I wordle'd my blog..

These are the words that are most used in my blog.. Isnt that exciting???
Thanks to Wordle...

Technology vs Relationship

The world is small! Technology has taken us to so much of comfort levels. Emails, messaging, voicemails, etc. etc. etc. There are really wonderful means that technology has given us this day to communicate. This era, we dont have to worry about keeping in touch with people.

18 years ago... I remember my parents writing long letters to their parents and friends thus communicating with each other. And I remember them reading the reply letters they get with all happiness and satisfaction. And I remember them making STD calls to connect to them through voice, once in a month. That was the time when the STD call rates were quite high for a normal salaried family.

Today... I can see my parents communicating with their parents almost everyday over the phone. I can see them refreshed and happy once the conversation is over. What a tremendous change to be witnessed in 20 years!?!

Long phone conversations once in 2 months seems like a memory of the past. Today, we feel we don't have to worry about communication, for we have emails and messages to help us (Atleast the current generation!!! ) But is it true?! Do we really communicate? Do we really get to know each other's well being frequently?

These days, messaging has replaced 'phone calls' which is not a really good sign of developing technology vs relationships. We consider ourselves really busy to spare time for a phone call. Sometimes, we key in text messages now and then, and yes, thats the end of it. And the frustrating part is, when we message people, some of us don't even care to reply back. Only when we sit back and think do we realize how much it hurts. It induces an feeling of unappreciated, unacknowledged hurt.

We do work/study for long hours and most of us understand that the other is busy. Truely, these days, I have stopped expecting calls from my dear ones only because, they might be busy. Having said this, I would have a fantastic feeling when my friends/relatives spare some time to talk to me. I too don't do it though. Today morning, I happened to talk to my schoolmate, who is my best friend, after a month's time. It was a great feeling to interact with her after a considerable interval. That is when I figured out that there is always a difference, between messaging and calling.

I still see some of my friends who constantly message us just to keep us informed. And some of it becomes chain messaging, chatting through messages. In the midst of our so called busy schedule, it is really nice to key in chain messages which will make us really happy.

And when all this is still available, don't forget to give your friends a phone call when you have some time. Many of my friends have expressed their frustration about not talking to them. Text messaging is there for us, when we need to give some information and that should never become a substitute for voice communication (not voice mail though .. lol). Though technology has gifted us with lots of comfort means, let us remember to call our dear ones once in a while and talk to them which is an essential ingredient of any relationship. :)

Friendship with a Virtual Smile

I happened to read this article on Rediff.com.

Here is the link:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/25column-where-have-the-real-friends-gone.htm

I wonder if the world will ever recover from internet-sickness!!!!

This article immediately caught my eyes, the title being so sensitive. I too had been sick for quite a long time, say a year with internet. Internet overtook my senses, when the world seemed close to me. There was a period in my life when I used to gather new friends on social networks like Orkut for hours together. Somehow, this hunt for friends suddenly halted and now I know what is true and what isnt. I still have real good friends on the internet, whom I have not even met, but who come forward to help me at any point of time in my life.

Now that I am out of college, where we gain new friendships, social networks have become a gateway for me to interact and keep in touch with my old friends. I know what they do, when they update their profile or send messages. Whatever be it, people kind of stick to social networks to keep in touch with friends. A lot of my school and college mates remain in touch not through phones, not through frequent visits but through these social networks. 

These days, social networks are taking a new dimension with the coming of professional networks. Professional networks like LinkedIn are bringing people who want to make friends in their professional network, and I personally feel, it is nice to know people from various professional areas and understand the other side of business. They remain good friends too!

My opinion is, when we are left to interact with friends on the web for the first time through social networks, we fail to understand the dangers that come with it. There may be fake profiles out there trying to fool the others on the network, and there are cases, where it was too late when they realized and fell in deep trouble. I mean to say that there always is a difference between the people whom we meet personally and those whom we meet online. 

Though we have a lot of interaction and new friends on the web, we should think fair enough to accept the reality of life. We should spare time to go out and meet our real or rather physical friends like we spend time to interact with the virtual friends or 'still not met' friends from the web.

