So far away...

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Technology is eroding the need for a personal touch in relationships and the change is here to stay...

Once upon a time, people wrote letters. With a pen in hand and a writing pad on the lap, they styled each and every word in an individualistic manner, choosing expressions that conveyed their emotions with utmost care.

In today’s times, there is hardly any time for such luxury. Forget sitting back and drafting a letter for our loved ones, we choose to send SMSes during occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and marriages. A birthday SMS reads “Hv a gr8 day. Tk cr.” A sms for a friend’s marriage reads, “Hr’s wishn u a fantastic life ahd.” Emotions are being expressed with such surgical precision that relationships are losing their personal touch.

E-cards, somehow, don’t convey the emotions in a way that cards made out of paper — and with a few words scribbled inside — do. Yet, during every momentous occasion of our lives, we receive a large number of E-cards, among which several say the same words in the same tone and have the same look. It is during such times that letters and cards seem like they belong to aeons ago. As danseuse Yogini Gandhi says, “I genuinely wait to get a letter or a card. It feels so nice. Technology does have benefits. But it is a pity that inter-personal relationships have lost that human touch because of it.”

Courtesy cyberspace and cell phones, we are wired to a larger world of acquaintances, friends and relatives than ever before. What’s more, we are friends with people we have never met, and celebrate every occasion in their lives that has a date! The increase in connectivity feels really good, says former Miss India and entrepreneur Amrita Thapar. But she adds, “I think it is a complete paradox. I love the fact that we are so connected. But somewhere, the personal touch has gone away because of cellphones and social networking sites.”

Technology has made us closer to the world around us. But, it is also responsible for distancing us from those we love. As Former Miss India Pooja Chopra observes, “We are developing at such a fast pace. What was new six months ago is now obsolete. Because of the rate at which we are progressing, there is no turning back. The charm of meeting friends or spending time with family has been lost.” Perhaps, we need to sit back and think about how all this can be changed. After all, there is no harm in being a little old-fashioned, if we wish to stay in touch with those we love and keep the bond strong.

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