Knowledge is power. There are endless examples of it. 6+9641+ (this is mistakingly typed by my pet bitch Diva. She’s resting on the num-pad.I am going to let it stay. Bear with me :* )
Let me restart.
Knowledge is power. There are endless examples of it.
Once we know about something and soak up its concept, there’s a change in our behavior. This is an up-to-the-minute definition of ‘learning‘. Otherwise, it is just remembering. Let’s look at another aspect related to it.
The 21st century has brought up millions of changes with the discovery and invention of light, computers, gunpowder, electricity, Artificial Intelligence, Internet advancements, visionary satellites, technical drives, fuel power, nuclear projects, connectivity etc.The perspective of a human has intensely changed over a span of two decades. Such a significant change was never attended in the past within such brief duration. More the knowledge more complicated the world became.It’s fascinating and mystic that human was so insecure about oneself, zhe surrendered hirself to it little by little. Humanity was at the loose end everytime something miraculous happened because of this ‘knowledge’. Everyone realized their potent and powers. The world started to prosper. Infrastructures got better day by day. Connectivity got smoother. Lemons become sourer and chocolates got sweeter.
Little by little, people exchanged languages and culture. The number of overseas friends rose and the world got itself another step of development. All this while, the human inside of us blanked out, little by little.
What my image is? How do I look? Am I politically correct? Should I be different? Do I please you? Are they convinced? What if I get judged? Should I care? How much should I care? Am I odd? Is this real? Why fake is better? Is fake better?Am I good enough?
These questions deal with the fear of being judged by the third person. Or as we know, in a Hindi idiom “log kya kahege?”
A few more questions go like: Am I in love? Is my bf/gf cheating on me ? How do I ask someone out (huh, what’s the problem with it ?), face to face? (OKAY, Google gotcha! ) How do I go on a date ?(well, someone has to say ‘yes’ to you first and before that, you have to ask someone out if no one’s asking you out, obviously), I am in love with my best friend, what do I do? (screwed it, damsel). Do long distance relationships work?
These questions deal with self-esteem issues plus the result of free Wi-Fi and 4G LTE connectivity, we understand that very well, don’t we? Look how complicated things have become with such brilliant advancements. Unexpected.
The need to keep in touch with a community, to feel the belongingness, to be a part of ‘the group’, condemns the norm of being genuine. Being original to the people in the sphere. Being simple and kind to ourselves. So, not only in powerpoint but in life, people ‘present’ themselves instead of being what they are. And people like that presentation. People like us, who hate being judged, hypocrites who snap at a face painted of makeup and hair full of gel or probably the wig.
In a world where everything is too much or too less. The imbalance of emotions made people change permanently. It has corrupted our minds.We are all victims of this change and let me show you a few examples of what happened when someone tried to escape it. This is part of a conversation with a person I met in B’luru
He said “ Before I was like – I want to be glamorous in everyone’s eye. I must buy expensive (out of my league) jackets.Hair gel and deodorant. Nothing less than Nike or ESPN. A Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR. Thank me, Purnima, later for this General Knowledge quickie ) after that to make all that glam show.
Result: That got me no genuine people around. I feel crowded. I still have no real friends.
After some time I was like: I quit this crap.I am ‘real’ now. (What is real but?) I am #myself. I quit glam and show off. I quit social media. I quit anything that I used to do. Wait but, that doesn’t help either. I am still not real because I am running away from the things I used to do without over analyzing. Because I was not that dull in real. I was a little fashionista. What the hell is happening? To survive the present world, I have to be ‘on the stage’. Fake it. Because people don’t buy ordinary. But if I remain ordinary, how will I be on that stage. Will I be influential? Will people forget me?
Result: That got me no genuine people around. I felt crowded. I still have no real friends. “
(Depressed)
This guy went from -10 to +10.But to stay who he is, the smallest whole-number, neutral or what I call ‘real’ became utterly difficult for him because it’s been so long since he had been himself. The tech has gulped his originality and left him rusted. Not shiny enough, not strong enough, just damaged.
In a first, I appreciate that he realized what’s happened to him and tried to correct it. But the situation was still in blues for him. I thought about it too. It’s nothing but a war between likeliness towards external trends and acceptance.
So I asked him what does he want? He answered that he just wanted to be himself and not carry the burden of the society’s expectation in any form. The class and Swag. The #goals pictures and #wanderlust. I asked him again that why does he want to do what he does not really like? He answered that he wanted to belong to the coolest group. A cool group is currently known for these traits.
I blurted out “REALLY? Who prefers a betrayer to a friend? An ass. Who prefers 200+ pictures before moments? An ass. Who wants to be unreal to get a real friend? An ass. Who doesn’t like being an ass but still pushes for it? An ass. Or a teenager sometimes. So let’s clear this.
Be who you want your friend to be. And vice versa. And if that doesn’t support your esteem needs or image-needs, get the strength to fight over it, spanking your fake self with all the glam you want and not cry about it. The only thing that brings happiness is your own picture of satisfaction. Draw your picture of satisfaction and reach that goal. In this tech world, full of fake people and things that empower it, be a person who grows hirself. Who does it because zhe wants to improve oneself. ACCEPT yourself. And if you don’t like anything about it, improve. Simple! “
He replied, ” You are an ass too. Now you’re trying to impress me with these thoughts.You don’t even know me”
That’s when I put down the paan he donated me. I said,”Bhaag yaha se, paagal aadmi.”
I realized at that very moment of walking out that I should not have done that. I should have been patient.I was caught in the moment of break and so I went back, picked the paan and left the place.
He waved me a bye and I smirked because I am not an idealist. Just fine with it.
A month later, I got a friend request from him and a message ” Haaayyy !We talked b4! HRU ?”
We talked and I got to know that he chose to be a happy ass. He learned to accept this way of living.
With time he accepted himself. His priorities. And dealt with it. He is soft on himself now. I don’t know about others.
Originality is the unexcelled, no doubt and that’s why I appreciate South Indian and Marathi movies. Their actors and actress are natural, unlike Barbara. Pardon me the science it uses though. Something has got to take the movie into elevation to earn from the world full of assholes, right?
But it feels so good to see the people who never gave into this web of knowledge and consciousness. Not even a bit.They are innocent, outspoken, they flaunt their fears and pride. They don’t carry the expectations of anyone else but expect a lot from other. They are who they are. ( Digitally, I repeat) These people are called parents.They don’t know what fake is. So living with them for some time makes you feel at home.Because they are not a shopping mall or a CCD party. Not Instagram stories or Snapchat filters. They know you are an ass and still, they accept you. Real love.
Some kind of digital detoxification.
Hence this era has changed the way people lived and I don’t think it’s going back to those beautiful times, ever. The more #practical we get, some sort of positivity dies inside of us.We can conceive it from the never-ending debate: whether or not to believe in god/goddesses.
The time we are living in, 2000’s made people choose to be an ass.We know how to edit the blemishes.To use technology as a tool to change the naturality.
The more knowledge blocks we built, the more destructive it became for the human heart. Little by little.
This brought me to believe on this:
Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.
-Lord Byron
This is just one side of the coin of knowledge, I know. I feel ‘sorrowy’
for myself because ‘I know’ that I know that.
Now that you know that you ‘know’ that too, I feel ‘sorrowy’ for you too.
What the fuck!
We have made an irreversible change to make the things look way much prettier than they never were, or going to be in near future. It’s too late to go back to that lifestyle of honesty. Even if we try with all the vigor, it’s irretrievable. All we have to say is “It’s okay” and keep living this way. Too late to go back ugh?
Unless you are a monk on the Himalaya.
They run Facebook pages by the way.