When I see families
toady, one thing is glaringly different –The invading presence of technology.
People are sitting in the same room yet texting each other on various social
media platforms than just talking to each other. This is absurd and maybe we
need to take a step back from technology, especially at the home front. Even
small kids who can’t even spell “cat” are busy playing stupid games on phones
than playing with toys or in the park with other kids.They don't have real friends they have virtual ones. They don't have real pets they have virtual ones. This is not togetherness. This is not a family.
Kissan realized this
about three years back and started the Kissanpur initiative. Kissanpur focuses
on the joy of being with nature especially for the tech-addict generation.
Under this initiative Kissan distributed tomato seeds; it organized school
contact programs that included visits to tomato farms, horticulture education
and nature trails. They believe in breaking the shackles of the digital world
and connecting with nature and connecting with each other.
Now, under the Kissanpur
initiative Kissan brings another adorable surprise call the Joy of RealTogetherness. It emphasizes on connecting with one another without technology.
Connecting with each other on an inter- personal level. This features an almost
four minute long film. In this cute and moving film, the protagonist is an old
man. The film captures the day in life of an old man. As he moves about he sees
that everyone is busy with gadgets. He enters an elevator and notices that
everyone is busy on their Smartphone. Nobody cares for anybody. None smile or
even nod. He sees a couple walking together but instead of holding hand or
talking, both are busy on their phones. He watches a woman collide with a bunch
of playful children, as she was too engaged with her phone to notice their
presence. Her shopping bags fall over and stuff spills out. Only the old man
stops to help her gather her. He is also shocked by the fact that no one else
came forward to help her but even more at the fact that the woman didn’t even acknowledge
his help; she didn’t even thank him and walked on like nothing happened.
As the old man moves on
he finds a tomato cap and with the help of a kid plants tomatoes all around the
building. However, this plan of theirs is foiled by rain as it drowns all the saplings.
But they manage to find new se3eds and other kids also join in to help hem
plant seeds. The neighbors also join in nurture the saplings when it rains
again. At the end all grow to care for the plants and in doing so start
connecting with each other inter-personally without gadgets.
So, we all need to question
that in this constantly shrinking world maybe we can reach anyone anytime but
do we really connect? Are we becoming more distant?
No video game ever will
be as joyful as playing on swings in the park with your friends. Real emotions
are always better than emojis . Rolling around in the grass, playing
hide-and-seek among trees, watching different birds are things which are not
only peaceful but also irreplaceable. Hence, the real joy of togetherness lies
in being with each other and one with nature.
