AI.. is Absolutely Intimidating! AI-YO AI-YO AI-YO!!

AI better known as Artificial Intelligence is all set to take over the world pretty much and that is very scary for someone like me who’s pretty much a tech geek! I hear people singing it’s praises and understand that it can be used to do almost everything you could want.. 

I know doctors sometimes refer to it for help with complex diagnoses.. teachers use it for help with drafting reports.. students use it to write more interesting essays.. kitchen enthusiasts use it to make even more delicious food.. and people even use it as a counselling and therapy aid.. Frankly speaking.. this is the part about it that I don’t like..

AI is entering almost every sphere of our lives and replacing people.. it is reducing jobs and the announcements and predictions of the numbers of people being “laid off” from their jobs sounds terrifying! What is the world coming to? It’s bad enough that a number of people now have hundreds (and even thousands) of friends on Facebook but nobody to talk to when they are down in the dumps! How does a computer replace having a friend hug you reassuringly and tell you it’s going to be alright?

People who are closer to my age and still working will be at a complete loss if they lose their jobs now.. especially if they are still supporting their families financially! I don’t ever see myself being happy to do a medical consultation and get a diagnosis and line of treatment from a computer (or a bot or whatever it’s called).. Having taught little children for so many years, I am convinced that nothing and nobody can replace the sunny smile and warm good morning hugs that are shared when the children come into the classroom!

I accept that AI is making a huge impact and creating multiple opportunities for growth and learning.. but am just saying let’s not allow it to “take over” our personal lives! Keep the “human factor” very much alive by drafting and texting your OWN messages.. learn family recipes sitting at the knees of your mother or grandmother.. imbibe family values and beliefs from your parents when you sit to pray eat or talk with each other!

Agreed Artificial Intelligence is a wonderful tool.. but it’s no match for natural stupidity! Think of how much fun it is to sit with your friends and crack silly jokes over beer and wafers! Organize a get together with the friends you went on holiday with and share stories about what you saw and did and relive those memories! Spend quality time with the people and make that “no screen time”! Don’t allow AI to permeate and take over every part of your life!

Unfortunately there are people who are using AI to harm us as well.. there is a video doing the rounds on WhatsApp telling us NOT to help a stranger who purports to be asking for help with his or her phone.. AI doesn’t want your password or money.. this is a way of getting your biometrics.. eye recognition.. voice recognition.. fingerprints etc.. How sad that things have come to a stage where we can not follow our natural human instincts of being kind and helpful.. seemingly innocent situations are fraught with peril too!

Am sure that the very limited amount of technology I use is also to a greater or lesser extent thanks to AI but please keep your life “as real.. as simple and as uncomplicated” as possible! Please understand that I am not rejecting AI (which is impossible to do) but just sharing a gentle reminder not to get excessively “carried away” by it!!

Thank you as always for reading and do remember to add your name at the beginning or end of your comment (should you choose to write one)!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY.. to all those of us who love..

Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love.. the people we love.. our friends.. family.. significant others.. teachers.. students.. neighbours.. and a plethora of people besides! Do we ever sit down and think about WHY we love certain people so much?

How about this year we celebrate Valentine’s Day (continuing into tomorrow because I am writing this post late) by telling the people we love “Happy Valentine’s Day and I love you because…” or “Happy Valentine’s Day and what I love about you is…” or “Happy Valentine’s Day and I love it when you… or “Happy Valentine’s Day and I love when we…”

The second part of the sentence could be anything from expressing appreciation for thoughtfulness.. or something like admiring beautiful eyes.. a generous heart.. a patient disposition.. or gratitude for being supportive and understanding.. or something like I love it when you make me the perfect cup of coffee because you know exactly how I like it.. or I love it when we just sit and chat about everything something and nothing all at the same time!

It’s always a lovely feeling to be made to feel special loved and cherished.. and for a change it’s fun to do and say things differently.. How about you tidy up a messy friend’s writing desk to show your love.. or run a couple of errands for a friend whose list is never ending.. or just pack a couple of sandwiches and some fruit and take him or her on a long drive (in a chauffeur driven car or on the top of a double decker bus) and chat and snack for an hour or so..

