The Forgotten Art of Conversation

A couple of weeks ago, one of my old friends sent Instagram voice messages. It had been a long time since we connected and had a worthy conversation. His voice message indicated the same and added that making time for himself had become one of the hardest things, so he decided to send voice notes to his friends for reconnection. Honestly, I felt dejected. Yet, I courteously responded to him without sounding negative. 

This encounter reminded me of other incidents where people opted to communicate in the most effortless way possible. And my chain of thoughts started…

Social media is the prime reason for preventing the new generation from socialising. Everything is just a tap away. Moreover, you can learn about people’s lives without interacting with them. There is no excitement, mystery, pleasure and suspense thanks to the vastly available internet. People do not have the basic courtesy to greet before starting a conversation or when they come across in person. Asking about well-being and ending a conversation with goodbyes are slowly disappearing from our communication. And for the life of me, I don’t understand the expression or question WHAT’S UP! I mean, what is it? Is it how are you, or is it what are you doing? I have never been able to respond to it. 

I think What’s Up should be legally banned!! 

During my solo travels, I have come across multiple people. People prefer to stay in touch on Instagram rather than gather the courage to ask numbers and actually build a relationship through traditional methods. We miss such a golden opportunity and then complain about it on social media by putting up emo quotes. 

Conversations are now taking place on messages, where you can’t hear the person and understand the tone. This creates such chaos due to misunderstanding because without hearing the person you don’t know the intention. I mean, I could almost type anything in a message and not mean a thing, so would others! I don’t know since when picking up the phone for a call has become so difficult. Several people I come across cannot drive a conversation, and this is not how we can build a community. Communication is a basic necessity for a well-connected society. No wonder, people feel alone and have no real relationships. Everyone is busy showing their fake life on social media. 

People cannot make small conversations any more. People don’t connect while commuting by train, bus or rickshaw because everyone is occupied with a digital screen in their hand, including kids. 

And nobody is genuinely busy these days. They are just occupied watching reels, stalking others and watching OTT content. You minus these things and voilà! You have sufficient time to have a hobby, moreover a life, and ample of time to catch up with a friend in person or on a call. But who would like to let go of easy things and learn to socialise? Absolutely, no one! 

We would rather be glued to screens, lose ourselves in the process and forget everything about the basics of communication! This is a fast and advanced era where humans are forgetting the basic thing which separates us from other species, the art of conversation. 

Well, I don’t have the courage like Queen Elizabeth II to live to watch the world go to shit, so I hope I die before the human race evolves anything more than this. I cannot adjust to this stupid and backward era because more than pointing out the wrong behaviour and providing a solution I cannot do anything. This is the most I can do to put sense in at least one person. That is only if the person realises it and makes amendments in his/her communication approach.

With that, I would like to end this blog and get back to my loved ones for the weekend. I will catch up with a few on-calls and a few in person. I do wish the same for you, but it’s hopeless. I know you will only agree to what I said, but not act on it! 

So you do you and I’ll do me! Until next time, do as you wish! 

The Queen of Random Things 

xoxo