All Strings Attached

We go through our ultimately fast-paced lives in a blur, and so do the people that walk in it. A few people you know stand out. But what about the rest? Are they just mere strangers or are your lives entangled more than you know? Join in exploring a dimension in the kaleidoscope that is the theme for TEDxNITTrichy ’18 – ‘Strings’

Walking down a crowded street, the woman walking next to you might be the dentist you made an appointment with last night. The man crossing the road could be your new neighbour. What may seem like a planet of 8 billion strangers may not be that strange after all? Every person walking the face of the Earth is tied to the other, with or without our knowledge, and yet we find ourselves so very disconnected.

Every human life in a bubble we call our lives. Those you call your family, friends and acquaintances are a part of this, but the rest is a mere blur in the bokeh of your life. We walk through our mundane routines with little to no thought about the people who we don’t consider a part of our lives. But, how sure are you that these people aren’t linked to you?

In certain moments, the imaginary boundaries of your bubble are suspended and you see that the person on the other side of the globe is no more different than you; nothing more than fellow humans who call this same sphere of rock their home.  In instances of great importance like attacks, summits or immense enjoyment like the FIFA World Cup, we see the world shrink in size by the sheer amount of connections made in between the masses across boundaries far too greater and complex than physical distance. The entire planet unites together, strung together by the same motive, the same energy. In those times, you come to realize that ‘It’s a small world after all’!

Matters of global significance are easily noticed and pondered upon but the same cannot be said of fleeting moments that occur in everyday life. Each of our lives could be more intertwined than you could think. Imagine this. In a little town in China, a middle-aged man throws his cigarette butt out the window of the factory he works at. Little spark, Raging fire. Thousands of miles and multiple time zones away, you sit frustrated wondering why it takes so long to ship a pillow you ordered weeks ago. Little do you know, or will you ever know, the truth. You don’t need to see it to believe it in this case. We very well know that there is always a consequence for actions; all that we don’t consider is that it doesn’t always have to be global warming or water wastage; it could be a change in the life of stranger miles away, now tied to you forever.

Whether we care to admit it or not, we are a part of something bigger than us. We are a part of numerous other lives. You might even say, with everything we do, we string ourselves to our actions and its consequences. These so very diverse threads overlap by chance and choice; weaving us all together into the beautifully intricate tapestry we call our world.