These last two months, a strange seduction has pulled in Rajesh and me. Brought in by Avi, we have entered the community of ethereal relationships.
Ryze has brought in another universe into our world, as if our own world wasn’t crowded enough! Our pictures –which are essentially cut-n-paste, and our words, which are essentially recycled-seconds - are showcased as signs and symbols of our inner and outer selves.
They are more of spider-webs for the cyberspace-nerd who is crawling the outer space in search of something essential, which he or she has not found in one’s own inner space.
And what do we crave? The sudden passing remark, the stray praise, the thought of a momentary pause…every morning we eagerly open the page to see who else has stopped by and left their pug marks in their wake.
In the spirit of things, we do the same. We drop into the pages of strangers and connect by leaving meaningless greetings and, often, insincere compliments.
And thus a strange world of cards is created. Tragically, we seek to fill emptiness – with more emptiness.
And then, alas, we commence to chase the shadows. We try to build relationships. We seek both to understand and be understood. Afraid of our own sad attempts in the real world, we create an image-perfect for strangers, who know no better.
The chimera progressively becomes a charade.
The heat, passion, and solidity of real-life relationships are taken for granted, used, abused; and the race for that lovely image on the computer screen commences.
In the name of networking, in the guise of connecting, one only encounters one’s own image, one only confronts one’s own failures.
For at the end of every such road, one only encounters oneself. And it’s an ugly sight.
And just to avoid that, one keeps chasing.
In the eroticism of that fleeting moment, when one is in pursuit, we have the high of the game-afoot. But when the chase ends in arid land, there is nothing but ash in the hand, and the mouth.
And the realization sinks in that true friends are companions, who both seek your and give their hands, and cannot be taken to be mile-stones on the highway to wherever…