00:00I think we need to take a deeper look at what it means to truly connect in a personal sense.
00:10So I think it is definitely very very interesting being part of a journey in terms of using your
00:16phone and not being on WhatsApp. We need to look at the deeper meaning of what is the purpose
00:23in which we use our phone and the platforms that are associated with communication. So
00:30your phone is merely a device and platforms like WhatsApp are meant for communicating.
00:37But I think we need to take a deeper look at what it means to truly connect in a personal sense.
00:44Is it challenging and not being on WhatsApp? Yeah, it definitely is in terms of being able
00:50to communicate with a wider audience. We have a lot of stakeholders, a lot of parents,
00:56a lot of colleagues whom I work with together. I won't say it's easy but I think I use that as
01:02an opportunity to see this phone as just a tool and look at other opportunities in which
01:10I can connect with people. So at our group of schools I have the privilege of being able to
01:17interact with the students face to face. We have plenty of town hall meetings with colleagues,
01:22teaching and non-teaching staff. We have open sessions and many other interactive discussions.
01:29I find WhatsApp extremely overwhelming and I did use it once upon a time. Like everybody else it
01:36was very tempting to be able to access a platform that allows you to communicate for free to such a
01:43large audience. It's extremely convenient and I've got nothing against people who use it but like I
01:48said I find it very overwhelming and I also found that I was taking control
01:55of things in my life. There's a very very fine line between chat and chatter. Connecting and
02:03actually clutter. So we all are looking at ways to declutter. Do I suffer from FOMO? The fear of
02:10missing out? No. In fact I think my wife and I have coined the term and she takes full credit
02:15for it. She has coined it JOMO, the joy of missing out. So look I definitely get to know
02:21of all the important things and happenings. There are different ways to keep yourself up to date
02:26in terms of what is happening in the world and with various press events and your loved ones
02:32definitely will keep you abreast with major important events and happenings. But this also
02:39means that I take the time out from my schedule to make sure that I actually pick up the phone
02:45and talk to people. Sometimes it's funny I have to tell people that there is a way of communicating
02:50which is talking on the phone or texting the old-fashioned way. I bring the smile on my face
02:56when I'm trying to share a location with a courier company or a vendor and they're like can you just
03:01whatsapp us the location and I'm like yeah I'll text it to you. They're like no you can just
03:05whatsapp it to us. I'm like well I don't use whatsapp and there's typically a bemused almost
03:10puzzled look that really I mean can somebody not use whatsapp and I'm like yeah I'll text it to you
03:16and you'll still be able to open the location using a conventional text. My family does
03:23enjoy moments where I'm not on whatsapp and certain things that they don't want me to know
03:29are shared on whatsapp and you know I may miss out on those but I think there's a deeper purpose
03:36for the human existence which is we can truly connect to the heart, truly connect to the soul
03:42and I think I take that opportunity to reach out to people. There is a downside in terms of not
03:47being able to be on whatsapp or choosing not to be on whatsapp is I do receive a lot of emails
03:54almost 200 to 250 emails in a day. I personally check all my emails. They're not checked by any
03:59member of my team so I do take time to check my email. So again I think that's also an advantage
04:05because that mean of communication is documented and that is something which I can then hand over
04:12and that's in the public domain in terms of being an official means of communication. Again whatsapp
04:17or other means and platforms of communication are not official and they typically tend to be
04:24encrypted between the sender and the recipient whereas something like an official email which
04:29is on an email server can be accessed long after I am no longer in this role or long after
04:36for the sake of documentation. So we all know there was a world that existed where we all
04:42communicated and loved each other and generations before us have definitely connected without
04:48whatsapp. I think I'm definitely of the opinion that's been working for me. It's something where
04:54I don't think has been negative or a disadvantage to me and I'm hoping to carry on this way and
05:04seeing where this journey takes me. It's important to have an open mind and not be too closed in
05:12whether you want to use a platform or a particular media and there are plenty of other options
05:18available. I'm not on any social media. I don't use whatsapp, instagram, twitter or now what is
05:25xflap. I'm not on any of facebook, not any of those media. I do use linkedin. I find linkedin
05:34extremely effective especially for recruitment purposes and connecting professionals. So that
05:41is a very very good tool but let us remember the phone is just a tool
05:47and there are many many other ways in which we can connect and reach out to people.
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