COPYING-1

Long ago there was a cap seller. He used to travel from one village to another to sell his caps.  The distance between the two villages never used to be the same. Sometimes commuting between two villages would take him less time and sometimes more; also the nature of road would vary. Sometimes it would be through open land, sometimes through the meadows and sometimes though the dense woods. Once he happened to be on a long route, having traveled half way he felt tired, he spotted a shady tree, lowered his basket full of caps, stretched and started relaxing.  Soon he was in deep sleep. It had been sometime when his sleep was disturbed by noises on the tree branches above him. As he opened his eyes he was shocked to see the monkeys on the branches wearing caps; his basket lay there on the ground completely empty.

He felt he was completely ruined. What next? Should he give up and go away or should he act and get his caps back. The first thing that came to his mind was to threaten the monkeys. He threatened the monkeys; the monkeys threatened him in return. He scratched his forehead; the monkeys too scratched their forehead. A glimpsed of joy flashed through his heart there was a chance of getting the caps back. “The monkeys were copying him”. He threw his cap on the ground. The monkeys were not late in responding. This was anticipated to happen. He quickly collected all the caps and went on his way to the next village wearing a smile. (Moral: Wisdom helps one to overcome difficulties)

Indian culture is full of such stories (Panchatantra (Five principals) and Aesop Fables) interwoven with life incidents and wisdom. The stories are narrated by the parents and grandparents to the children in the family.

The entire world is a stage and every person is copying the other person. Observe any person he is copying someone or the other, knowingly or unknowingly.

I have been a keen observer of children while at play. The boys imitate their father and the girls imitate their mother. It happens naturally. The boy imitate bossing, going to the office, passing orders, the girls imitate cooking, soothing the baby doll, cleaning up their Barbie doll, getting dressed up, dealing with household chores and so on.

As the children march into their teens, they start copying their ideal person in one or the other way. It may be a celebrity, an actor, an actress, a politician, a social worker and why not a world champion of public speaking. They would copy the hairstyle, dress up, mannerism, communication style etcetera.

As we move toward the later part of life we listen to a preachers quote the words of the preacher do what he says, do how he does, advise as he advises and console as he consoles. See you next time with the concluding part COPYING-2

GENERATION GAP

It is time the child is knocking the doors of puberty and is on the point of experiencing the arrival of sweet teens, during this phase the body experiences a rapid physical and psychological growth. Puberty is followed by adolescence, the point of entering adulthood. As such there is no demarcating line separating puberty and adolescence.

  

Thoughts start consolidating and the teenager starts have a firm belief of its own on an issue, on a topic, it can be an event too.

When the teenager’s belief and the belief of its parent do not match, when their opinion differ, we call it “GENERATION GAP”

As the name suggests it is a gap between two generations; namely the preceding generation and the succeeding generation, the elder generation and the younger generation.

The younger generation operates, focusing on the future. The elder generation operates,  referring to the past. The younger generation operates on hopes, the elder generation operates on experience.

One sees the need of a smartphone, the other needs an instrument to talk, one sees the need of high end laptop the other sees the need of an accounting and a computing machine. Both may be right but then does it address the prevailing generation gap?

Time changes, values change, perceptions change and along with it change the needs. Bicycle was a luxury then, car is a necessity now; landline was a luxury then, smartphone is a necessity now; graduation was respectable then, doctorate is common now; flying was a dream then, frequent flying is a reality now.

In the Indian culture one of the names of the world we live in is (sansar) its elaboration is (sansarti iti sansar). It means that which is change all the time. The only permanent thing about this world is “It is permanently changing”. In short it is dynamic.

Once a friend of mine happened to travel by train, no sooner did he enter the platform, he saw that the train had already started moving. Now to get on board what should my friend do? He should run, isn’t it? but then, how fast? Obviously a little faster than the train.

Here lies the answer, to be in touch with a dynamic thing you need to be dynamic, not only dynamic but dynamic to the right extent if we want to board the train. It is not only about being physically dynamic, equal emphasis should be laid on being dynamic mentally. 

The younger generation is dynamic, they are always up to something, the pool of energy within them renders them restless. 

Youth is a symbol of energy and old age is a symbol of wisdom. Let the younger generation and the elder generation join hands together, to minimize, to nullify the Generation Gap and synergize  a better tomorrow, a better life and a better world.

FACEBOOK YOU AND HIM

May 2013 I had been to India to attend the marriage of my brother’s daughter. It was a festive ambiance in the house. Relatives had arrived few days earlier to spend more time with their near and dear ones. Few friends of my niece had also come to stay. The day I reached my village, my niece introduced me to her friend. She was Khusboo (Fragrance), a lively, friendly, ever smiling girl. She was quick on being friendly. In the evening the youngsters had decided to go out for a walk in the meadows. She came up to me and asked “Would you join us?”.  Few moments later as we walked, groups were formed by natural selection. Except few, most of them were new to each other, , Khusboo was walking with me. She kept on asking me questions to quench her curiosity; how often do you visit this village? Do you like village life? How is life in Saudi Arabia? Do you like dancing? Are you going to dance during the music party? I replied coolly and calmly. Her next question was “When will you visit next time?” I told here, after six months but you can get in touch with me through facebook; don’t you have a facebook account? I asked her.  To my surprise her reply turned out to be “NO”.  

A girl in my neighborhood too did not have it, and to date also, she does not have it. She was a student then, she is a mother now. Few ladies and girls whom I know when asked said “we prefer to stay away from it”. Perhaps they do not want to invite troubles.

On the other hand technological advancement has made life fast. Computer and internet have transgressed into every corner of our life. Resources like water, power, shelter have become scare and so is the case with time. Many of us find it difficult to spare time for a one on one talk. Things have started switching from real to virtual. Socializing too has gone virtual to a larger extent. Facebook is one such virtual socializing platform on which people with mala fide intention mingle with people of bona fide intention. 

As I write this article (Sep 04, 2013 05.00 pm), I am simultaneously watching a news channel which reports how a boy (him) met a girl on the facebook, developed intimate relations and fell in love. The boy expressed his desired to meet her. He called her at a hotel where the boy committed a gang rape with the help of his friends.

There are many fake accounts on the facebook, the fake account holder (him) intends to take revenge. He operates it in the name of a girl or a lady, he is aware of. He manipulates her bio-data and befriends a boy. The friendship gets more intimate, scales new heights and transforms into love. Further the trickster asks the boy to come to her house and talk to her parents about their marriage. When the boy reaches the girl’s house he finds that his girlfriend is a married lady and doesn't operate a facebook account. The poor guy needs to be lucky to escape being manhandled by the girl’s family.

Few days back I received a message saying somebody (him) hacked his facebook account and was posting indecent photos and videos. The smartness of the act was the account holder could not see these posting but all his friends could. 

Every person likes expressing oneself, likes being congratulated, likes being liked but emotional, physical or informative exposure calls for caution. Formerly we were threatened by underworld and cyber-world has added up.