And now I have heard everything….. or so  my aging ears think. My son’s friend just got married virtually. Corona might have changed the entire world but couldn’t change their resolve to unite on the ‘auspicious date ‘. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions, invitees were stuck in their homes. Fortunately, the bride and groom were together in theirs ! The pandit conducted the pheras and the parents gave their blessings via satellite. A smart phone balanced on a planter broadcasted the event to friends and relatives who sat decked up for the occasion. Technically they were married by technology !

Can the virtual be our new reality?  An old friend inquired, a few days later, as we were casually discussing the sequel of social distancing.   A thought which lingered much after the call ended. Virtual means something in essence or effect, but not actually or in fact. Technology strives to blur this line and make virtual experiences more real……this virus has just sped up the process….hurtling us fifty years ahead.

The change is visible everywhere. With an increasing acceptance of online shopping and e- commerce, the last decade has witnessed a change in  the way we spend money. The pandemic has altered the way we earn it. As health professionals, more of us are practicing telemedicine and giving online consultations .  Elsewhere companies have realised that working from home through video-conferencing is more cost effective. Teaching institutes have redefined distant education and are coming up with new ideas to keep students engaged.

It has reshaped the way we learn. Professionals have been participating in Webinars  and  have accepted this new  reality of scientific gatherings. Apart from this master classes on various skills from exotic cooking to creative writing,  piano playing to painting,  dress making to dancing, all are available on the click of a button. With reduced work hours and few social engagements, time is no longer a problem.  Anyone, inclined, can nurture a new hobby or rekindle an old one. 

We have discovered new ways to recoup and play. So meeting up friends on group chat, playing online games with distant close ones and watching televised versions of plays and recitals, are modern day realities, as is visiting museums and art galleries. With leisure travel being risk ridden, people are indulging in armchair tourism,  virtually roaming the streets of far off lands.

The big question is when an unprecedented pandemic  disengages us from the real world should we wait for things to go back to where they were or should we move ahead and accept the new normal? How much further are we willing to go ? And most importantly, does the virtual measure up to the real?

The truth is no matter how accurately technology reproduces the physical experience, the human touch will be missed. Telemedicine lacks the eye contact and reassuring pat, a virtual classroom minus pranks and giggles isn’t as much fun, a webinar doesn’t allow joyous bear hugs and backslaps and a virtual city tour sans the sounds and smells isn’t the same.

Can the best crafted simulation free fall,  with blasts of air and sound effects replace the thrill of jumping out of a plane at 10000 feet? It can’t because a scared, hammering heart and faltering uncertain mind were integral to my sky diving adventure. It is virtually impossible to create the real. 
( published as a spice of life in the Hindustan Times on 28/8/20)