Communication

This post is up as a result of my unyielding but relentless efforts at contacting a few people. One assumes that in this day & age, reaching someone would be child’s play – that is true only if that person wants to communicate.

Gone are the days when one had to actually write a letter, put a pen to paper – make that effort, write, address it & post it. It depended on the postal service if it would eventually reach the recipient or not.

Weren’t people a little more communicative in those times!?

Weird! Almost everyone has at least one mobile phone, one email ID. There are so many social networking sites, twitter and what not. Yet, why has it become such an effort to get in touch with some one?!

One calls, the call is not answered. Worse, most people do not even return those missed calls!!! Mails go unanswered. I wonder if it is the skeptical me but are people generally being more rude than ever?! Does etiquette even get featured here?!

Personally, I tend to reply to mails sent to me (if at all!!! 😉 ), answer all IMs, tweets if I am mentioned, respond to messages on my Facebook wall. It is not that I have no work at all as that seems to be the most popular excuse.” I am busy!!!”

Was wondering if it were just me or people are ignoring others intentionally even (think this because there are caller-ids! 🙂 ). Is it  a message to say hey I don’t want to be friends with you any more? Like breaking up over a text message, may be this is the not so subtle way of saying get off my life!?

Being unreachable with so many means of communicating sounds utterly ridiculous to me. It is not like one is in the remote Amazonian jungle with absolutely no connectivity at all (or am I in stone age and there is superb connectivity even there?! :D). Communication means seem to have evolved, but unfortunately I feel that most people have decided not to use these effectively! Keeping in touch with each other could never be easier, yet it seems like such a chore!!

Here is to technology! Let us all make effective use of it! To those who want to be rude, I really don’t know what to say not that you care!

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Warning : rant alert!!!

Friday was a day that had me tired, desperate and fuming!! The last time I was in in India and I voted, was the first time I became eligible to vote. It was also the time when voter’s ID was not there! Later on, when it was enforced, I did apply. Even went to get the photo taken – just that the ID never came to me!! 

I left for the US, 8 years passed with me never here during elections and was here for very short durations wherein voter’s ID was not my priority in the list of things to get done. Fast forward to the present… I was told that I must apply for it from scratch (kinda now like how I am starting life from scratch 🙂 ) 

I registered in Jaagore. Filled in all the necessary details. Got to know I had to go to the Election Commission office at Ayanavaram (for those who don’t know where this place is – Join the club – I didn’t either 🙂 ). I go there with filled in forms, mighty pleased with myself thinking “wow! I will be in and out within minutes!!” Yeah right!! Government business and within minutes – I must have been doped! I was told I had the wrong form! So, the officer there gave me a new set of forms. I had to have photos too to stick on the forms. I had everything – or so I thought. Boy! was I wrong!! The officer looked through the papers and says “You need 2 proofs of address!” and rattles out a list of accepted documents. I had none of those (correction – have) Then secondary list rattled out -bingo! bank statement or passbook. Alas! I had to get back home and get the photocopy. 

So, last friday…I set out yet again. Same feeling. Now I have everything – The right forms duly filled in, photos stuck, 2 proofs of address. I even learnt the ward number (cos the officer kept asking that the other day!) I walk in with all confidence thinking job is done, may be I will throw in some shopping that day! She politely asked me which division was I in! Flabbergasted – I had no idea!! The photocopy of my parents’ ID also did not have the information she wanted. She directed me to another officer on another floor. I went, waited and asked. The lady was downright rude and said that was not even the office I had to be in. She was the deputy Taluk officer. She said I had to go to Ambattur (I had only heard of the place!). She gave me a number to call which was not working! I told her, she said that was the only number and that was that.