Disconnect

I don’t usually wanted to write on personal ramblings but this incident made me to do so. I might have written it as a Facebook status but it defies the whole point of this post. October 20, 2013 is a very special day to me as it is a birthday of one of my dearest school friend and today I wished him at early morning around 4 at half sleep. He asked me, “how the hell you remembered my birthday? I am not in Facebook nor I was in India for a while and I reached here a month ago and you calling to my number?” I replied him simply, “Man, how I can forget your birthday? It is the only day you used to come out for a movie”. We both were laughing on that reply, then I asked about his trip and how he was able to adapt to the climate after long time living in Netherland (just 4 years). I was talking to him after four long years and it was during the twelfth I talked to him last time and it’s a year before I saw him. We did our schooling till SSLC. It was wonderful talking to an old friend after a long time and remembering few things which we both thought that the other person would’ve forgotten. After all those chats I talked for an hour or so and I felt satisfied wishing him.

After the talk the only thing that came to my mind is that, “I am happy because I really wished him for his birthday”. I never felt wishing when it is just posted on the wall. But I don’t blame that for Facebook and people remember lot of birthdays only through the Facebook notifications and I don’t blame that either. The wish through Facebook is fine when the person is an acquaintance or a virtual friend but some close friends also take the same opportunity to do so. The point I wish to convey here may look unclear but on close look at the subject that we are more attached to the virtual world than the reality it bites as big time. This addiction is something which are not yet labeled as addiction by doctors and no treatment or pills to take that away (Please don’t say switch of the computer as it is not an answer). These are done by social networking sites and not only Facebook is the addiction but it is the primary contender. These sites say that it connects you to the people but in reality it disconnects you from the people. This made me to remember a movie named “Disconnect”.

The movie is themed around various stories of social communication misuse and how our connection to the social networking makes us disconnected from the rest of the world. To be frank the movie offers nothing new. We all know about fake id, credit card hacking and porn sites but how it affects the people is what we have to know. We are seeing this as news rather than an event which is going on. We see it as a letters rather than information. This movie interconnects all of those and tells us a story which is the purpose of movies. As a common man after talking for an hour about the fake ids are we really doing something substantial and secure to get away with it? We talk a lot of philosophies in Facebook but are we booking it in our face or at least facing the real issues? Are we doing anything beyond posting a status or are we trying anything at all rather than sitting in front of a monitor and venting our thoughts? I am not blaming the others I am asking these questions to myself after watching the movie. This movie told me that the misuse and all the bad things in the Virtual world are happening because we are disconnected from the real world. I am sure you will see the social media different once you watch the movie.

P.S: The social media is not always bad, it gave me a new life in reality not in virtual world. Without the social media my exposure to the real world would've been infinitesimally small.