Communication is getting murdered. We don’t live with or within the society. I travel on buses a lot. And the only talking I do is to the bus conductor.
Here, I'm gonna give you my side of how we are dying within our society. Trust me.. I do it.
So public transport, buses. I travel for lunch, dinner and all that on a bus. I travel in trains a lot. I also travel in planes ever so often. And I almost never talk to my fellow passengers. Almost never. I don’t insist that you strike up a conversation, exchange telephone numbers and go on a picnic together with the in-laws included. But if you're from India, you know how it is travelling among janta and someone looking at you and curse the bad buses, the horrid train food or how they lost their luggage last time. In Indian public transport, conversations happen easier than other places. No no... Correct that, they used to happen.
When I travel, I have an iPod my bro gave me.. Awesome little piece of technology. Unlike the abomination that is Windows Vista (yes, I'm just dissing Vista here), it’s perfect. It has everything. Amazing sound.. Amazing interface. And after a while, you even get used to typing in that interface. And all those motion sensitive games..
But I use it a lot. On buses. Trains. Planes. So much. I sometimes don’t take it off while asking the conductor for a ticket because I know exactly how much the tickets cost.
And the same holds for other people. I see them engrossed in their earphones, it’s like they're on a trip... I don’t talk to anyone. When I'm waiting at the airport terminal, and there’s a match on, people react. They go "AAWW..." for a wicket and all shift in their seats when we get a boundary... Our side of course. But people ignore the others. Again, I don’t want people to look at each other and shake hands and hug on victory or anything. But I like it when I can turn to someone, say, "Wow... Nice catch...” or "What a shot...!" or "What the hell is he talking about..??!! That was going to the off stump EASY...!! “.. Which leads to a collective, "*&%&#*#("...
I tried it... And not everyone responds. You can actually very easily tell who will respond and who will look at you like you need the paramedics...
And believe me, I have tried. And the responses of them non-repsonding types are greatly funnier than the responding types.
So I implore you. Please... Talk to the strangers. It’s fun.
When I began to realise that I wasn’t talking to people and was a road zombie, I began to stop using my iPod as much. I still used it. And I love it. Only I don’t use it as much. I like to go onto the bus with it just around my neck and not use it while I spend some time smiling at the kids. I even randomly ask people directions to places I don’t want to go. And you wouldn’t imagine how much they like telling you how the buses can’t go some places or can go some places. Some guys argue with themselves wondering what the best route would be... Two buses? An auto and a bus? Vice versa..? Ha... And it’s always fun watching them do it...
Either way... Public chatter is fun. It can get annoying with a few people. But I can enjoy it more often than not...
Chatting and Text messaging. Now I have a few friends with whom I am in touch and communicate with entirely on the phone or through text chatting... And the problem is that text has no emotion. I mean, can you type to a friend that you wanna kick his ass or a girl/guy... Well, whatever it is that you want you...
To be able to dictate emotion on text, I think you should have a very special understanding with the person you are talking to... I have friends I have been chatting
with for years. Almost 6 years. And I have friends I have been chatting with for 2 years. And for some weird reason, I can chat with the others better. They understand me and I get them a lot better.
However, at the end of the day, there is still some form of ignorance there. You don’t know how to talk to people. All the "Online Help" where there are people who chat with you and clear doubts is amazingly convenient. I've used. I'm not gonna say it shouldn’t be done. I'm saying it takes away something from you.
People love being the centre of attention. It doesn’t necessarily need to be in a grand party. But even if you are the prime attention of a single person, it’s a greatly satisfying position to be in. That’s people. You too. Its great being called out to... So with the lack of actually being the centre of attention because I can simultaneously chat with or talk to 10 people at a time takes out a lot of magic in life. The telephone and calling them is just a relative improvement.
I am actually running out of ways to go on... But here. I am not criticizing technology. I love technology. But it has made changes to our lives. Technology hit us very fast. So fast, I don’t think we all realised what happened. Basic human actions and habits have been affected.
So keep an eye out... be aware of what you're doing. Be aware of your choices and take responsibility for your actions... Things are changing Very fast...
I haven’t addressed a lot of topics... But I hope I got the essential point across..
Here, I'm gonna give you my side of how we are dying within our society. Trust me.. I do it.
So public transport, buses. I travel for lunch, dinner and all that on a bus. I travel in trains a lot. I also travel in planes ever so often. And I almost never talk to my fellow passengers. Almost never. I don’t insist that you strike up a conversation, exchange telephone numbers and go on a picnic together with the in-laws included. But if you're from India, you know how it is travelling among janta and someone looking at you and curse the bad buses, the horrid train food or how they lost their luggage last time. In Indian public transport, conversations happen easier than other places. No no... Correct that, they used to happen.
When I travel, I have an iPod my bro gave me.. Awesome little piece of technology. Unlike the abomination that is Windows Vista (yes, I'm just dissing Vista here), it’s perfect. It has everything. Amazing sound.. Amazing interface. And after a while, you even get used to typing in that interface. And all those motion sensitive games..
