Long back, a Roman philosopher Cicero had accepted and proclaimed this immortal concept that in the soul and the heart of every home there resides the books with its enticing and alluring aroma spread all over the apartment.

Years after this historic event, Roald Dahl one of the most prolific of modern writers in English vehemently echoed the aforesaid judgement with a different declaration.  He recommended to uninstall the television set and opined to install a bookshelf in the drawing room or Living room, even though it welcomes the anger of ‘children’s association’.

“Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
                                                 Ignoring all the dirty looks,”           ……Television (1960)

Technological and social advancement has given birth to stylised apartments in the posh societies. Rooms are bedecked with various paints, curtains, designs, furniture as well as glittering combinations of expensive electronic gadgets. Every item of luxury gives a particular identity to specific corner of a room which parallelly promotes ones social and economic status besides boasting the standard of life.

Presence of a bookshelf in the room adds a different glamour in its very beauty. Decent book sets of short stories, novel, drama, fiction and non-fiction together flaunt a distinguished admirable presence in the rack. They all are the true store house of treasure. They are our best friends in all thick and thin of life.

Someone has rightly said, “A person, who is in habit of reading, never feels lonely.”

In the vast ocean of books, there are different waves or topics on which every person can find books that suits one’s test. The living room if accommodates books of one’s own choice, not only works very strongly against all negativity but also ensures a life time insurance against multiple threatening forces.

Milton has rightly said, “A good book is the precious life blood of a master spirit treasured and embalmed in its pages for ages and ages.”

Books are our holy guide in all circumstances and they are very constant in forwarding their intimation and sweet commands in our life management system years after years.

They never fight or answer back ruthlessly to give us mental pain and emotional agony but work like silent companion with enlightened, soothing and motivating ideas. They carry this tradition from one generation to another and leave their deep imprint on the minds of even our younger ones.

Writers, essayists, and philosophers of modern era are not excited by the so-called progress and development of the human race. They are saddened to see that today’s children do not any longer read books as ardently as they used to. Books in all cases help in the tremendous growth of the brain of a child and boost their creativity by booming their knowledge store.

The actual development of children’s emotional, psychological, fictional and pedagogical development depends on reading of books and this is only possible if the room houses a bookshelf full of books from all the different subjects’ background.

Reading books soothes our nerves, formats our fluctuating mood, saves us from frequent depressive waves, guards us from sucking insomnia, bestows love and compassion towards one and all and opens many doors of opportunities by congregating and counselling our true potential towards the higher goals of life. It saves us from unnecessary quarrel and turmoil of day-to-day life, eventually adds humanity within ourselves.

The way when soul moves away from the body, our body surrenders and become non-living; absence of books takes away the essence of life from a living room and leaves it with the label of “The Haunted” one. The house without books stands there like a lifeless, powerless and non-energetic four walls of bricks.

Gone are the days when our youth were surviving under the influence of their luminaries worshiping. They used to make their physique, dress style and hair style close to the look of adorable personas from film industry, besides imitating their talking style close to their praised one. ‘Social media’ has risen like a tempest and has engulfed all the existence of so-called superstars till date. Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs have given openings to common people to earn name and fame and thereby resulted in the rise of social media influencers.

Social media influencers are honking on every nook and corner and overpower people from all walks of life especially youngsters. Nobody gets respite, not even the renowned film celebrities who are joining with influencers to promote their films.

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUTH:

Study Shows:

• The average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping.
• The average time spent on social networks per day: 1.72 hours (in 2015).
• The average number of hours a teenager spends online per week: 27 (2015).

Social media has become a prominent part of life for many young people today. Most people engage with social media without ending to think what positive or negative consequences it confers on our lives. Are we as a society becoming more concerned with Facebook “friends” than we are with the people we interact with face-to-face in our daily lives? What will the long-term effects of today’s social media use be?

There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many hazards that come with the addiction of the sites.

THE POSITIVES OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

ACADEMIC SUPPORT:

It helps a teacher team up and communicate easily with students and one another. Students exploit a free access to the treasure of resources online to help them upgraded. A big chunk of students uses social networking to discuss informative topics, hence complete their school’s/colleges’ assignments.

POLITICAL UPDATES

Social media eases political change. Online networks give social movements a quick and cheap method of broadcasting information and mobilizing people.

AWARENESS SUPPORT:

Social media keeps us updated about the significant things that are working across the globe currently or maybe in our neighbourhood. Social media enables and authorizes individuals to bring a modification within themselves and their societies.

SOCIAL BENEFITS:

Social media allow people to interconnect with friends and the increased online communication strengthens those relationships. People make new friends. A report says 57% online teens make new friends online.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES:

A boon for professionals who love marketing, connecting, and finding business opportunities. Social media sites have created thousands of jobs and new avenues of income for all and sundry.