Somebody wise once wrote “Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay.. because love isn’t love until you give it away”! This is so true and love doesn’t have to be romantic or filial or friendly or familial.. Love is when you get dropped home and the person waits to make sure you’re safely in the building.. love is when you’re going to check into a boutique hotel for the first time and someone accompanies you make sure everything is kosher.. Love is when someone always eats the “gutli” of the mango saying they like it so that you get to eat the nice part.. love is a stack of freshly washed and perfectly ironed clothes that are still warm to the touch.. Love is when someone texts just to ask how your day is going..

Let’s drop the idea that Valentine’s Day is only for couples that are madly “in love” because that’s just a marketing gimmick.. and that “Galentine’s Day” is only for girlfriends.. Valentine’s Day is a day to recognize value respect and cherish the value of the love we receive (spoken or silent) from everyone in our world!

Today I would like to send love especially to all those of you who read my “Morning Magic” and encourage me to write and share my thoughts.. to everyone in my world who enjoys spending time with me.. to everyone I have the best conversations with.. to everyone who looks after me.. indulges me.. prays for me.. and most of all.. to all those people who bring positive energy to my life!

God bless and Happy Valentine’s Day to you all.. and as always.. thank you so much for reading and I love it when you share your thoughts and comments on the blog (WITH your names please)!!

 

NINE YEARS SINCE YOU’RE GONE DADDY.. I miss you so much!

Today is the 3^rd of February.. and marks nine years since you’re gone Daddy.. gone from the physical world I live in.. but always and very much present and “right here” in my heart! It is often said and commonly believed that the pain of losing someone you love deeply settles with the passage of time.. and nine years is not an insignificant amount of time by any standards..

Why then do I still miss you SO MUCH with each passing day? Why is the pain so raw that tears come to my eyes as soon as I think of you or whenever someone takes your name? Why have you left a gaping hole in my heart so huge that no amount of tears grieving or prayers can fill it? Why isn’t there a magical way of ending the pain of loss and getting complete closure? Why hasn’t medical science been able to make a pill that can cure heartache and heartbreak yet?

As Jainism rightly says.. attachment is not a bad thing.. but it leads to a great deal of pain.. The religion says we should practice “attachment with detachment” but I am asking HOW? How do you not get attached to the one person in the world who has tossed you high up in the air and caught you every time as you were falling.. who pushed you into the deep end of the pool and jumped in immediately to grab and hug you as you floated to the surface gasping for breath.. who taught you to eat perfectly with a knife and fork when you were a really little girl of perhaps 4 or 5 years old?

How do you get over missing someone who started every morning and ended every night with hugs and kisses.. who taught you the difference between right and wrong and to uphold the courage of your conviction no matter what.. who lived by the principle of “don’t do as I say but do as I do”.. who was absolutely meticulous in everything he said and did and who cracked the funniest jokes with the straightest face.. How? It just isn’t humanly possible!

It is always the most difficult day in the year for me because literally minute to minute there is an “action replay” that happens in my head and heart that goes on vividly.. I remember everything that happened that day in heartbreaking detail.. but today I don’t want to dwell on my sorrow..

Gratitude.. kindness.. compassion and karuna are the four solid cornerstones of my life now and it is time to be grateful for and to appreciate all the wonderful people who were around me this day that year.. and thereafter as well.. I am overwhelmed to the doctors nurses and team at Breach Candy Hospital who were so caring kind and respectful in their care for Daddy.. to my helper Kishore who spent that last night at the hospital with Daddy and broke the news gently to me.. to all my friends and family who rallied round to hug me.. hold me.. offer their shoulders for support.. make arrangements for everything that needed to be done in the aftermath of death..

Looking and thinking back.. it was truly overwhelming to have a “patchwork quilt” of wonderfully kind and sensitive people that “came together” to be my safe space during that traumatic time.. and to have so many even today.. people who remember that today is a tough day for me.. who message and call.. who come over just to spend some quiet time with me.. I am not writing names here but you know who you are.. and you are deeply loved appreciated and cherished for having the kindest hearts in the Universe.. Thank you so much for being in my life and making it so much better with your care concern and consideration!

And wherever you are Daddy.. know always that you are loved cherished treasured and missed all the time and every single day.. but I am your daughter and will face the day as you would want me to.. with the bravest smile on my face.. the strongest will to “hold steady” and not break down and the deepest love in my heart..

Thank you so much (as always) for reading and please remember to add your name at the beginning or end of your comment (should you choose to write one)!