“You don’t use WhatsApp!!!” – people daily make me feel like an atheist by asking this question; as if WhatsApp is a holy tradition, which I have denied to follow.
Don’t you feel disconnected???
How do you live???
What do you do in your free time, especially at night?
This is just a shortlist of questions that I face almost daily these days. The reason being that I have uninstalled WhatsApp around 4 months back. People aren’t worried about me uninstalling it. That’s quite common. Everyone does that – during their exams or certain busy schedule. But what bothers them is – how come I not reinstall it within a week! Why didn’t I feel any void? Why didn’t I crave for it?
Let me tell you guys. Life without “WhatsApp” is really better than HEAVEN. It feels like utmost peace – no more notifications from a group, no more annoying messages, no more people asking me about my last seen and most importantly I’m relieved from that worst question ever – “Why didn’t you reply to my message even after seeing it?”.
I don’t feel disconnected at all because I’m not dependent on any application to stay connected. Technology and social networking have grown way too fast in recent years and I really appreciate that. It is a good means to stay in contact, but NOT to stay connected.
Now, I don’t have any obligation to reply to anyone’s message. I don’t have to tolerate those “lame” messages saying “Forward this to 10 people and something good will happen to you!!!” No relative’s questions to me about my last seen and nor do I desperately need to wait for someone’s reply after that blue tick on my message. I do miss people and when I miss someone, I will call him or her and talk for hours. I no longer need to send them a forward message to initiate a conversation. Gone are the days when I would be so drowsy that the phone would fall on my face while typing, because now, I sleep listening to the real-time voice of my love!
WhatsApp is an application. Let it be that only. Don’t make it a lifeline. No doubt that technology has made distance shorter, BUT make sure that you’re able to differentiate between reality and virtuality. I don’t criticize any app; they have somehow made communications quicker and easier. BUT again too much of anything is dangerous. Maybe, I wasn’t capable enough to use it in proper limits, maybe, I was too weak to have control on myself without uninstalling it, but all I want to say is that distractions in any form should not be allowed to consume your precious time in more than the required amount.
This INDEPENDENCE day, I wish all of you a life where dependence and distractions have no place at all.
