Wanna chat??

Conversations...hmmm.. they are of so many kinds: casual, hurried, thought-provoking, informal, reminiscing, informative, advising, heart-to-heart.. of varying degrees, of varying form and content. Emotions, intellect, opinions, experience and views may all be put to good use in a single conversation. Today, when we have no dearth of communication channels to use, people must be so much more in touch-with their friends, new and old, immediate family and relatives. Right? Sorry folks. I beg to differ.

Conversations -their nature and scope -have definitely changed. They have definitely become slicker, faster, smoother and multi-channeled. Just look at the range of channels we use now. Gone are the days when one had to worry about outstation phone bills! Just like a popular advertisement featuring Priyanka Chopra says, "My phone is who I am!" Some of us believe we are defined by the latest models and gadgets that we carry. But where the quality of conversation goes, it is merely casual and barely skims the surface. Humor shall off course make you laugh, but it is also so momentary, with a low shell life. And it shall never let you get close to a person.

What about the value of these conversation? Hasn't it, somewhere down our busy, chaotic lives, become rusty and dusty -taken out from the shelf only in dire need or used liberally only to get things done? Where have those days gone when we would chat for hours over just a cuppa, talking about inconsequential things, and still feel we could have gone along for hours? When was the last time you felt glad of having a good conversation, where you poured your heart out and felt so close with that person? It doesn't matter who that person is -your spouse, partner, a friend or relative. I have lost touch with many a people because of lack of good conversations.

What is a good conversation for you? For me, it would be something that makes me think and makes me connect with the other person. It is a platform where I am meeting the other person at an equal footing.The last heart to heart conversation I had was yesterday, with a dear friend of mine. And it felt damn good! And I began to wonder what's stopping us to have more conversations such as these? How come we do not spend enough time conversing with people? For the lines of privacy have become even stronger, deeply carved today. Conversations are even perceived as intrusive by many I know and they would do anything to avoid them, either consciously or unconsciously.

It takes good conversations to bond with people.. Some of the best moments of life have been spent conversing with people. Thanks to those conversations, I made some really close friends, I have fallen in love with my partner and connect with certain members of my family. And it takes good conversations to sustain these relationships as well. Because each of us is growing, changing, adapting -good conversations help us to hang onto these people, while those conversations have just as matured!

This post is an ode to all those conversations I had with you. And you know who you are! Looking forward to chat again... ;-)