Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Social Net – Is it really working?

My article published in Bethlehem Matrimonial Magazine - December 2012 Edition

My grandfather is one who has seen Earth completing its journey around the Sun, 99 times! Believe me or not he still has not got tired of that sight. I was fortunate enough to have heard numerous stories from his century old experience on this tiny planet in this Universe. Among these I distinctly remember the one he shared with me about how his wedding got fixed.

Those were the times when the opinion of prospective bride and groom didn’t count much in decisions pertaining to marriage. It was the elders of the family who decided for you, the most important aspect of your life! This could sound strange for the current generation; then again we’re talking about the world in early 1900s.

Grandpa recalled having told by one of his maternal uncles, one fine day, that they have made a plan for him to meet a girl and asked him to get ready. Everything happened in a jiffy and the next thing he remembers is being seated at the home where somewhere inside there was this young lady who was destined to become my grandmother someday in future.

All that my grandfather could get was a quick glance of the bride-to-be, merged with the shadow of the door that was half open. A true life story of marriages being made in heaven and the lesser mortals down on Earth left with no clue about how it happened!

Let us fast forward to the year which will mark the Diamond Jubilee of this very special day for my grandparents. It will be an understatement to say, a lot has changed since then, to the scene of wedding fixing. We now speak of the world where babies in the womb having user profiles on the latest social media who tweets their arrival to the world and plans for a global get together of all the babies born on the same day and same time through the multitude of apps available on the latest smart phones!

The good old parents can’t even imagine the ways with which their children communicate today. The fact is many do not even know technology exists that can break all the traditional barriers of getting to know each other. There are a hundred different ways for today’s brides and grooms to-be, to know the detailed history and even predict how marriage-worthy will a girl or boy is even before you suggest to your child about meeting one.

Proposals still flow through matrimonial sites among other channels and by the time an alliance is thought about by the parents, the girl or boy would’ve got to know each other in the virtual world. Since the world of networking co-exist with people sharing similar psyche it is no longer a surprise that either of them will have a bunch of mutual friends which makes it much easier to get more information.

Friendship circle further extends and the poor parents will be in for a shocker of their life when they ‘liberally’ decide to get the mobile number of the prospective bride or groom for their kid! These modern day wonders would’ve already planned their post retirement getaway on the golden beaches of Tahiti along with their circle of friends and their future partners. What leaves the yester years’ generation more perplexed is the swiftness by which their sons and daughters get all these done!

I admit that some of what has been said above could be a bit exaggerated; nevertheless we need to believe that this is no fantasy. The world has changed and so has the younger generation. Both the parents and their children need to realize the impact of social networking on each other. As exciting as it could get for you to know about your prospective future partner through these options, it is equally important that you appreciate the insights shared by your parents and siblings. Every adult has an amount of reasoning granted by your Creator which should be put to the best use before you take vital decisions in life.

May you be able to appreciate the power of both your family as well as social networking and may the good God help you strike a balance between emotions and reasoning.

Seeing the beyond!

We were in Bangalore at the beginning of second decade of the millennium. The city was probably breathing its last few days as one of the co...