The last line of the article was catchy. Quoting it, 'It is friendship without a smile -- or at best with a virtual smile -- and certainly without an embrace. Is it less real, then? As someone from a heritage which speaks of degrees of Reality in Vedanta or Change as the only permanent state in Buddhism, how can I say that the virtual is less real than the physical?' 

101 Things To Do Before I Die

1. Find the reason for my birth
2. Make a library of all my favorite collections.
3. Read the complete dictionary
4. Write a best seller.
5. Create a fictional character that all kids would love.
6. Travel along to a city in a foreign land, where I have never been before.
7. Get to the tallest buildings and reach the highest point there.
8. Fall asleep on a bed in a furniture store.
9. Express my emotions with a song.
10. Write the story of my life
11. Be a teacher for one day at the school I studied in.
12. Break a computer monitor to pieces.
13. Walk alone in a cemetery at midnight.
14. Be the best daughter to my parents.
15. Trek a mountain of my choice.
16. Spend a night by the waterfall with my love.
17. Stay in the costliest resort for one night.
18. Build my own organization.
19. Make a huge Barbie doll collection in my showcase.
20. Stay for a night in a really scary and haunted house.
21. Build my dream house.
22. Get wet in the rain on a hill top.
23. Compose a melodious piece of music.
24. Try and capture as many rainbows as possible on my camera.
25. Wake up late in the night, when everyone is asleep, and go out, ride my car.
26. Spend a month in a lone island.
27. Stay in an Igloo.
28. Learn a new language and put that to use.
29. Watch sunrise and sunset.
30. Smile at say, 100 strangers.
31. Maintain the diary for a whole year.
32. Write to my favorite novelist.
33. Donate one lunch of mine to the poor.
34. Stay in silence for a week.
35. Switch off my mobile for a week.
36. Sleep on the terrace watching the sky.
37. Build a tree house.
38. Wander around in a deep forest for a week.
39. Paint my dreams on canvas.
40. Go snow skiing.
41. Record my expenditure everyday.
42. Learn to play a piano.
43. Meet someone with a name which spells as my own.
44. Trip the world’s coldest areas (?)
45. See the aurora borealis.
46. See an erupting volcano.
47. Milk a cow.
48. Conquer my fears.
49. Build a temple.
50. Watch the top 100 films listed on IMDB.
51. Drive my car to the hill top.
52. Win a lottery (:D)
53. Land on the moon.
54. See a space shuttle launch.
55. Study astronomy.
56. See the complete solar and lunar eclipse.
57. Own a useless collection of useless stuff.
58. Discover something that would help my growth.
59. Do my Masters in a university of my choice.
60. Clean my place and put things in order.
61. Stay overnight in a luxurious boat house.
62. Visit the fantasy 360 degree Leti, located in the heart of Uttaranchal, India.
63. Ride a camel.
64. Shelter at least one poor family.
65. Spend on educating an orphan.
66. Design my home interiors.
67. Live in a hut for at least 48 hours.
68. Conduct training sessions for my juniors at college.
69. Look into the close rooms of the Taj Mahal.
70. Cry out loud for silly reasons.
71. Present my soul mate with something unexpected on a special day!
72. Stay calm even when I am the most stressed out.
73. Learn a lot of patience.
74. Understand motherhood.
75. Make a to-do list for everyday.
76. Learn to say NO without saying ‘No!’
77. Visit temples whenever I find time.
78. Understand stock market.
79. Consciously cut my skin (say, 2 cm long) and learn what pain it causes!
80. See the new 7 wonders of the world
81. Jump with a parachute.
82. Help save one’s life.
83. Turn vegetarian for a month.
84. Make a hoax phone call.
85. Make a code language and use it to converse with my friends.
86. Become nocturnal for a month.
87. Learn to take control of my dreams.
88. Eat fruits from the tree I planted.
89. Throw tomatoes at the person you hate.
90. Experience getting struck in a traffic jam for more than 6 hours.
91. Visit Stonehenge.
92. See the Grand Canyon.
93. See my grandchildren.
94. Trace my family tree.
95. Visit the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
96. Have enough financial strength to manage accomplishing stuff mentioned.
97. Visit the Twelve Apostles, Rock Formation.
98. See a ghost.
99. Learn the psychology behind suicide.
100. Visit all famous temples in India.
101. Love my life and live it to the fullest!