Dal Lake, India
My parents have been using different smart phones lately. Years ago, they started off with a classic Nokia phone and then switched to the express music ones. Now, they use the so called ‘smart phone’. The transition has not been a cake walk but they appreciated the progress they noticed in terms of technology. But now, my dad is a pro at using it. He finds it wonderful and amazing. He enjoys texting with those cute emoticons on WhatsApp and watching YouTube videos at ease. I find it funny when he sends ‘forward messages’ though I have received similar ones years ago! My mom likes the fact that she is just a click away from ‘seeing’ her kids whenever she wants to. Though they realize that their children are not literally present with them, they are filled with wonder on how technology has diluted their feeling of emptiness.
My youngest cousin on the other hand effortlessly handles smart phones at the age of 6. A moment of wonder struck my dad when he encountered the little cousin messing around with all kinds of games and apps on his new smart phone. When my parents were introduced to the iPhone, they asked intriguingly “Where’s the back button?” And when my uncle started using his windows smart phone, he was not sure if it had a ‘Home’ screen. But the little kid is very well aware of all the phones with different operating systems. She knows where to find the gallery in a windows phone, how to download games in an android one and why there is no back button in an iPhone. The former generation find this ‘talent’ of Generation Y and Z amazing and alluring.
Though they complain about the effects of current lifestyle, they still are amazed in a number of ways. I ‘envy’ this amusement of theirs. I ‘envy’ the way they are filled with wonder about everything they see now. Why? Because I’m pretty sure I would not go ‘wow’ in the future for everything I come across. I don’t consider my little cousin’s act of handling different smart phones an achievement. In fact I feel pity, that the Gen Z are going to ruin their lives much earlier than I did! Sad thing that they cannot play ‘real’ games everyday like I used to and also watch cartoons that actually made sense.
We are at a point where drastic technological advancements have been achieved. All we see is a ‘jellybean’ becoming a ‘kitkat’ or 4s promoting to 5s. But the older generations did undergo and experience a lot of development in various fields. Cellular phone was a revolution. Imagine what a smart phone now would mean to them! They had hope for the future.They envisioned their children leading better lives than theirs. I ‘envy’ the ‘hope’ they had. I cannot visualize a better future for next generations. I can only see the deteriorating effects of getting used to technology happening much sooner. All I can think about is, a worsened lifestyle and an ascending dependency on technology.
I ‘envy’ my parents when they can still make calculations in their head, while I reach out for the calculator on my ‘smart’ phone in spite of being an engineer. I ‘envy’ my dad, when he looks around and buys a book he is interested in, while I google for a ‘pdf’ version. I ‘envy’ the fact that healthy lifestyle and cooking came naturally to them, unlike me who needs to watch YouTube and browse the internet for the same.
I ‘envy’ the old-fashioned way of parents teaching children to write with pen on paper, rather than typing on an iPad. I ‘envy’ the way they looked up to technology, because now I blame it for my problems.
I’m not looking forward to experience virtual reality in order to ‘feel’ my children in the future. Because it ain’t cool to me anymore!
Daily Prompt– Envy
Water- The essence of existence.
The fondest memory among my various encounters with this beautiful yet powerful form of nature, has to be during my travel to Jammu & Kashmir, India.
This was at at Pahalgam, a town located in Anantanag district of Kashmir.
The burbling brook was so soothing and relaxing that I never wished to go back to the hustle bustle of city life. Surrounded by such scenic tranquility only made me ask for more!
Weekly Photo Challenge- Landscape
Growing up is a complicated process. No, I’m not referring to the biological sense of growing that occurs effortlessly. But about mental and emotional growth. It is definitely complex. When I look back to my old self a decade ago, I can undeniably call myself sentimental. Not that I’m not sentimental anymore! I still am the same with varying degrees of it. The fact that I’m actually getting nostalgic about my old self, shows that the sentimental fool still exists in me.
Though I was never a drama queen sort of a person, I was immensely attached to every living and non-living thing that mattered to me. I trusted blindly in few object oriented things and believed those brought me luck.
For instance, I used the same pencil case throughout my schooling for 12 long years, irrespective of its wear n tear! Wow! Really? Was that even me? Sigh!
I still remember few kids at school making fun of the ‘then old fashioned’ pencil box. I never really cared about what people commented on those things, as long as I have them with me.
I find it silly now, but back then I believed that was the reason behind my good grades. I was attached to it with fear. Fear of failing if I don’t use it. I had many ‘priced possessions’ like these that I was sentimental about. Mostly the ones related to my education. Why? Because doing well in studies was the sole reason of my existence then!
Before you judge me that I’m so materialistic, let me tell you, I’m also insanely attached to people and places. And the best punishment for my emotional attachment was my dad’s transfer every now and then.
It was such a pain! At that tender age, when you start relishing every aspect of life which are playing and studying, you do not want any turbulence. Once I got accustomed to the new place, made friends and loved going to school…Boom! Another transfer! The thought of new place, new culture, new language, new school, new syllabus, new people and everything new was horrifying. By the time I got used to a place and loved everything about it, I would see myself wake up in a different latitude and longitude the next morning!
For someone who gets emotionally attached easily and is sentimental, it is hard to withstand distance. Distance from loved ones and favorite places. Traveling can give you wonderful experiences. But visiting a place can be different from actually living there. When we visit, we look at it as a location, but when we live at a place, we consider it to be home. For a sentimental fool like me, changing homes was never easy.
Lately, I’ve observed drastic change in my sentimental personality. I find it easier to travel and relocate myself. Getting accustomed and living on the other side of the globe has been a cake walk! Culture shock is no longer intimidating and I look forward for it. I do not have any more mad fondness on houses that I considered home nor do I believe in any materialistic things bringing me luck.
However, I still have a deep attachment to my loved ones, but I understand this connection better. Over the years of moving around and living in different places, facing situations that were least expected and watching helplessly when loved ones pass away has only faded the sentimental me.
I’m still unclear about this disappearing tender personality of mine. I do not know if it’s making me emotionally rigid or it is a way of making me stronger. Thinking on the bright side, every place/ person I was sentimental about has only made me an adaptive person.
Because, situations that once broke you, are the ones that made you!
Daily Prompt- Sentimental
Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional – Another famous saying taken for granted!
Physical pain can occur to any creature on the planet.
But fortunately or unfortunately humans are bestowed with emotions.
So, perks of being a human?- Voila! More forms of suffering!
Psychological influence plays a key role in any kind of pain. While physical suffering cannot be considered optional most of the times, there are various theories and medical cases that prove that a patient’s psychological state has either worsened or improved their condition.
But our inability to overlook emotional pain ruins us in the long run. The cause of emotional pain could be anything- Death of a loved one, failed career, a ruined relationship, or a longing heart.
This pain occurred because it was meant to happen. It is and will be inevitable. But what makes us the favored species, is the ability to modify our thought process.
Man has been successful in sustaining natural phenomena that were inevitable – changing seasons/ natural calamities.
But failed as a person to sustain his own emotional suffering when pain is inevitable.
When there is a choice, why choose to suffer?
Daily Prompt- Inevitable
As I wait for the bus, I stand gazing at those spindly branches.
The harsh winters start calming down, inciting hope for Spring.
Those leafless branches appear to be longing for some life and color.
While I keep staring at the trees lacking adornment, I tend to ignore the beautiful sky in the background.
Just like the way I overlook my blessings while pondering over my misfortunes!
Weekly Photo Challenge State of Mind
Aura with Writing 