Full circle

Recently my maternal grandpa passed on. It was a period of disbelief and pain that only time can heal, leaving in its wake fond memories, and a knowledge that there is a star out there that shines blessings on us always.

On the big screen, when an elderly person is on his deathbed,his near and dear would gather around to express how much they love him and the elderly would pass on pearls of wisdom and knowledge that he has learnt over his lifetime or make his last wishes known.

This is hogwash.In real life, the person is often so ill or unaware of his surroundings that there is no time to say good bye to his loved ones.No warning.A few signs sometimes, that we hope modern science can trade valuable life for money spent on expensive procedures.And even this comes with a no-guarantee clause.No time to pay respects and utter those words that a person never gets to hear in his lifetime---of how much he meant to everyone and know what we meant to him.

And death does come as a shock.We can never be really prepared for the harsh, cold reality of it, even if it lurks in a dark corner of our conscience that it is inevitable.It is that ungraspable thing that makes life so elusive when we want to hold on to it.

When young,we are busy living childhood in the warm embrace of doting elders and as adults we are too caught up in our own life's meshes of growing up,career,marriage and raising our own family coming full circle without adding an important aspect to our ever growing data base- heritage.Who we were and where we come from are an integral part of what we stand for and represent.In a place where the world has shrunk,with rapid changes in technology, it is still not too late.Find your true identity and dig into your history coz the clock is ticking.After all we are mortal.

Woe-tech-be-gone

Technology has changed so much around us.I kinda feel nostalgic about the good old times when people would make eye contact during a conversation .The sound around us of people talking instead of the monster machine-the laptop.Yes, I call it that 'cos it has invaded all our lives in a big way and from my point of view insidiously.

Even a few yrs back you would find kids bouncing on adults' laps happily gibbering away.But now laptops have taken the place of kids and the only sound emanating from the lap-area is the silent click of jumbled keys.

Software updates,hacks,idle browsing...there is no end in sight and no respite from the man-made monster.Conversation if made is centered around latest software releases or the hottest gadget in town and idle chat is not possible anymore.

You would think a simple romantic dinner might take you away from the laptop but who said life was ever simple.There are many other invasive gadgets to take their place.Laptop to find the right restaurant,Mobile/laptop for making reservations,GPS to get you there,I-Pod to keep you company and if you are the passenger a small game on PSP and when across the table you search those eyes to speak of how committed you are to each other and find they have wandered under the table looking at a mobile or a PSP longingly or engaging in some such activity. This is definitely the era of restless hands syndrome and requires some treatment and quickly or you will have failed relations to show for it.