Stalin's New post and my thoughts!!!

One of the bloggers from my college, Stalin Mohanty, has a penchant for writing simple yet amazing thoughts and can lead the reader to think about the realities of life. Though he sticks to marketing and other related topics, his one of the recent posts really triggered my thought process and made me comment on the post.

The original post and comment can be read here

I am re-posting the post and MY comment here too.

Stalin's Post -

Deepak: Stalin, you did not wish me on my birthday
Stalin : Oh, i am so sorry. Your birthday just went right.
Deepak: Anyways you forgot. That's the truth
Stalin : Why you removed your birth day stauts from Orkut
Deepak: I was just checking who were wishing without knowing it from Orkut, but i was expecting your call.
Stalin : I am really sorry. Belated happy birthday.

This is a part of my conversation with my friend Deepak two days after his birth day. No body can deny the fact that we are used to web,internet and social networking sites now a days. I can even say that we are totally dependent on internet. Previously we have to remember so many things , but now no need. On social networking sites friend's,relatives birth day keep coming and we simply by watching that wish them. But if someone will hide his/her birth day status, then we will not be able to wish him/her. There comes the problem. The person who may be expecting your wish will definitely feel bad. Because emotion plays a very crucial role in every human's life. Unintentionally we will keep hurting our beloved persons. What can i term this fault of human or technology?

MY comment -

What was the last time we left our room without our mobile phone!?
What was the last time we spent an entire day without checking our emails?
what was the last time we had a "real" conversation with out loved ones!

There are many such questions one can ask him/herself and get into an introspection mode without getting any answer. The worst part is, we don't feel guilty of losing out on our human touch today. We feel "illiterate" if we do not have the knowledge of the latest social networking site. Most of us have 200+ friends on Orkut and Facebook. But how many will come to us when we need. If someone doesn't poke us on Facebook or send an Application request for a long time, we ignore him 'cos he's ain't a friend of us anymore. This is the reality of our life today.

I have altered the definition of Friends as - A contact whom you prominently see on your social networking profile list. That's it. There ain't no real friends no more. Many of you might disagree, but think of the time you last forgot everything else - your cell, smses, mails, and just sat down and let your heart out to a person.

We have become skeptical of humans. We find solace in playing Farmville. We get the kick by playing Mafia wars. But we do not have the time to remember our friends' birthdays. Technology empowers us to gain knowledge, but imprisons us in it's claws.

Nice post Stalin. Keep it up.

What I find is that we have slowly detached ourselves from others. But that's not the core of the problem. The problem is we are detached from our true self too. It is not the fault of anyone but us.


Regards,
Kunal

John Galt's Oath...

No posts since a long time....nothing interesting (or sad) to write about :D

So i thought to put in something - a quote which people have read in my gmail status msg and appreciated!

The quote is again from an Ayn Rand book, Atlas Shrugged. The main protagonist John Galt's oath and one of the most important messages that could be take from the book.

The Oath...

“I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

So simple. So true. And please don't argue - what about your parents, family, friends, loved ones etc.

For what I see is that unless you think about yourself clearly, you can't think about anyone, you can't live for them. Actually speaking, you shouldn't. If you do, your living doesn't make sense. If you think you'll make someone happy by living their way it won't be. You'll be unhappy by not fulfilling your desires - and if the person truly loves you, s/he will not be happy to see you in any trouble (emotional or physical). Secondly, if you bring in discussion great people like Mother Teresa and Gandhiji and Nelson Mandela - their living for others was also a part of their selfish need (no disrespect meant, I revere all three) - the selfish motive of being happy in seeing others happy.

We pretend to be living for our loved ones, then why is such misery, so many worries around? Shouldn't there be love and peace when everyone lives for others here (or so everyone claims). It's not we ignore anyone, it's just a matter of being able to identify what you are, what you care for. Once you know this, you'll see how things change.

The oath is not that one SHOULD follow, but if everyone can follow even a tenth of it, I guess the world would be much better. Vague thoughts, but it's just my interpretation.

I hope I soon get something to write...I am getting rusty! :)

Regards,

Kunal