Living in a Sitcom!

Since childhood, the television has been my best friend. Even when everybody criticized the idiot box, I couldn’t be more fascinated to get in touch with the outside world through so many channels yet one, our loved ‘TV’. Cartoons were my favourite but I also loved wildlife documentaries and watching anything associated with ‘cute’ and it felt like I was exploring a completely different world altogether. When I go back, that was the best time I had; staying at my fixed spot with popcorn and a good movie or my favourite cartoon series, with nothing to worry except for what mom was going to cook for the next meal! Bliss, indeed.

The trend changed, our liking changed and all our favourite channels came up with serials sharing confessions of high school kids, we could totally empathize with. Then, there an era of the typical Saas-Bahu serials, which went on for decades and is still going on; people roaming wandering at the streets of our unexplored India like gypsies; laughter shows; solving mysteries and how could we forget ‘Aahat’, the only scary show I remember. Our own beloved Indian television and the endless list of series we can never forget.

What we didn’t realize, was that serials influenced us as much as advertisements or movies affect our lives. Somehow, we started dreaming the dreams with happy endings, dreaming about luxury, success, friendship, love and everything all so sugary and perfect. We accepted the things we saw and made it a part of our life. We got more acquainted to the western culture as we were exposed to the channels broadcasted internationally and as teenagers; we started craving the best of friends spending hours together and even crushing on those super cute guys who could be the only one to make our life more beautiful. What we didn’t realize, was that we started living in these sitcoms!

Well, there’s more to the ones afflicted with this obsession with sitcoms. We have started living in a world of our own. We have another way to look at our own discrepancies. We chose to save all those pictures before time flies and it’s time to say goodbye. We share more time sharing on the internet than to share with our closest ones for the world seems too busy to listen to our story. We choose to raise our voice and write on the wrongs and rights in the society for we wish to bring a change, individually if not wholly. We’ve woven fantasies of our own and we wish to relive them. An avid reader could explain this at a greater depth but the ones so deeply indulged in sitcoms and the life of those characters might share a mutual feeling.

I have had this syndrome for long and I’m not afraid to admit it. Sometimes, I’ve loved fictional characters more than people and they take me to my own virtual world. As I see these characters perform, I go through the same emotional phase they do. I cry, smile, laugh and fall in love with them and somehow, I end up craving for those happy ever after endings. These fallacies make me feel like I want to live them. Isn’t it beautiful how as kids we felt all those cartoon characters and superheroes had superpowers we could have someday and today, we wish for things we aspire, all this while inspired virtually by mere reflection of everything that we’ve yearned? Sugar, spice and everything nice! But the moment I go off from this virtual world, it’s all doomed.

I’ve laughed harder on Barney Stinson’s jokes and Sheldon Cooper’s idiosyncrasies; I’ve seen a part of me in Monica Geller and Robin Scherbatksy. I believe in love when it’s Ross and Rachel or Monica and Chandler. I’ve been fascinated the way Benedict Cumberbatch takes me to the world of Sherlock Holmes and somehow I’ll be afraid that Dr. Cal Lightman will catch me if I ever lie. I’ve lived in serials and books and cried more with these characters than in melodramatic movies and sometimes, I tend to get more emotional towards fictional characters than the real world. But there’s nothing to get embarrassed about, we all share that feeling somewhere. So let’s try to accept our wonderful weirdness and know that all of us share a virtual world that connects each one of us!

Thank you for taken the effort to read the entire blog. I'm sure there is at least one character you can relate to! Then go ahead, participate in the poll going on! Also, Feedback and comments are most welcomed. :)

The Virtual World Syndrome!

Life’s got busier and technology has taken over us, the social networking and the instant messaging seems the easiest way to connect. Everything works on a click and the clique is constantly adapting to the new fads every now and then. We can do every
thing on the internet and we are so overly dependent on it that even a day without it seems like a minor catastrophe. With everything so quick and easy and looking only at the pros of the technological advances with multiple usages to list down, aren’t we forgetting the real world around?

