Thursday, July 20, 2017

How to Enjoy a Dual Life – Online and Offline

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.

1. ONLINE LIFE (in cyberspace)
and
2. 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. 

Internet 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 – Mulla Nasrudin would suddenly pack his bags  he would leave the city  and – he would 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  Mulla 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 online 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 you 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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© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

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/stories 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.

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Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

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