Kolkata dot com
Yesterday, for the first time I visited the Merchant chamber of commerce in Calcutta and a club (Bengal club) which I hadn't even heard about until then. It is then that I realized how little I know about the city which I live in. If I make a casual estimate I think I would know more about Pittsburgh (where I was for 4 years) than about Kolkata where I've been for 22 years.
I think me, myself and our wider generation (16-28) these days involve ourselves so much with the internet and so little with reality that we forget to explore our physical surroundings and rather occupy our time with landmarks on the internet and with sites such as www.stumbleupon.com and www.wikipedia.org and facebook and this one.
If I ask someone who has lived in Calcutta for the last 18-25 years if they know where the Customs House is, or where in India is the Ordnance factory board, or whether they know the best way to get to Sunderbans they will only tell me that I ask ridiculous questions of no relevance to them. Other than Shisha, Victoria Memorial and Eden Gardens most of us wouldn't know the location or the significance of other very interesting places in this big city of Kolkata.
But then again we all know, everything is available on the internet, its faster, readily accessible, and it takes up only the amount of time we want it to take up. You don't need to get stuck in traffic or step into the humid sun or wait in line, or allocate your time. So would you rather stop reading this, get off your ass and go explore the earth?
I think me, myself and our wider generation (16-28) these days involve ourselves so much with the internet and so little with reality that we forget to explore our physical surroundings and rather occupy our time with landmarks on the internet and with sites such as www.stumbleupon.com and www.wikipedia.org and facebook and this one.
If I ask someone who has lived in Calcutta for the last 18-25 years if they know where the Customs House is, or where in India is the Ordnance factory board, or whether they know the best way to get to Sunderbans they will only tell me that I ask ridiculous questions of no relevance to them. Other than Shisha, Victoria Memorial and Eden Gardens most of us wouldn't know the location or the significance of other very interesting places in this big city of Kolkata.
But then again we all know, everything is available on the internet, its faster, readily accessible, and it takes up only the amount of time we want it to take up. You don't need to get stuck in traffic or step into the humid sun or wait in line, or allocate your time. So would you rather stop reading this, get off your ass and go explore the earth?
BORING
ReplyDeleteu live in hicksville. I'll write about that town next
ReplyDelete