With constantly chatting with people on Facebook and Whatsapp, haven’t we lost the essence lately? The essence of how it was back then to keep in touch and not actually update just everything and anything happening at the moment. Even if we refrain to complain about the communication, we are somehow losing out on the people around, the people present amongst us at the very moment. We are so engrossed in clicking pictures instead of capturing memories. We try quenching the thirst of limelight by constantly updating our statuses and satisfy the hunger with all the likes and comments we get on our posts but what about the person sitting right beside us who is present in that picture, the person whose waiting while we are busy checking feeds from the rest?

Our entire world has taken a trip from the times when we made stories and memories to how we get more emotional over virtual memories. Previously, A father would come back home and his child would be happily awaiting him to hear him praise for a math test or maybe to share an incident that took place in school. But with the new scenario, the child updates it on Facebook, the father likes it and the mother comments. Is that it? What happened to sharing our funny stories over dinner or comforting one another coming out of the blues? We are relishing a good dinner, still busy updating; we are enjoying a long walk with an old friend still engrossed in our phones. For all we know, we’ve started nocializing even on a social gathering.

All those traditions are becoming old-fashioned and fading away, from how we celebrated birthdays or anniversaries to an extent when we are doing things to let the virtual world know than really do something. Wishing birthdays is merely on apps and long lost phone calls have changed to micro second voice notes. Even when we say we are voicing our opinions, are we really helping anyone by sharing what we feel right now on these socializing websites? Are we even helping ourselves by that? Somehow, we are responsible for the increasing depression through these portals and for the increasing blues and frustration within us. The West is coming to India seeking peace while we are running towards their technology that has resulted in our impatience and anxiety.

No matter how much we get addicted to the new, some things are meant to remain old. Our ancestors were right about many things and we later regretted and went back to the old traditions. I guess, I can happily be the guide and warn you about the virtual world syndrome. So even when you come in touch with your long lost high school best friend, no use if you don’t actually meet up and hangout with him. Weddings and Birthdays don’t happen over phone calls, we need people to be a part of those events, to make them occasions. And if your heart really wants to share something, say it out loud, to a person instead of updating it as a status. Take time to switch off everything that connects you virtually and appreciate the real world around you. Live for the moment, in the moment.

Subtle Reflections

Recently I came across a graffiti I made, some three years back in high school on my study table. Funny thing, I found the picture on Facebook and honestly, I was shocked to see it still existed there and how kiddish I was back then. Of course, being a high school kid gave me all the rights to carry out the crazy stuff considering it as fun but today I took it as sheer lunacy. These concave pieces never change and take us back in time. I had a similar experience to travel back where I was left with subtle reflections on my life; now and then and much more to realize.

High school to College was a predictable change and we had been prepared for this. Maybe, even excited with the way we dreamed of our perfect college life with a perfect ‘group’, no attendance issues, assignments and stuff, like we were up for a vacation here. But things changed, the study burden increased and with it increased the lag of conversations we failed to have with the people we promised to keep around forever. Time became a huge constraint and it became all the more difficult to keep in touch with our so called ‘best friends’.

We adapted ourselves to these changes we made in the environment and slowly let new people walk in. The place we found hell became the sole reason and excuse to stay away from home and before we knew, we fell in love with this place all because of the people. Oh wait, you still need to return some calls and emails to your school buddies but you would still ignore it, building upon the awkward wall you’ve built. What we don’t realize is that those strangers have suddenly become more important to us, we find more comfort in their company and the people we thought would stay forever have become secondary.

Time changed and so did people. Not just priorities but after a certain time, it’s not even the same feeling talking to the same person who was your closest bud someday. But we figure things out. Somehow, we find new people and see the friend we needed in these strangers or seclude ourselves in our little world of happiness, discovering ourselves and the things we love. Solitude becomes an indulgence and people secondary but we still manage to live with it and relish the happiness within. We learn so much in time that these little reflections narrate our own untold story.

So coming back to the graffiti, I saw certain names written in it, some odd 10-15 names. Surprisingly, except three, all of them stood by. It hasn't been too long but we managed to stick to each other even through those rough patches when I could only see the end. So when people change drastically and you might lose out on finding the right ones, some would stay. And with unusual and introspective days like these, you might wish to go back to those old pictures and go all nostalgic, with smiling tears. I've known that people who want to stay in your life always find a way. So you can happily picture yourself walking down the aisle, with your best man or bridesmaids hailing with tears in their eyes on your happiest day, for all you know, you've already found your bridesmaids! :)