In the days of the yore we used to proudly display a letter from our loved ones. The greatest moment was to receive the letter and the next best to read it. The advent of the internet opened immense possibilities and a whole new generation of entrepreneurs emerged who made their millions from the internet. I restrict my discussion on this article to the social change brought about by internet.
From the simple e-mail to instant messaging to social networking sites to use of all these on mobile platforms, the social internet threatens to rob us of our real life social fabric. A typical teenager of today is suave about handling his or her email accounts, manages multiple social networking sites, measures their success by the number of friends they have online , buy movies and songs online and end up spending more and more time online. Slowly this “virus” has crept on from the youth to all age groups and now the intrusion is almost complete. The use of the word “crept” is deliberate, as it’s just a period of time when you transform from being a normal human to a nerd typing away vigorously at your keyboard. I’m reminded of the 1986 Hollywood flick "The Fly" starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. He is an eccentric scientist working on 'teleporting', a means of transporting objects through space. Geena Davis, a magazine writer decides find out more about his work. They start an affair, but Jeff believes she is still seeing her former lover. In a fit of rage he tries to transport himself, and his genes get caught up with a fly that gets into the machine. Slowly Jeff takes on the features of an insect, resulting in him slowly transforming into a huge fly.
You know you are transforming from a human to a nerd when, your personal letters already replaced by emails have now been replaced by social networking posts. Its cooler to hang out with friends on Twitter or FaceBook than to meet and chat up over cups of coffee, it’s easier to catch your favorite movie online rather than watch it with friends at a movie theatre. You’d play online games rather than a game of rugby or cricket with your friends. You rather would post a happy birthday post on FaceBook than post a card, would rather SMS a Christmas or New Year greeting than send a card. The good old photo albums have been replaced with Flickr or Picasa. Would you rather prefer a video conference with friends on Skype than meet them over an evening drink. Is the internet stealing a major portion of your family time? You claim to be spending quality time with your family, while in reality you are at home surfing away on the internet, assuming that mere presence at home spells quality. Do your spouse and you wish each other happy birthdays and anniversaries on Twitter or FaceBook? Whether you like it or not the internet is pushing deep into our lives, ripping apart every social norm as it penetrates deeper and its beyond our control. Well the transformation has begun for many and almost complete for the rest.
The latest internet usage statistics of world internet users show that almost 26% of the world population is on the internet of which North America has a 75% penetration, closely followed by Australia with 60% and India with just 7% penetration with a 380% growth to those figures over the past 10 years. At this rate we should be inching very close to the 100% mark over the next decade. So is that a sign to be happy or should it set alarm bells ringing for the social fabric of the world?
One of my mentors once told me about office etiquettes, if possible meet the person, next try to call him/her, next drop an SMS and if nothing works e-mail them. You’ll build great relationships and your work gets done smoothly. The same applies to your social life too. Spend time with your families, void of electronic media, take your son for a walk or go sporting with him, catch up with your daughters dancing classes, meet your friends over a drink or go cycling / trekking with them. Meet your dad/mom often (if you stay away), or talk to them often. Be around for their birthdays and anniversaries. We’ve all heard it’s a fast paced life and we got to catch up. Internet may be a means but not the end. We got to stop by and admire the flowers and if possible smell them too. The save trees campaign is in the right direction but the point is we need to use our online tools in moderation to strengthen our social footprint. Use the internet to boost your relationships, but remember nothing should encroach and replace “the real thing” not in the least by the “virtual”. Ironically the word “virtual” comes from the Latin word “Virtus Virtue” meaning : Possessed of certain physical virtues or capabilities. The real life is that which can be seen, felt, breathed, spoken to and heard and virtual is nothing but that, ”virtual” which Encarta dictionary defines as “hypothetical”.
So my friends go get a life………
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Healing and Health Benefits of Solo Travel
Indians as a rule are used to travelling with their families; hence the idea of a solo traveler seems quite extreme to say the least. While the rest of the world has been enjoying the benefits of travelling solo, Indians are yet to come to terms with why someone would want to undertake a solo travel. Granted that we as a nation are obsessed with an intense affinity towards our families and this does trickle into our travel plans which is great, a happy family holiday leads to great bonding. But it is good for the mind and soul for one to travel alone at least occasionally.
