The mellifluous voice singing ‘Kabutar ja ja ja’ still makes people in their 30’s and 40’s nostalgic. Pigeon used as a messenger between lovers, for exchanging eloquently written love letters, was what lovers during those days vied for. The two lovers separated due to distance found solace in this super-hit song from the 1989 flick and no wonder the song and the theme became a cult at that period of time.
Come six years later, to the joy of many, Modi Telstra launched first commercial mobile operations in India. The monthly subscriber addition back then was around 50,000 to 1,00,000 and I think that many would have been added in pairs. For lovers, personal communication improved from written letters to spoken words. The sad part: The respect that the ‘kabutar’ managed to accumulate over the years gradually died as people now began to TALK with their partners. Since then, ‘kabutars’ are hardly seen in Hindi movies and worse, someone dumb is referred to as a ‘kabutar’ in the movies. (What disrespect on their part?)
Anyways, this technological phenomenon, called the mobile phone, triggered off another cult: Long distance relationships. People then felt that they could now consider someone far away as a potential living partner and since then the number of long distance relationship have burgeoned. But what has plummeted is the duration of such a relationship which makes me call LDRs rightly a cult. Is the increase in number because of the reduced relationship time? I leave that to someone who specializes in this field. (I intend not to hurt the sentiments of any one who is in a long distance relationship. True love never has any barriers, be it distance.)
I believe technology always plays a big role in the social aspects of our life. I will try to take this whole issue a step ahead. If a simple mobile phone invention could make people compromise on the agony of distance for the voice of their partner over the mobile phone, the wrath of not seeing each other literally for seeing each other idiomatically; then just imagine what Internet, the biggest technological invention of all time, would spark off. Let’s try analyzing that.
People making new friends online, is what Internet managed to kick start initially. With advent of time, we saw online chats, social networking, etc. helping people to find prospective real partners. Nowadays, though the marriage is, thankfully, still real, a virtual marriage over the Internet doesn’t seem far. Just like people have traded voice for distance, similarly they might trade face over the webcam for going out with someone they don’t like. It might take time but we will have such cases. Who knows later we may have innovation in technology which would make people feel each other (internet speed in GB’s) or even have babies online (internet speed in TB’s) after we successfully have had hearing each other (internet speed in KB’s) and seeing each other (internet speed in MB’s).
I think that with technology anything is possible. Advances in technology might change a cult into an accepted approach, who knows? People are always prone to adopt novelty and look beyond the regular options they have got. And Technology gives them just this option to explore the world at a single click and people somehow end up finding ways of taking, well as they say: The best out of it…
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7 comments:
nice1 on how d technology is influencing the social life of ppl...want to add another perspective to ur view...the era of "kabutar" was d time when ppl first fell in luv and den communicated thru d medium of it(pigeon)...2day ppl want to start d relationship on d internet and maintain it thru d phn...dey dnt feel it necessary to have a "tete a tete" with a prsn which very much is a prerequiste for an LTR (long term relationship)...ppl miss dis step and are faced with shorted LDRs...would like u to comment on dis...
I think this is a transitional phase. With webcams and video chat, people would start using it more and more. The pblm at this moment is high speed internet availability. With such a thing being available ubiquitously, i think we ll move from phone to a virtual tete-a-tete...
The present and future tendencies of rampant use of technology has been examined in a critical way. You seem to be slightly partial to the days of 'communication through kabutars '- I agree that there was an element of romanticism to it. Technology has been and will advance rapidly but 'having babies through internet', even with great speed, seems highly improbable.
Finally I agree that LDRs may give us variety in terms of short term relationships but nothing to beat the life-giving long term loving relationships built over many 'tete a tete' sessions, albeit face-to-face and hand-in-hand.
That is what u missed!! U r being subjective. we never know what the future generation would prefer. Who knows, they mite prefer virtual reality - some love games, exchanging emotions, all online and wld still love it. Though i wld prefer, definitely, tete-a-tete. :) Hope the technology does not rule us one day..
good post. but i think the day the virtual relationship is adopted by anyone, there is not going to be any room left in those hearts for something called "feelings" or rather lets say "true" feelings. and if this happens, we might not really be able to say that "people somehow end up finding the best out of it"..
Lets c!!! What people make out it :)
Good thoughts ! ... But thats the irony ,every technology brings with itself the adverse effects as free gifts... (though un-welcomed gifts)
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