Thoughts : Love Thy Neighbour

Ahhhh... Love Thy Neighbor .. Years back when I was doing my schooling, an extract of the classic novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was taught to us in our English Literature class. The extract was aptly titled "Love thy Neighbor  as it portrayed the way how Uncle Tom, the central character, lived his life spreading love everywhere.

So, why am I talking about this subject right now? I believe that today technology has crippled us so much that we have forgotten what it means to be with real people than being virtual. In fact, the same even applies to me as I was unaware of my juniors living in the adjacent room of mine.

A few weeks back, when I was returning back via Bangalore airport, I took some time to notice people around me. People were busy with themselves either working on their laptops or talking on phone, but there was this one small incident that caught my eye. A family of 3, father, mother and their son who must be of around 6 or 7, dining together. I started recalling those days I used to spend with my family, even those small moments when we used to dine together 3 times a day was special in its own way.

Speaking of getting to know people around  you, a friend of mine once mentioned to me that he loves talking to different people while travelling in public transport. He finds it fascinating and he loves getting to know people and how they go on with their life. Me, being an introvert could never dare to approach anyone but rather get busy on my phone or my ipod. In fact, even at this moment when I'm typing this blog, I'm sitting in a cafe full of people but still engrossed in my phone.

Two more small but significant incidents that had made me think twice on how has technology has affected in a very high manner. Around 7-8 years back, when the craze of mobile phones had not yet started, I wanted to go to a friend's place. Being short on memory, I forgot the location of his house and landed up at a wrong house where a couple barked (literally) at me. I had to drive back almost a kilometer or two to find out a public telephone booth to call up my friend just to discover that the couple lived just next door to his place.

Another similar incident that happened to me recently when I was searching for my friend's house in Mumbai. After reaching the designated area, I enquired the address from a security guard who showed his ignorance about the mentioned address. It took me another 10 minutes of searching around only to find out that the apartment I was looking for was just the opposite building.

Closing this post, I would say that technology is everywhere to help us ease our life but what matters most today is getting to know the real people. We human beings are God's most fascinating creatures and by knowing more and more people around will surely surprise us on the variety that God has brought in this world.

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