Gone are the days when you could idly sit,
And gaze at the clouds changing shapes in the sky,
With intruders you didn’t have to match your wit,
You could let the time, at its own pace, fly.
And then came Internet, a great way to connect,
You lost your privacy, you are never alone.
You could link with people direct or indirect,
They’re there with you with just a click on the phone.
Together with this good, came a great evil,
Making you a puppet much against your choice,
All Applications, Service Providers turned into devil,
Against their barrage, you simply lost your voice.
“Select this”, “Click this” “To proceed further” they dictate,
They constantly vie for your time, money and attention,
You are outnumbered since they’re a corporate,
It is a nuisance and irritation of highest dimension.
They drown you in ads, queries, calls and offers,
Even those like cable tv that you pay in advance,
At your behest they strive to fill their coffers,
You don’t realise you have even lost life’s romance.
Privacy bills, DND etc are not taking us anywhere,
Laws in India never, to common man, provided relief,
A mass movement is required to be there,
In our Right to Privacy, to strengthen the belief.
We don’t want to spend hours every day,
To delete unwanted calls, ads, chats and many a mail,
We don’t want to be contacted even by those we pay,
With offers about making life better if we avail.
Else, if we continue being puppets in remote,
Of all these people and vested interests,
We would be herded like sheep and goats,
Or birds uprooted from their own nests.
Let’s insist with all applications, services and utilities
That they, not us, are constantly on call,
That we are the ones paying for the facilities,
Whilst, at our time and money’s expense, they have a ball.
Super poem Ravi – as usual!
Thank you,John.
Always original. Great sir Living in digital era. Now since addicted to to mobile with unlimited data you realise the 1GB data forRs 250 was better those days
very well written. and so true. life’s become a virtual reality. so artificial and yes, with no privacy! I think one should head to the himalayas. But maybe there’s an app that will take over in providing options to go there too ..lol
Thank you, SK. All good things come with bad things laced with them.
Thank you, Viju. Excellent tongue-in-cheek humour you displayed. I think privacy or actually total lack of privacy is going to become a major issue very soon.
Nicely put Ravi .
Thanks SP Sir.
Dear Cmde Ravi sahib,
I entirely agree with your poem BORN FREE, BUT NOT BORN TO BE FREE. It is not a negative view but rather stark truth. In the poem you have beautifully and truthfully described the various stages of life wherein each one us has encountered and experienced the same facts of problem of disliking and inconveniences to our otherwise natural intent for seeking happiness and freedom to the likes of our mind.
Until and unless we put in sustained and sincere efforts with spiritual bent of mind this truth cannot be realised. You have clearly brought out the many very relevant facts governing this univese and our lives in your worth reading articles of Absolute Virtue and How unbiased or Innocent can we become. I really congratulate you for that.
I may also add that this this body is the microcosm of the macrocosm governing and running this partly known universe and numerous unknown universes. Knowledge of those is beyond the limits of today’s science. There is creator who has created everything and controlling the show whether perceptable or unperceptable through his cosmic energy. To that creative power you may give any attributive or descriptive names. The whole purpose of our life is to discover and know that truth of truths- the CREATOR. As new testament Bible says that in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and word was God. You knock the door it will open. You seek and you will find. Guru Nanak also says Jo brahmde so hi pinde, Jo khoje so pawe. Utpat parlon shabde howe ,shabde hi phir utpat Howe. ( Creation and dissolution of these known universes has been created by Shabad. As and when he desires he creates by Shabd). Therefore suffice to say here that man’s intellect is very limited. It is based on our personal knowlede and experience we have gained over the years from our parents, company, teachers and profession occupied. If we realise our knowledge and perceptions and convictions have been constantly changing with time. Our logical thinking cannot take us far beyond which we have not heard or seen. It just remains an intellectual discussion until and unless we experience with the guidance of the Master or Experts of the subject/discipline we sincere intend to acquire by leaving our ego aside. Unless we behave like pupple without any prejudice and face the facts of information and carry out self experiments and experience the truth we are looking for we can’t have first hand knowledge and conviction. Now whatever we are doing/thinking with conviction is the direct result of our knowledge and experience gained through out our life.
Before I conclude I wish to congratulate for your philosophical thinking and endeavours towards achieving that secret of universe. We human beings have been given this opportunity to experience spirituality. Otherwise we are going to waste this precious time in worldly pursuits and collection of material wealth which does not go with us at the time of our death.
Regards,
Harbans Dhillon
Thank you Dhillon Sahib. This should have been on my poem ‘Born Free, But Not Born To Be Free’.
My Guide is always Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. Guru sahib has very nicely explained the concept of Jeevteya Marna. We have to gradually maro our biases, desires and emotions and still be alive and conscious. In the last stanza of the poem I allude to that “death”. The poem is a result of the deepest thought from my mind.
Of course, you know about it already. However, I am sharing with you a Sikh’s concept of God and Oneness of God as given in SGGS ji. Please wait. It is a video. Share it, poem and article with others please.
‘ਸਿਖਾਂ ਦਾ ਮਨ ਨੀਵਾਂ, ਮਤ ਉੱਚੀ…..’