 

THE NEGATIVES OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

A DAMAGE TO WORK AS WELL AS SCHOOL:

Media created weakness has compelled students to cheat on school assignments. Study shows, for every 93 minutes over the average 106 minutes spent on Facebook daily, college students’ grades dropped .12 points.

On another study, students who went online while studying, have scored 20% lower on tests. Social networking sites have harmed employees’ productivity. Record says 51% of users between 25-34 years age group use to check social media frequently at work place.

GROWING NEED OF PRIVACY:

People, especially the young, are often too open and public with personal information when online.

USERS EXPOSED TO CRIME:

Social networking sites allow hate groups to recruit and distribute propaganda online. Unauthorized sharing and copyright infringement threatens intellectual property and causes loss of income. Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, phishing scams, and viruses are common online.  Criminals use social media to commit crimes.

SOCIAL DAMAGES:

Cyber-crimes and Cyber-oppression (the use of electronic communication to torment someone, usually by sending threatening messages) are commonplace online, cause emotional disturbance, and sometimes even lead to suicide. Sometimes some online duels eventually turn into a physical confrontation. Children are the worst suffers and are at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders which ultimately pushes them to be isolated and disconnected (especially youth with disabilities).

MISINFORMATION:

Occasional spread of false rumours, unreliable information and news on social media misguide a vast majority of social media hunters. It encourages unprofessional medical advice and self-diagnosis of health problems, which can be dangerous and life-threatening.

ADVERTISING:

Studies have shown that sites such as Facebook stimulates us, via advertisements, to spend more money. Advertisers gain all kinds of personal information about us via our social media, so, they persuade us to buy their product in due course.

A WASTE OF TIME:

Time flows out uncontrollably from the clutches of the promising citizens due to the bigger exposure to social media. A great chunk of unproductive efforts kills their survival enthusiasm and push them in some lonely corner.

So, for the social media, I think, there is a crucial need of the dissemination of an awareness campaign among mass. Let everyone be alerted about the pros and cons of the social media, its use and disuse, it merits and demerits, its benefits and detriments. We must not forget our sacred rituals, brotherhood, integrity, social duties and responsibilities and all those things which pull ourselves to the higher steps of humanity. After all, safety, security, progress and development of a society do not depend upon any media, rather great thoughts, powerful leadership and practical positivity pave the way for greater citizen and wider tomorrow.

I want to share few of my personal achievements of the historic lockdown 2020.

Lock down opened a new phase of life which was quite unknown, unexplored, untouched and unexpected. Hectic life schedules had made us workaholic, ignorant about our precious health, our family, and kept us on toes for the perfection in the execution of work. Work pressure, meeting of goals and excessive commitments’ negotiation had been squeezing all vital forces of life

I boast to take it differently.

I use to kickstart my day by few brisk walks on my terrace, do little yoga which I had left long back, eat more vegetables than eat my whole life, keep a strong clean ambience in my personal surrounding and consciously try to keep myself in the physical distancing from all external exposure to the world. Besides following the mandatory health and hygiene routine and social distancing call of awakened India, I have tried to accommodate my daily routine progress on the ladder steps of three life sized practice, i.e.: REJUVENATION, RENOVATION, AND REMUNERATION by dedicated work style.

Work from home format of engagement has gifted me a longer hour of work to understand even the minutest details of work besides grooming my essential faculties for smart management skill and training. I work to my soul’s content exploring many new ideas, thoughts and parallelly learning many tools and techniques for personal and professional advancement. Office at home was although a new experience, nevertheless weakened the enthusiasm of effective presentation and efficient execution. This can be branded as REMUNERATION.

Being a principal in a school, I had had poor time to listen multiple grievances of my parents’ community. My world was confined and a wave of dissatisfaction used to hover all the time. WFH helps me to associate with my humble parents’ community and their demands, quite easily, individually, and attentively on phone calls. This provides me space and time to cope up with the ballooning resentment among them. This not only provides me the work satisfaction but inspires me to join in greater mission of the future to change the shape of our educational machinery. This can be realized as RENOVATION.

Last but not the least the lock down has cemented my relationship with my pride possession, my beloved family, my school team members, my friends, relatives, and known ones. It has galvanised my faith on my personal, social and worldly behaviour which was long time dry in the absence of proper care and nourishment.  It actually proclaims me the importance of human relationship and gave me a life lesson of human life value. Today, I love my dignified carrier and all my faculties who supports me to run the life’s vital shows. This can be appreciated as REJUVENATION.

For many the pandemic is stubborn and depressing, lockdown is strangling but to all smart and knowledge driven workers, this is a big opportunity to identify their potentials, update their skills and renovate their rusted work culture. This has bestowed us a completely new vision to understand humanity in more enlightened horizon.

So, utilise every moment of your staying home with positive thoughts and productive workings. Life is ready to serve you with all great resources at every moment. Stop complaining and start living, enjoying every significant moment of it. Learn to smile and never to give up.