Having personally undertaken 2 backpacking trips in India, I am a firm believer that one solo trip in a year is healing and can earn you rich health benefits. The standard benefits associated with solo travel are a great sense of freedom, ability to meet new people (which you would not like to do during a family outing), decide your own schedule, (decide what you would see and for how long), spend as much money as you feel like, the list is endless. There are numerous cons associated with solo travel. The loneliness can get to you, causing you to put your entire journey at risk by deciding to terminate it before you complete your route. You are responsible for your own safety so need to be extra cautious, can’t think of telling someone to watch your back. You need to plan your baggage and travel light, its you after all who has to manage and carry your baggage. Safety of your baggage is your responsibility, so letting it down for even a few moments may turn out to be disastrous. Despite all the cons the health and soul healing benefits of solo travel does not stop to intrigue the human mind. Many creative personalities like painters, poets, writers etc have known to take off to a solitary location where they found their creative juices flowing better.
One of the greatest gains from solo travel is your ability to absorb and retain what you see and hear. This is important, because travelling with a partner can cause you to spend time talking or more correctly acknowledging his/her presence around. Another key healer is it allows you to introspect on your life, on what has happened till date, what were the hits and misses in life. Some of the greatest ideas have occurred to me when I was alone, away travelling (on work mostly). Like Jim Morison of Doors said in one of his songs “People are strange when you’re a stranger, Faces look ugly when you’re alone”. When alone mind concocts strange ideas and some of them so oblique bordering on madness. But many of these ideas can be converted to reality and can bring huge benefits to our lives, be it work, business ideas or our relationships with friends, family, colleagues etc. Strangely these ideas only crop up when the mind is left alone and best when you’re travelling alone. Also a solo travel helps purge ones thoughts , helps better mind control and acts as a great de-stresser.
Human beings are social animals but in todays stressful times, it is important to take time off for yourself and to spend it alone so as to commence a journey of self-discovery. The best way to do this is to undertake a solo travel to an unknown destination for an unknown period.
Au revior ………
Having personally undertaken 2 backpacking trips in India, I am a firm believer that one solo trip in a year is healing and can earn you rich health benefits. The standard benefits associated with solo travel are a great sense of freedom, ability to meet new people (which you would not like to do during a family outing), decide your own schedule, (decide what you would see and for how long), spend as much money as you feel like, the list is endless. There are numerous cons associated with solo travel. The loneliness can get to you, causing you to put your entire journey at risk by deciding to terminate it before you complete your route. You are responsible for your own safety so need to be extra cautious, can’t think of telling someone to watch your back. You need to plan your baggage and travel light, its you after all who has to manage and carry your baggage. Safety of your baggage is your responsibility, so letting it down for even a few moments may turn out to be disastrous. Despite all the cons the health and soul healing benefits of solo travel does not stop to intrigue the human mind. Many creative personalities like painters, poets, writers etc have known to take off to a solitary location where they found their creative juices flowing better.
One of the greatest gains from solo travel is your ability to absorb and retain what you see and hear. This is important, because travelling with a partner can cause you to spend time talking or more correctly acknowledging his/her presence around. Another key healer is it allows you to introspect on your life, on what has happened till date, what were the hits and misses in life. Some of the greatest ideas have occurred to me when I was alone, away travelling (on work mostly). Like Jim Morison of Doors said in one of his songs “People are strange when you’re a stranger, Faces look ugly when you’re alone”. When alone mind concocts strange ideas and some of them so oblique bordering on madness. But many of these ideas can be converted to reality and can bring huge benefits to our lives, be it work, business ideas or our relationships with friends, family, colleagues etc. Strangely these ideas only crop up when the mind is left alone and best when you’re travelling alone. Also a solo travel helps purge ones thoughts , helps better mind control and acts as a great de-stresser.
Human beings are social animals but in todays stressful times, it is important to take time off for yourself and to spend it alone so as to commence a journey of self-discovery. The best way to do this is to undertake a solo travel to an unknown destination for an unknown period.
Au revior ………
Monday, February 15, 2010
Shah Rukh Khan and Shiv Sena - Does Indian Politics and “Anything” Go Together
Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s comments on Pakistani players in IPL brings out a key issue that may have been spoken innumerable times but is reaching no where as far as a solution is concerned. The question “Can we mix politics with anything at all” be it sports, films, education etc. No answers yet. But one thing for sure, while it would be perfectly legal and acceptable for politicians to step into external domains like sports, films, education etc. the converse has time and again proved detrimental for the concerned people.
