Emotions lost in rush of click, share and forget

It’s been a season of get-togethers, parties and treats. Guests, in the best attire and accessories, looked amazing. Enjoying their favourite snacks and the splendid décor, they were busy getting themselves photographed with vibrant smiles. Nowadays, Indian get-togethers unfold on predictable lines. At most weddings, the guests have left even before the arrival of the bride after taking selfies in chosen corners and eating to their fill. After all, weddings offer lots of flavours to savour. At once such recent wedding, I was surprised to see the bride’s sister busy getting a photo shoot done while the ‘saat pheras (wedding rituals)’ were taking place inside.

In the quest of anticipated memories, the real connection is lost. In pursuit of capturing the perfect picture, we deprive ourselves of a lifetime of memories. Who is interested in rites and rituals? At the end of the day, possibly late into the night, we are happy being active participants in the fun and festivity, getting ourselves photographed and checking umpteen times if the picture captures the best profile.

While in bed many of us peer into our phone screens with a complacent smile, at peace of having had a delightful time. But pause and ponder. The social network on which we post our live videos and picture perfect poses will forget those moments as in a few days there will be another celebration, a formal occasion to deck up complete with scintillating smiles. It will be an opportunity of making memories of living a life on screen again.

Now fast forward to a much later point in life, say a decade or so. We may recall all those smiling friends, the festivity, the gags that may make us guffaw while sitting alone. How many treats? How many dishes? How many people? The kind of décor it had? Yes, they will remain unscathed with time. But what about the relevance of the occasion, the rituals and vows of marriage and its significance, all this would have fallen victim to digital amnesia. What about memories that become a repository of stories to understand life and redefine history, both personal and collective? In this journey into the past lies the pursuit of identity and eternal tradition that speaks where we fail to communicate.

With our smart phones as our memory banks, are not we becoming forgetful? The memories that come back to us are merely traces from a heart-less generation. No, they aren’t even traces but leftovers, lethal leftovers from a carefree and casual generation that wishes on birthdays only to confess that it was Facebook that reminded them. However, for the past many decades, my not-so-tech savvy senior colleague and friend has been wishing me every single birthday without fail.

Isn’t this a generation that hasn’t much to leave as a legacy or inheritance? Life after all these get-togethers hasn’t much to partake, preserve and promote for generations to come. Perhaps, a picture in the mobile album and a child will look up and ask, “Who is that?”

Or may be that picture will be deleted, unwept and unseen. With the picture gone, what will be left? Only emoticons? There is a need to go beyond emoticons and lead an old-fashioned offline life that allows for the element of evolving bonds and bindings, love and leaning, care and compassion among one another.

IN QUEST OF MEMORIES, THE REAL CONNECTION IS LOST; TO CAPTURE PERFECT PICTURE, WE DEPRIVE OURSELVES OF LIFETIME OF MEMORIES