (newspapers, tv channels) have developed a knack for taking tweets and pics and painting them in an entirely new hue. Some time ago, a certain bootilicious ‘Basu’ and a footsy ‘Ronaldo’ were purported to have been in a lip lock when the pics only showed them approaching a casual cheek peck. A little simmer time and the rumour had become the headlines on most news channels. Certain news channels who encourage viewers to ‘think about the impact’ came up with ‘What will happen to John now? Will they break up? Stay tuned to find out more.’
Our mental faculties have begun to degenerate, think of yourself in today’s context as opposed to say, 7-8 years back. There is a deterioration associated with age, but it has begun reducing the starting age. Kids in school cannot find enough stimulation today. Each day they get bored about something or the other, and something new draws their attention away from their activities. Forget studies, how many kids go out to play in the evenings anymore? There used to be a time when gully cricket formed an important entertainment for localities, where passersby would stand and bear witness to the cheers and appeals from budding gully cricketers. Now, kids return from tuitions (for even 2nd and 3rd std), and spend hours on Facebook or Orkut. There are only mechanisms for measuring our GDP growth and our inflation, but there seems to be no way of finding out the deterioration that our country is undergoing every day. “Our future lies with our youth” they say. Considering where we are headed as a generation, I sure hope the future does not rest with us.
We have progressed a lot as a nation, but it seems funny that we haven’t emerged as leaders yet. How will we ever lead, if all we do is follow trends and technology from other nations? There hasn’t been a single startup that has managed to inspire people on the lines of Infosys, while several startups emerge in the developed nations, especially during the economic crisis (which they think is over, btw). We have used Twitter, Facebook, the i-gadgets (iPod, iPhone, iTouch and now the iPad!) for a long time now, but no progress has been made to emulate their success in a grand manner. It has partly to do with the lack of support from our government, but aren’t we to blame too?
It’s time we pull up our socks. I don’t know how many people are actually reading this, and if any of you have actually thought about the deterioration that we are facing. Think about it. And then Do something about it.
Any suggestions are welcome.
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