Life-One pixel at a time.

I am seated in my regular no frills office bus which will be taking me to my workplace when it dawned upon me that I was to write some stuff which will  strike the opening chords  of a new chapter that we hope will last for some time (unless people boo or throw tomatoes at us). So I took out my smart phone and started scribbling my random thoughts when all of a sudden an old friend called. Quite a rare thing these days, in the age where WhatsApp and Facebook are as synonymous as calls and text messages back in the days. But then, he still owns a candy bar phone sans all these luxuries and hence cares to give us a call once in a while. Old school, eh?

                      As I got off the call from him, a faint realization seeped into my mind that WhatsApp and other free messaging services have actually robbed us of the once-in-a while-phone call with your friends, excitement, the laughs and a few other things that define life. In an attempt to bring us closer, it has actually re-defined us as a gamut of “emoticons” by which we express ourselves. That shrill voice of excitement, the tears of joy, the laughing aloud crazy moments, a Eureka moment are all captured in an array of alphabets and curly braces.

                      And the bigger picture (oh the irony) here is that our life, now is, a transition from one screen to the other. So the seven stage of life are now replaced by 7 screens, ranging from the smartphone that the toddler sees to the ECG Monitor that decides your last breath .It is the screens which define our lives now- from morning till bedtime. Work, play, day to day activities, friendly banter ,communication with our closest ones ,movies, games and even the microwave or the induction cookware- quite literally every activity of our daily lives involve us staring at some screen or the other!

                   That is why a few cafes have started unhooking their Wi-Fi .They want to encourage people to savior the food with a smile and appreciate their service instead of taking pictures of it and uploading on Instagram. They want you to talk to people and enjoy their company and have a good time. Just like this one on the left! Cool, isn’t it?  

                     
                   We are ALL guilty of walking around, looking at our phones, sitting at home watching a screen and missing every day opportunities and sights.  The more we connect with our smartphones, tablets and gadgets, the more isolated we are making ourselves, making conversations, dialogues and face-to-face interactions practically obsolete.

                   I would like to share this  video called 'look Up' by Gary Turk with as many people as possible. It got me thinking a lot and is actually the inspiration for this write up. These lines strike the finest chords-
“When you’re too busy looking down, you don’t see the chances you miss
So look up from your phones, shut down those displays
We have a finite existence, a set number of days

Don’t waste your life getting caught in the net

because when the end comes, nothing’s worse than regret”

Watch and listen:

Put down the phone, walk away from the screen. You don’t know the moments you’re missing right now. Open the door and set your foot outside. Live. Laugh. Love.