Living on-line!

There is a visibly significant change in the level of privacy that people nowadays are maintaining, and the surprising thing is, it is not only the Gen-Y. Everyone!
Like with people's Net presence. With social networking websites like Orkut, it seems like everyone knows everything about everyone else!!!!
And no none is complaining! Not only on Orkut, on their Yahoo avatars, with Google chat photos, with 360 pages, with blogs, with personal websites, even with personal videos on hosters like google video and youtube! It seems like this is the Zamana to lead visible lives. I'm not saying public lives. Simply because seldom can you stumble across someone's private blog, unless the whole day is just spent clicking! It would be like the proverbial needle in a haystack! Of course, some of us choose to make their online life public, that's ok too i guess!
In fact, because of these, relationships have become better between people! Past Introverts are now ultra-extroverted! that's probably good in more ways than one!
With financial freedom coming to people at a ever decreasing age, personal freedom too is on the cards, and as we said earlier, no one's complaining!
As i was saying in the first sentence, A lot of these publicized lives are not of youngsters only. More and more adults are joining the bandwagon now!
Another misconception that only those with time to waste go online also is being shaken off, as networking websites now boast of more and more very successful people!
Like, today when i was checking mail, there came an Ad on Yahoo saying President Kalam asked a question on Yahoo Answers, will you be the one to give the best answer??
I logged on and saw that really our President himself asked this question, "how can we free India of terrorism" and the answerers included Kiran Bedi, Leander Paes, Sri Sri Ravishankarji etc!!! WOW!!
As the nation grows old together, the concept of age seems obsolete! In friends lists of people, you can find kids and also their grandparents. Even ex-crushes and present ones- for everyone to see!!

And the topics talked about range from Moksha to Mars to Mulligatawny to Motorazr!!
Look at the community / interest list of any one active online and you'll see what i'm talking about! The world is becoming a more and more exciting place to be with all this transparency!
And this is making everyone more busy! That's a good thing as being busy leaves no time to think unproductive thoughts!

Cheers to everything and everyone!!!!

New Year- New Beginning!

I've heard a lot of people say, Jan 1st is just another day, why all the hungama and when nothing else is changing, why do we revel?
I also thought about it. Just like any other day, 1st Jan also has 24 hrs, comes with it's share of daily challenges, and most of the times, creates some kind of extra nuisance! Is is just that since a date is changing, we celebrate so much? And that too, when New year in our Indian culture is on Ugadi, which is more than 3 months away.
The answer suddenly struck me! New year's eve does not bring with it only a change of date, it brings with it, Hope. Hope of a new time, of new goals, of new resolutions, of new happenings and new successes. Of a new chance to take on life freshly yet again! We've all heard the adage that change is constant and that nothing is permanent except change. However, according to Maslow's Theory X, and out of our own experience, we've seen that almost everyone resists change. It can be a small change such as shifting the position of the TV at home or a major one such as a change of city or a job. Each of the change, comes with it's own resistance.
However, Human beings are also extremely adaptable and flexible. When a change is mandatory, they revel in it and make the most of it by showing that they welcome that change. New year is a time like that! In the year gone past, we might have achieved nothing, we might have failed in all our endeavors, we might have had a hell of a time, but when New Year comes on, ready we are! All the old failures are washed away and suddenly, our spirits lift with the thought that we are being given one more chance in life!
On 31st night, whether people usher in the new year praying to god or drinking and creating a nuisance, it is their own way of celebrating the fact that it's a new beginning!
We've often heard that it is hope that fuels the people. New Year is a proof of that! Suddenly, we accept and in fact, embrace change!
Cheers to many many more new years and much more hope to a society in dire need of it :)