The Dying Art of Conversation.

With the advent of the Internet, Haimanti Mukherjee writes that conversation is a dying art. Earlier traveling by public transport was fascinating, as during a flight or train ride we would strike up conversations with total strangers and sometimes make lifelong friends. Today there is no conversation throughout even a long journey, we are all in a plugged in world of music and private thoughts, consciously avoiding eye contact with everyone. Even in cafes or amongst a peer group our eyes are glued to our phones, testing or checking Face book status. New types of engagement means we don’t converse anymore - texting is preferred to talking and crisp emails are sent to the point. Our true feelings are hidden under a mask of technology. It is a mute world where the best conversations happen within our own head – the silence is deafening and terrifying. A conversation is meant to include another person’s thoughts and views and sometimes - something meaningful comes out of these engagements that de – stress our lives. It shapes our feelings and thoughts , and lack of this compromises our ability to self – reflect ;the bedrock for development of our species. Sadly conversation is a formality these days.