Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Cellular Walls

Some days ago, I accidentally met a school friend at a mall. I was delighted after meeting someone from school after long and so was he. We decided to hang out at CCD for a while, talk about good old school days and have a nice time. Minutes later, he gets a call, gets stuck on it for around 20 mins and there I am : Staring at the menu card, observing stupid things around me, stuck with boredom. Wishing that the phone call just ended and we would get to talk.

After a little while, I began to think about it. There was no point in cursing my friend coz sometimes, I also have been stuck with lengthy phone calls at wrong time and put my friends in this position. Now I realize that the person in front of me is more important as the person on the phone whom I can get in touch with later. How rarely do we get to meet old friends and how a stupid phone call sometimes disrupts a wonderful conversation.

Cell phone is no doubt a fabulous invention that lets you to be in touch with everyone, but I feel it should be used properly. I hate when people say to me “Hey it’s abc’s birthday have you messaged him yet?” I say “No I haven’t messaged; I’ve rather made a call.” I feel message is an extremely cold way to say Happy Birthday. It really doesn’t say you care about the person. Make a call instead, talk to him or her, wish good luck. What good is a forwarded message, however sophisticated or decorated it might be?

Pretending to say I do care about you…No I don’t get you. You get messages from people saying ‘May this bond of friendship last forever’. Crap! I haven’t seen your face in 3 yrs, which bond are you talking about. I might go on and on about forwarded messages, but it aign’t worth typing. I forward the crap myself too, most of the times.

About messages, I usually don’t like typing messages which require the other person to reply. In that case, why should I make him pay, I’d rather call him. Why be a miser? If unreachable, messaging makes sense. Usually I reply to any message within 15 minutes, be it a forward joke, a messages that needs reply, a thank you msg, I have some work message, whatever. Whatever time of the day it might be, whichever lecture might be on. Unless the msg is sent from free sites like 160 by 2 or someone that has a extremely cheap msg rate who can go on forwarding. However, I don’t care much about whether the other person is prompt in replying or not. Afterall it’s a personal choice, and we usually run out of good messages even if we want to forward them.

I believe cell phones have changed our lifestyle enough and will continue to do so. Just that we should let it affect in a positive way. Let technology not come in the way of the joy of accidentally meeting someone and having a great time

15 comments:

el_idioto said...

hey it's abc's b'day, have you msged him yet??

cells are a nuisance... even MR. bell himself wondered on its disruptive abilities... not to forget the chgd ling0... it preaches you abbreviation... but some how or the else it is a vital luxury.. with out .. you will be considered as someone living in the dark ages....
let's just say it like that irritating GF who is just too sexy to dump...

anand said...

agree with u sirjee ,cellphone will never be able to give that personalized touch that comes with calling ..but then there r people -u r very close too and some not that close ..i wonder whether u can call and be in touch with all of them?for some who r pathetically lazy,atleast messaging gives an option

Neha said...

I also like people calling me instead of smsing me on my birthday. U are rite, sms doesn't really say 'I care' in this case.

Brett said...

Well I really can't comment coz I don't even remember birthdays half of the time... So i am actually glad for those reminders. But I have found myself in the same situation that u are talking about.... particularly during an intense game.. it gets annoying then

Gaurav DobhaL said...

I think you were the perfect person to put forward this msg sanket.. Boy how you spoke my heart.. Hammer!.. hate it when people msg me 'happy burday!!..may you..blah blah..' ..i try my best not to reply 2 sch msgs, unsucessful at that but it eventually leaves me sour..it's sad..especially if it's frm a close friend..( and i seriously dnt reply on such occasns).. heartless actions.. really happy you came up with this stuff..excellent!..

snehal said...

I completely agree with you but I guess it's something we are all used to now. And it's tough to change now.

Pratiksha Mainkar said...

hmmm...technology is a double edged sword.true...very true.isnt it weird coming 4m aspiring engineer?

ricky said...

dude agreed SMS is not a good option to express personal feelings
i still perfer personal meetin rather msgin
but dude it is a very cheap but effective option for "one to many" type communication

Sanket said...

@Rishi...i dont hate changed lingo but i hate coded messages which you have to find meaning in. Dats trouble to the reader.

@Anand..Ya msgs r for lazy ppl..

@Brett...Yes we know of phone calls between Warcraft and Cs

Sanket said...

@Gaurav...Yes It's really sad when a close friend prefers to message you instead of calling.

@Snehal...Change is hard but it's for the better

@Pratiksha...These aren't the thoughts of an engineering student.They are thoughts of a general college going student.

@Ricky...Agreed sms is good for one to many communication. But how many persons do you actually wish on a given day? And sparing 5 minutes out of a 24 hr day for a phone call isn't a big deal!!

an ordinary man said...

yes a message will not replace the warmth a personal phone call can give...but it not always feasible to call each n every person who is close to u on a given day...so messaging does make ppl's life a bit simpler

omkar said...

agree wid u man...
we ppl r so lazy dat developin technology is like hawa ka jhoka 4 a sleepin person....but it goes down 2 each n evry individual...
it is 4 evry1 2 decide whether we control cellphone or cellphone controls us....facility diya hai to uska kabhi use karne ka utna sense hona chahiye...

Dimple Nangia said...

i don't think cells are a nuissance at all. i really wonder how our parents lived without it.

ok that was a lie. cells do get annoying. but its simple to just switch it off and keep it away.

and i think sms fr birthday is fine. u dont knwo what that person is busy doing and you may not want to intrude. so sms is the way to go. with calls, you may forget to call later.

anyway my opinion!

ricky said...

dude agreed cellphones are controllin us,
i cant even think of a day without my cellphone, i almost feel like paralysed without it.

if u cd remember sonal mam's experiment

Q where you wd perfer verbal rather than written conversation

i agree SMS or any written material can never match the warmth of personal greeting or at least a phone call

but dude i jst wanna make a point that for all other purposes SMS is the fastest way of SO CALLED "PROFESSIONAL" communication

n without cellphone we wont be having ventures like JUSTDIAL or the activities like mobile repairing workshop

Sanket said...

@Tanmay--talking about feasiblity, how many birthdays of friends do you actually have on a given day?

@Omkar--U summed it up really nicely.

@Poisonivy--I like your reason of intruding privace.

@Rohan--I used JUSTDIAL much before had any cellphone. And wanting mobiles for activities like mobile repairing workshop doesn't make sense.