Have we built enough bridges?

"People are going places". That seems to be the buzz in our generation today, at least amongst Indians. We are students in US universities. We are investment bankers in Honk Kong. We are construction workers in Dubai. We are models and actresses in Hollywood. We are chefs in London. We are writers in Sydney.

Yes, the world has become smaller. Cosmopolitanism marks its presence in more cities today than ever before. We have the opportunity to taste different cultures, be it their cuisine, history, fashion or language. I love the fact that it has become so easy to access different parts of the globe and its people. For instance, my evening may look like this - I leave work early and stop by a Chinese New Year party that my Chinese colleague invited me to. Later, I meet my Icelandic friend and go to a see a French movie, which was recently nominated for the Oscar. We then satisfy our taste buds at a Turkish restaurant. The waiter is Bangladeshi and speaks to me in Bengali. On my way home, I bump into an ex-classmate who is Russian. She points out that she has invites to a fashion event tomorrow hosted by her friend from Milan and asks if I am interested. I politely decline since I am off to South America on vacation tomorrow.

It is indeed a boon to live in a society which is moving towards bridging distances. Hats off to communication and technology that has made it possible. But every thing comes with a price tag. This one adorns losing the essence of proximity to near and dear ones. However improved the communication channel is, there is nothing that beats hugging a childhood friend, resting your head over your mother's shoulder whenever you want to or throwing a big birthday surprise for your brother. But my childhood friend is in London and my mother is in India and my brother is in Hong Kong. That does not go to say I cannot take a flight to any of these places and do the same things. But truly, I cannot do it whenever I feel like it. I am handicapped by work schedule and other commitments.

My best friend lives in Mumbai. I can never have another friend who understands me better or replace our friendship with a bond that is as strong. We are very good at keeping in touch and I am proud of it. But on some days when there is a reason to celebrate, I wish he was around to take me to dinner. When everything seems to be going wrong, I wish he was here to give me a hug. When I want to empty my heart out with the most nonsensical things, I wish I could see his priceless expressions!

There is no right or wrong and each one of us may have a different story to tell. For some, its worth paying $1300 for a Gucci bag and for some it is as exciting to get one from China Town for $50. The point is we need to build our own bridges for the world hasn't provided us with enough.