I Am Not Alone, I Am Lonely

Alone and lonely, the meanings are more or less the same, but the way it gets connected with us defines what one is going through.

Today’s era, with so many options of connectivity, it doesn’t take a second, and you can talk, see the people you want to talk to and can reach them in no time.

Umpteen options for getting entertained, to travel to, to explore.

But then why are we still lonely? There is a song in the Hindi language, of which one stanza says, “PAANI ME SEEP JAISI, PYASI HAR ATMA”, which is translated as “ LIKE A PEARL IN A SHELL DESPITE BEING IN THE OCEAN, EACH SOUL IS THIRSTY”.

Why is this happening? Why are we not happy despite having so much with us?

Is it happening because we are pushing ourselves in a race that never ends, or the society’s ever-changing goalposts of satisfaction, achievements, and proving ourselves?

Or is it the competition with everyone, who is moving ahead of us and that greed or ego of not being content and running.

Why are we not looking back and watching what we are losing in this race?

We keep running, the trophies of money, amenities, and social recognition and then at some point, when we feel we should stop and celebrate, we come to know that those with whom we want to enjoy are left far behind.

They can’t reach us, as they can’t run the way we did, or maybe they are content with what they have with their lives, their people around them and their way of getting satisfied in what they have.

Another reason is that we are not going back. In fact, not willing to go back again because of the rigid chains of ego, success, and status.

And that makes us think about the difference between alone and lonely.

At that point, one cannot be alone; there will be people around us, precisely, not around us, but the false aura we have created around us.

The issue is that many of us still prefer to be lonely, but don’t want to go back.