Maharashtra is abound with stories where film directors had to change acts/dialogues in films or had to apologize to the political lords of that locality to keep them appeased and more than anything to get their films to release/run in that city. Karan Johar had to apologize to Shiv Sena for referring to Mumbai as Bombay in “Wake up Sid”. Post Shah Rukh’s statement on Pakistani players for IPL, Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena even went to the extent of telling him to “Stick to his profession and not dabble in other issues”. Shah Rukh reportedly apologized to Karan Johar and Kajol for ruining the prospects of MNIK, but he refused to apologize to the Shiv Sena, right or wrong? Not sure. First he makes statements which do not help anyone, definitely did not help get more Pakistani players into IPL and second it was made much after the auction so seemed more like a lip service and more a publicity stunt gone bad than anything else. He would definitely have made a difference had he spoken and more important acted much before the auction. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar did a similar act when he innocently spoke of being an Indian first and then a Maharashtrian. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance spoke about Mumbai belonging to all of India, which again did not go well with the Maratha sons-of-the-soil.
While one could take the risk of mentioning that what the Shiv Sena is doing is incorrect, it would be perfectly in order to question the stars (read actors, sports personalities etc) of today as to what is the need for them to make politicized statements which may seem to come straight from their heart but has more damaging repercussions for the public in general. For example does Shah Rukh think making such statements would change anything? Does he have the wherewith all for bringing about the relevant change. Does Sachin think he can stop the political parties of Maharashtra from politicizing any and every issue? Don’t think so. These statements are issued by the stars in the wake of various questions from journalists who are on the lookout for spicy answers, so that they can gain publicity out of such quotes.
The political parties on the other hand are always on the look out for issues which can bring them back to public memory, which is fickle and volatile. Such statements help in keeping the party publicity machines alive and get a work hungry party worker to deliver on party goals. Internally the political parties would be gleefully lapping up such comments which give them moments of fleeting publicity. Politics is a wicked game of rising to the fore at the cost of another and by issuing dramatic statements our stars are just fueling this need. However much one hates to say this, but can’t but agree more with Uddhav Thackeray’s advise that one should stick to ones profession and not dabble in “other” issues. Do so only if you feel you have the power to make a change.
As for MNIK it turned out to be the number five movie worldwide with a $14. 2 million weekend gross.
Regards
Pradeep Eledath
Maharashtra is abound with stories where film directors had to change acts/dialogues in films or had to apologize to the political lords of that locality to keep them appeased and more than anything to get their films to release/run in that city. Karan Johar had to apologize to Shiv Sena for referring to Mumbai as Bombay in “Wake up Sid”. Post Shah Rukh’s statement on Pakistani players for IPL, Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena even went to the extent of telling him to “Stick to his profession and not dabble in other issues”. Shah Rukh reportedly apologized to Karan Johar and Kajol for ruining the prospects of MNIK, but he refused to apologize to the Shiv Sena, right or wrong? Not sure. First he makes statements which do not help anyone, definitely did not help get more Pakistani players into IPL and second it was made much after the auction so seemed more like a lip service and more a publicity stunt gone bad than anything else. He would definitely have made a difference had he spoken and more important acted much before the auction. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar did a similar act when he innocently spoke of being an Indian first and then a Maharashtrian. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance spoke about Mumbai belonging to all of India, which again did not go well with the Maratha sons-of-the-soil.
While one could take the risk of mentioning that what the Shiv Sena is doing is incorrect, it would be perfectly in order to question the stars (read actors, sports personalities etc) of today as to what is the need for them to make politicized statements which may seem to come straight from their heart but has more damaging repercussions for the public in general. For example does Shah Rukh think making such statements would change anything? Does he have the wherewith all for bringing about the relevant change. Does Sachin think he can stop the political parties of Maharashtra from politicizing any and every issue? Don’t think so. These statements are issued by the stars in the wake of various questions from journalists who are on the lookout for spicy answers, so that they can gain publicity out of such quotes.
The political parties on the other hand are always on the look out for issues which can bring them back to public memory, which is fickle and volatile. Such statements help in keeping the party publicity machines alive and get a work hungry party worker to deliver on party goals. Internally the political parties would be gleefully lapping up such comments which give them moments of fleeting publicity. Politics is a wicked game of rising to the fore at the cost of another and by issuing dramatic statements our stars are just fueling this need. However much one hates to say this, but can’t but agree more with Uddhav Thackeray’s advise that one should stick to ones profession and not dabble in “other” issues. Do so only if you feel you have the power to make a change.
As for MNIK it turned out to be the number five movie worldwide with a $14. 2 million weekend gross.
Regards
Pradeep Eledath
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