Not an e-commerce wali Diwali

I have been wanting to write about it for a long time. I have had many discussions with my friends and colleagues about it and how it is affecting our lives.

I stepped onto my birthplace this Diwali and took a shared auto which has been running here for at least as long as my senses could remember. The 8 rupees ride left me at my destination removing all the complexities of booking a cab, waiting and paying the money without even touching it.

There is a different vibe here. I don't see the individual people but the families all around. There is a perfect balance of everything in Shivalik Nagar - market, Temples - all there but not too much. The shops nearby are very well decorated, more than the design of any e-commerce website.

The concept is very different here. There is a genuine focus on the things which are actually meant to be bought on Diwali like Sweets, diyas, decoration materials, lightings, crackers, flowers etc. I did not find much hoardings of Diwali sale in which someone is selling the exclusive mobile in low price in the name of Diwali.

The meaning of festival is very different and real here, to spend the time with family, decorating the home and eating the delicious food, not Indian but home made.

I took a walk with my grandfather and he met about 10 people in the way. Every shopkeeper knew him. I thought if there was e-commerce in his time before making these friends and he would get everything he needed at his doorstep; would not he be very lonely today. This market, I see today, might not even exist.

The concept of e-commerce is not very well understood by the people and even by those e-market makers. It is not the technology which has stolen the special touch of communication but it is the way we use it. I really appreciate when I can buy the things on e-commerce websites which are not available nearby me. But I don't like the concept of getting milk delivered to my doorstep which I could buy just going across the road.

I hope we all celebrate Diwali with our family and be the family person. And now when my grandfather has taken a bath, I am going to have a talk with him, live!!

Happy Diwali!! :)