SOCIAL NETWORKING - ONLINE and OFFLINE RELATIONSHIPS

SOCIAL NETWORKING – ONLINE and OFFLINE RELATIONSHIPS

HOW TO LIVE A DUAL LIFE AND ENJOY THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

By

VIKRAM KARVE

 

Thanks to the advent of the internet and advances in technology – you have an opportunity to live in two worlds:

1. The Real World

 

and

 

2. The Virtual World 

You can also have two identities:

1. Your online identity in cyberspace

and

2. Your physical real-world offline identity in real space 

You can live a dual life by maintaining two lives – one in real space and one in cyberspace.

one life online or ONLINE LIFE

and

the other life offline or REAL WORLD LIFE

You can have two kinds of relationships:

1. Virtual Relationships

 

and 

2. Real Relationships 

You can have two kinds of FRIENDS and friendship:

1. Offline Real flesh-and-blood Friends

and 

2. Online Virtual Friends

 

 

Internet is a great tool for social networking and it enables us to live two lives and enjoy the benefits of instant interaction and friendships across the globe and facilitates us to enjoy the best of both worlds.

 

It is good to have the best of both worlds – the real and the virtual – as long as you maintain a balance. 

Yes – like you try to have “work life balance” – you also must have a “real-world versus virtual-world” balance in order to enjoy the best of both worlds.

How do you do this?

Well – here is one of my favourite Mulla Nasrudin stories which exemplifies this aspect:

WHEN A HORRIBLE WOMAN STARTS LOOKING BEAUTIFUL

A Mulla Nasrudin Story

Retold By

VIKRAM KARVE

Mulla Nasrudin bought a beautiful house at a picturesque place far away from civilization high up in the hills. 

From time to time he would suddenly pack his bags, leave the city, and go away to his house in the hills.

He would disappear for days, sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months.

And just as suddenly as he used to disappear, he used to suddenly unpredictably return back to the city without any warning or notice. 

When asked the reason for his erratic and whimsical behaviour, Nasrudin explained:   

“I have kept a caretaker woman up there in the hills to look after my house. 

She is the ugliest woman - horrible, repulsive, hideous, and nauseating. 

Just one look at her and you will feel like vomiting.  

When I go to live there, at first she looks horrible. 

But slowly, slowly, after a few lonely days, she is not so horrible. 

Then after some more desolate forlorn days, she does not look all that ugly and she does not seem so undesirable. 

And as more and more time passes in lonesome seclusion, a day comes when I start seeing some beauty in her. 

After I spend some more time in that lonely desolate place, far away from civilization, a day suddenly comes when I start finding beauty in that ugly woman.

She starts looking desirable and I start getting attracted towards her.

The moment I start finding that horrid woman desirable, I know that it is time for me to escape from my virtual world in the hills.

The day I start feeling attracted to the hideous woman means enough is enough.

I have lived away from the real world for too long.

Now even this horrible revolting woman has started looking beautiful.  

I may even fall in love with this ghastly ugly repugnant woman and that may be very dangerous for me. 

Enough is Enough.

Enough of the virtual world.

It is time to get back to the real world. 

So I pack up my things and rush back to the city.” 

MORAL OF THE STORY

Dear Reader: 

 

Has your Virtual World, your cyber space, your second life, started looking a bit too “beautiful”…?  

 

Are you spending more time in cyberspace, social networking and interacting with your “virtual friends” rather than having face-to-face interactions and communication with your immediate “flesh and blood friends” in real space?

 

Is there an imbalance between your online life and offline life? 

Are your virtual relationships overwhelming your life?

Are your online relationships taking precedence over your real life offline relationships? 

Is your online identity becoming more important to you than your offline identity?

 

Are you losing touch with reality?

 

Maybe it is time for you to return back to the Real World. 

 

Of course, when you get saturated and bored spending too much time in the real world and start feeling suffocated with relationships in the Real World, you can always go back to the virtual world which is like your alter ego.

Like Mulla Nasrudin, you can, and you must, enjoy the best of both worlds.

You can alternate and switch over between both your lives, online and offline, just like Mulla Nasrudin does between the city and the hill-station! 

 

Social Networking gives you a lot of pleasure and satisfaction – and internet a great tool for building relationships. 

In fact – after my retirement – I have more online friends than offline real world friends.

Online Social Networking is a boon for people who are lonely in the real world.

It is good to have two identities and live a dual life – offline and online – and enjoy the best of both worlds – the real world and the virtual world – as long as you maintain a balance between your two lives – one in real-space – and the other in cyber-space.

Like in the “inspirational” story I narrated above – in case you are spending most of your time online in the virtual world – it is good to come back to the ground reality of the real world from time to time.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
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Disclaimer:

1. This story is a spoof, pure fiction, just for fun and humor, no offence is meant to anyone, so take it with a pinch of salt and have a laugh.

2. This story and all stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the story are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

This article is based on my lectures (30 years ago) and has been posted online by me earlier on many occasions - including at urls: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2011/02/social-networking-best-of-both-worlds.html  and  http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2010/08/virtual-world-and-real-world.html