Free hugs...

I recently went to Pune to just meet and hang around with friends and meet a few acquaintances on Facebook (in real time)
While doing that I made sure that I posted about none of those meetings on Facebook. I met close to a dozen people in 4 days and in a one on one setting with a minimum 90 mins to a few hours of talking with them...
I realised these actual meets gave me much joy that watching these people do their stuff on social media and giving them likes.
To spend time with a person and share the physical space along with the vibes and the TIME makes such amazing difference to our experience world. I was in awe of and humbled by the stories that all of us carry with us to tell. I have not a single pic of any of them neither wish to mention their names since they know we met and how?
One thing struck... Just like any Artist can't be bigger than his Art , a Gadget can't get bigger than a Human... Period. The earlier we accept it the sooner we start living...

What is the gadget doing to us?
As children of our parents ,
As mothers and fathers of our own kids...
Our friends family and the non/existential nature around us.
Do sounds of tenderness , mirth, giggles, gibberish first words, or cries of tantrums /boredom/frustration of learning of those tiny voices become muted and hurt?
Are we letting voices get muffled by the clicks and beeps of messages ?
Relationships redefined by blue ticks at late hours rule and rock our world???
Would those Gifs , emojis , smileys help ease our pain of loneliness?
We become a part of each other's world by sharing Posts, stories, statuses and pictures...
Why do we feel the need of taking our phone on the dinner table?
Why do we look inside the flash world when our sons and daughters tell us about their awesome day in school?
Why the hell do we keep checking the screen inspite of zero updates on Insta and null feeds on FB and then feel bad that life isn't happening for a few seconds and that we are going nowhere...
Where would we go to feel cold?
Whom would we reach out to for warmth?
Would we value presence... silence...
Would we ever relearn to read feelings , body language or the unspoken word?
Would we give take and share and celebrate TIME?
Would we stay still or even move and walk and talk without thumbs strutting and palms fidgeting through widgets and swaps and scrolls?
Would we decipher sunshine without adjusting the brightness or appreciate simplicity without filters?
Would we care to ask someone for real as to how Are they doing and if they want to talk? Or meet up?
I phones I pads I pods Chromecast Amazon fire shooters virtual reality interface spects Apple watch and lots more...
We wake up to screens to switch off the alarm then look in our calenders for schedules and call a cab for work throught an app and work on our laptops while commuting and make presentations online and take conference calls and do strategy planning and come home to sit on the table each one of us with a friend online giving likes commenting and watching others...
All of these Gadgets got lucky...
They got to use us...
We became Robots with intelligence but no cognition of reality...
Would we stop?
Ever?

Prajakta Sathe