Staying connected

Facebook, orkut, twitter any idea what i'm talking about.Yes, social networking one of the ground breaking innoventions of the last decade. After i opened an orkut account during college days i used to log in every week to check if any friend request has come, or anybody had written a scrap to me or if there were any photo updates by friends.Orkut seemed interesting.People with similar interests joined communities online and discussed about them. Some even got their long lost friends whom they had forgotten the faces of, through simple searching.Reunions of old school and college batchmates were conducted easily as everyone around the globe could be informed.It was a different experience altogether.

After i joined work i opened a facebook account since most of my friends were moving to facebook and orkut started to get boring. Facebook was a better and flexible version of orkut. Chatting was easier and updates from friends was received in jiffy. There was less of private stuff and more of public stuff happening in facebook. But even facebook ran into trouble due to privacy issues.

The creators of Twitter would have never imagined that it would grab so much attention in the media and parliament such that it would even result in removal
of a cabinet minister. Just a status message named 'Tweets' with 140 characters from this microblogging or social networking site created news on daily basis.It was like the wishes granted by gods in the mythological stories. Even the gods wouldn't have imagined that the wish might turn against them any time.So celebrities and others alike started posting messages on twitter after giving a second thought about the post.

Even though call rates had dropped, since most of the friends used to come online after work, chatting became more common. Other than speaking to parents or few elder relatives or a boyfriend or girlfriend there was less calls made and even lesser smses sent. More network providers came into market and brought out new offers to encourage more calling among students and professionals. But still none of them seemed to create huge impact since more people were moving to multimedia handsets or smartphones which made them 'available' on net through facebook, twitter etc.

Lets rewind the time to ten years back, 2000. That was the time when i started using internet, when i opened a hotmail and yahoo account. Keeping in touch with old friends was never a big task. You just needed to have an email id to mail, chat, send photos and it seemed very easy. The school projects were completed in less than a day when compared to weeks spent on project work in primary class days. Mobile phones market started off killing the pager industry.A person could be contacted even when he was travelling. The world became a smaller place.

Lets rewind 10 more years back,1990 when Letters were the life line to stay connected for people far off. The writing itself was a lovely thing. Taking time
to make no mistakes, be it a love letter, letter to friends or parents or relatives. It felt nice to write thinking and taking time. Even the wait for the reply only increased the interest in the writing. Collecting the stamps of the letters received was also a hobby. Writing to people whom you have never met was also interesting. We could share a lot of things with Pen-pals what we couldn't share with others whom we know.Since the STD charges were also high during that time, calls to relatives or friends outside the state was very rare. Most of the villages also didn't have telephone network as seen nowadays. Calls had to be made to the post office or village office where a phone would be there.The purity of the relationships were very evident in those days. We kept in touch with those who were special to us.Moreover it was a great feeling to read it over and over again looking at those beautiful handwriting and feeling the aroma of the ink thinking of the person who wrote it to you.I don't know how many of you reading this has actually written letters. But i tell you its a wonderful experience.

Think of the last time you took a pen to write a letter. Can't remember? Well i think it could be for the last english exam you wrote in school or college. I
won't say e-mailing is bad or anything. It is the best way to communicate and get replies ASAP. But when you have the time and you feel like writing to your
special ones even if it is just few sentences, take an pen and paper and write to them. Give them a chance to read and cherish your letters forever. I bet it
will do wonders.I have decided to write a letter or send a greeting every month to my special ones. Let's cherish the good moments. Back to the good old times. :)

With Love
Yours Sincerely
Mayavi
08-Jul-2010