Real Togetherness

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.