But I use it a lot. On buses. Trains. Planes. So much. I sometimes don’t take it off while asking the conductor for a ticket because I know exactly how much the tickets cost.
And the same holds for other people. I see them engrossed in their earphones, it’s like they're on a trip... I don’t talk to anyone. When I'm waiting at the airport terminal, and there’s a match on, people react. They go "AAWW..." for a wicket and all shift in their seats when we get a boundary... Our side of course. But people ignore the others. Again, I don’t want people to look at each other and shake hands and hug on victory or anything. But I like it when I can turn to someone, say, "Wow... Nice catch...” or "What a shot...!" or "What the hell is he talking about..??!! That was going to the off stump EASY...!! “.. Which leads to a collective, "*&%&#*#("...
I tried it... And not everyone responds. You can actually very easily tell who will respond and who will look at you like you need the paramedics...
And believe me, I have tried. And the responses of them non-repsonding types are greatly funnier than the responding types.
So I implore you. Please... Talk to the strangers. It’s fun.
When I began to realise that I wasn’t talking to people and was a road zombie, I began to stop using my iPod as much. I still used it. And I love it. Only I don’t use it as much. I like to go onto the bus with it just around my neck and not use it while I spend some time smiling at the kids. I even randomly ask people directions to places I don’t want to go. And you wouldn’t imagine how much they like telling you how the buses can’t go some places or can go some places. Some guys argue with themselves wondering what the best route would be... Two buses? An auto and a bus? Vice versa..? Ha... And it’s always fun watching them do it...
Either way... Public chatter is fun. It can get annoying with a few people. But I can enjoy it more often than not...
Chatting and Text messaging. Now I have a few friends with whom I am in touch and communicate with entirely on the phone or through text chatting... And the problem is that text has no emotion. I mean, can you type to a friend that you wanna kick his ass or a girl/guy... Well, whatever it is that you want you...To be able to dictate emotion on text, I think you should have a very special understanding with the person you are talking to... I have friends I have been chatting
with for years. Almost 6 years. And I have friends I have been chatting with for 2 years. And for some weird reason, I can chat with the others better. They understand me and I get them a lot better.However, at the end of the day, there is still some form of ignorance there. You don’t know how to talk to people. All the "Online Help" where there are people who chat with you and clear doubts is amazingly convenient. I've used. I'm not gonna say it shouldn’t be done. I'm saying it takes away something from you.
People love being the centre of attention. It doesn’t necessarily need to be in a grand party. But even if you are the prime attention of a single person, it’s a greatly satisfying position to be in. That’s people. You too. Its great being called out to... So with the lack of actually being the centre of attention because I can simultaneously chat with or talk to 10 people at a time takes out a lot of magic in life. The telephone and calling them is just a relative improvement.
I am actually running out of ways to go on... But here. I am not criticizing technology. I love technology. But it has made changes to our lives. Technology hit us very fast. So fast, I don’t think we all realised what happened. Basic human actions and habits have been affected.
So keep an eye out... be aware of what you're doing. Be aware of your choices and take responsibility for your actions... Things are changing Very fast...
I haven’t addressed a lot of topics... But I hope I got the essential point across..
5 comments:
I couldn't agree more ! There's nothing like that public chatter.. if kids come along and yap .. its considered cute .. and if its adults .. oh my ! I know that look which says "Fetch the paramedics real queekkk !" :p ...or the look that says "geez...he/she is trying to hit on me!" :p
But all in all people seriously need to wake up and rekindle the old social talking- to- the- stranger next to you kinda chatter ...its a splendid feeling ! :)
and then theres that guy in the train who thinks its his right to know your 10th class marks, your CGPA, your salary and whether you intend to use the loo now or 5 minutes from now....
and send the post to Apple, theyll use it to advert the touch..
The only mode I frequent is the bus. And most people our age fit your description...plug in the ear and thumb on the keypad. Its fun sitting next to the older generation. I remember a lot of interesting conversations. One old lady was enquiring about studies n college and my grades(!) etc etc...and was lamenting that grandson hated studies....and was always playing football. Another was narrating all the fun she had had in college (This one must've been in her 60s....and being allowed to attend college was a big issue those days).....But then, there's the other category too...highly inquisitive.....who make me squirm at times and won't rest until they've had a proper answer(yes/no not allowed!)...It turns out to be interesting most of the time though..and I dont plug my ears until I decide that there is no "talkable " person around :)
Ok.......ll retain ur ipod now, so u can talk to ppl on the road.......:P
This is from the older lot.Next time someone asks you your CGPA or salary try telling them something totally not yours and look for the reaction.However much I chatted in many many years,I couldn't do this myself.I wanted to look at shocked, sympathetic or whatever reactions but couldn't go too far.Still look forward to it.
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