Festivity and Technology

Hey folks,

I have always been an ardent supporter of technology and an advocate of its inherent positives. But, today, I am going over to the other side to talk about how technology has mechanised the traditions of Indian festivity to a sizeable extent.

I woke up today morning to find my GMail Inbox overflowing with Diwali ‘wishes’ emails. Some of them were personalised and had content known only to myself and the sender. But, by and large, most of them had a generic ‘wish’ and were most probably sent out as a broadcast.

I sat down to think how things used to be (just about) 7-8 years ago! Sending emails was only a means to reach out to expats where the cost of an ISD call was unreasonably high. That is an understandably reasonable use of technology.

Also, speaking ideologically (like Srinath), a wish is a genuine transfer of goodwill from the heart that is converted to a verbal or textual form in order to be able to be communicated across. However, I can still wish Srinath wins in life all the time, without letting him know. Both of us still know that we would support each other irrespective of our own states of existence or any other tangible aspect of life. We have never wished each other for anything in the last 4-5 years. This goes for Arun, LVS, Pavithra, Ash, (the other) Srinath et all too! Sowmiya is a little particular about wishes, though. I still don’t wish her. But again, we know we’re there for each other irrespective of the presence or absence of any tangible aspect of life!

Today, I had to import all my business contacts and send them ‘Diwali greetings’. I did it. For reasons best left untold here.

But ever since I hit that ‘Send’ button, I kinda felt a bit uncomfortable about the lack of personalization and unconditional genuineness in such a wish.

So, here’s the official line. I have now taken a resolution to send out personalised emails to the folks (whose names are) mentioned above and to a select few (who’ve made a difference to my life) other than them.

Why email? Why not a phone call? You may ask. I chose to use the same ‘cold’ and ‘impersonal’ medium to create goodwill in a way that’s similar to a good old phone call. Just to prove one point I’ve always advocated, ‘Technology is only a medium, a tool. How it is used could drastically change the way you or me or the World function(s)’.

What better a way to announce this than a good old blog post?!

Yours Skeptically,

P.S. Please gimme some time, guys! Writing personalized emails back-to-back isn’t an easy task!