Minding the Machines

My cousin sister was proud to show to me on the webcam the different gifts her friend had sent for her from Germany, which included some silly items as a nail-cutter, and a Swiss knife (why does she need a Swiss knife, anyway?). She was overjoyed that he had taken the trouble to send them across through a common friend, who was coming from there. Earlier she had told me about the laptop which he had left behind for her, when he packed his things to leave for Germany for the next five years. Why would he need a laptop in Germany; he would as well purchase one on reaching there, and it was given to my sister, who was more than overjoyed to receive it!

Now she is online often during the day and even night, most probably chatting with him over the net, sometimes even neglecting her responsibilities; but that is not my business to ask her if she is wasting her time with the laptop with internet connection and webcam facilities. The modern electronic gadgets are a big blessing to humanity, but they can also become a big hindrance to us, who are not fully conscious of their utility. When we begin to give them more importance than they deserve, we are bordering on viciating from the purpose they are made. The sooner we realize it, the better it is for us to save ourselves from insanity.

For the uninitiated, having round the clock internet connection is a dream come true, and they may give up regular exercise of body and mind, skip meals, cut short rest in order to drown in the limitless ocean of the internet. They may not mind losing their sleep, and losing their way in the highways of the sites, only to realize here on the net, one desire leads them to another, and they are initiated into a vicious circle, and later find that it is not easy for them to free from this circle. The same is also true with any sophisticated electronic gadget; one of the biggest craze today seem to be for cellular phones, which have all and more than what an ordinary person would require.

So for we had been talking in terms of "need" of these gadgets, and squeeze ourselves in order to purchase them; today they are no more needs, but "necessity", which cannot be dispensed with. But how can I go around without a mobile phone, because my friends want to be in touch with me all the time! This is their theme song; I should be available to all those who require my help! Is this a fact or a mere imagination? What were we doing before the advent of mobile phone boom in the country? Were we not in touch with the people who needed our help and assistance?

In the modern times, the human persons have too many masters; there were times when we were masters and today the roles are fast reversing, and if we are not careful then the machines will give marching orders to us, and we too might follow their order blindly. Today the machines seem to have far more capacity to compute, calculate and process the data than a normal human mind can, but that does not make the machines superior to human persons; there is a danger today facing humanity to give more importance to mindless machines than human persons with mind and souls. If this danger catches up with us, then even God may not be able to save us from this peril!

Friend in Need

Science and technology have developed all sorts of sophisticated machinery to make our lives cozy and comfortable; we were able to even intrude into the complicated biodiversity, and change the very nature of plants and animals. The more we make our lives comfortable and cozy, the more lonely does humanity feels. In the ratrace to acquire more money and wealth, the rich have forgotten to rest, and the middleclass do not want to give chance to fate; and the poor keep pushing themselves beyond their capacity in an effort to come to terms with what life has in store for them. But ultimately the plight of the poor is far more manageable than that of the wealthy.

What the modern world cannot create is friends, the proverbial people who can change our lives drastically. To have found a faithful friend is equivalent to have found a priceless treasure, and it is not easy to find one with whom our hearts would jel. Unfortunately there are no set rules and criteria to find if the so-called friend is truly a friend or just a selfish, self-centered opportunist. There is no better criteria to test and examine a friend than life itself, and it would be sad if there are people in the world who do not find time to discover a friend for themselves. The world will never lack true friends, just as it would never lack the sun, moon and stars to keep us going.

I have realized that in human relationships, and especially in a lasting friendship, we want our friends to dance according to our tunes; we become defensive as soon as something critical is voiced. We know the popular adadge, a friend is the one who knows our weaknesses and yet accepts us as we are! The role of true friendship does not stop with reflecting my true image, but also goes to reflect my other half, the undisclosed part. We can find life becoming more enjoyable, when we permit our friends to play the role of devil's advocate!

I have learned so much in life about being friends that for the sake of a true friend, I would be prepared to give up all that I possess! But there are more misconceptions about friends and friendship than there are in actuality. If there is someone who claims to have more than a hundred friends, I would not swollow his/her words too easily. They cannot be friends, but mere acquintances; all those I am in touch with and relate to cannot become my friends. Here is one simple way to test who my true friend is/are: when I am in a crisis situation, the first person/s I think of in order to seek asylum or counsel or help, s/he or they are my true friends.

I like the expression, that the true friend is the one in front of whom I would not hesitate whatsoever to strip myself naked, and present myself as I truly am. Of course this means I cannot have the audacity or the guts to strip myself naked before everyone I am relating to; if I do that, then I am not a friend, but merely an exhibitionist. When husband and wife become friends, the friendship that exist between them is raised to a higher level, and the love that exist between them reaches yet another landmark location in life. Today is a day to toast for all our friends, all who have come our way since birth, and for all those who are waiting to enter into our lives!