Just a reminder

Man is a social animal so socializing becomes an inherent nature of a human being. While on a nostalgic tour of my childhood,  I reminisced a few habits of social  interactions which now seem extinct. I remember my dad ,my uncle and aunts, my cousins all sitting in the verandah and talking about everything under the sun. Stories of old times, weird habits of friends, families and acquaintances were always a part of these conversations thus making for a jovial and relaxing atmosphere. Ditto at my grandmother's place, only difference being  it was a daily ritual. It was a Railways  staff quarters colony where every evening the womenfolk used to gather in front of the houses and chat till late night sitting in very dimly lit surroundings on grasses which if in the dried form used to itch. That was a pure source of human interactive entertainment during those days until television took over and indoor entertainment took a new definition. 

  I remember visiting and being visited by friends, cousins and relatives at any time of the day,  without prior notice,  only to experience unfiltered joy from both sides. Friends were accepted as they were, relationships were maintained despite differences in fact there was always a tinge of sweetness attached to imperfections of all kinds.

Cut two to  the present... everything just virtual. Social media pressure is making everything and everyone to be oh so perfect in depicting their social lives. Earlier on good morning wishes used to be at the milk booths or while brushing your teeth ...now it's on WhatsApp. Birthday wishes, congratulatory messages or sympathies are all done through social media per se, without the personal touch. Travel, quotidian activities, and success story telling through pictures and texts have created an evolved living pressure thus complicating our emotional existence. The simplicity of life encapsulating a coexistence with basic human nature  has now been replaced with complications created by an urge to create an identity in an era of existential crisis. Gratefully Facebook in it's fundamental usage has aided to reach out to an entire gamut of friends and families where  otherwise the connections would have been remote. 

  We need to strike a balance between the mechanized world of gadgets and the sensitive human bonds to create an emotionally congenial atmosphere for sensible human existence. So just a reminder that we need genuine human personal bonding more than ever to rally through the complexities of materialistic worldly enhancements. So reach out to your loved ones through get-togethers at cozy homes, flowery gardens, fresh air resorts , etc instead of fingertip buzzings. 

  Finally as the saying goes..." The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves ".