Disconnected Phonebook

When was the last time you picked up your mobile, scrolled through the phone-book and dialed an old friend’s number? Someone whom you have not met for years but whose number is stored in your phone book for long.. somebody like a high school buddy or your class teacher or sports teacher.

It is quite likely that you fetched their number from a common contact either on FB chat or WhatsApp …”Are you in touch with…oh good! then pl gimme his contact number”….or even some online chatting… but no call. Not even one a quick 5 mins call…

As we get more and more interconnected, the very feeling that we can get in-touch with anyone at any time, cripples our habit of calling/meeting old buddies. Personal touch gets lost amidst assumptions of superficial connectivity. This is my personal thought but I feel this goes largely for many of us..

These are people who have gone outside our immediate social circle…who perhaps don’t contribute to our idea of belongingness anymore. Examples can be – old neighbors, peons and attendants in previous jobs, someone who became your friend as co-passenger, classmates, distant relatives or even aunts and uncles, distant cousins…etc 

I think it’s a good idea to refresh the phone book by giving a quick call to those ‘lost touch’ category of friends/members…though I have not done it often, it has given me immense pleasure on all my previous attempts. Well, there are some disclaimers. You may be scoffed off bitterly. An old friend might snub you badly to the extent that you may not feel like calling him again. Yet, on the whole it’s a very satisfying experience to spend few minutes and remember those whom you have ‘virtually forgotten’.

I think saying What’s Up Bhai is more enriching, like half a cup kadak home-made chai, than a ‘Hi’ on WhatsApp. Friends, a tea-bag can’t replace hot cup of traditional tea.