To all FOMO-Sapiens

Have you ever sat with a group of friends feeling confused and so out of place, as they talked about the previous night’s party which you had missed because of prior commitments? Or imagine a Face-book discussion of ‘that awesome game’you are yet to check out, and you sneak peeks into the game site in-between college lectures,just so you can join the chat. Or the panic if, God forbid, you’ve not yet heard all of the Top-40 music that you…Absolutely…Totally…Must…Have.

If you have been in any of the above situations, then worry not for we are in majority. In fact, this fear is so overpowering in its intensity and influence that the word FOMO has now found a privileged place in the Oxford Dictionary. And while half the world chuckles at this and says, “Dude, that is so me!” there is the other half that raises their hands in exasperation and wonders, “What is the world coming to?” According to them, the day when we let this fear take over and destroy the real person in each of us, will be the day that the world loses its true essence and value.

In a way, they are right. We take a vodka shot because our friends do, we bang our heads to music that probably gives us a headache, we laugh at the joke that we want to roll our eyes at, and we jump into the proverbial well because…hey, everyone else does! And now, with the acceptance of this fear into the urban language, there is an absurd satisfaction in knowing that I am not alone. Yet, I have to join that half of the population and exclaim, “Indeed, what is the world coming to?”

However, there is another side to this coin. For instance, I recall one evening, I was sitting with friends on the porch laughing, drinking, complaining and gossiping. We had gotten together, allegedly, to work on a project for our EVS class, but had conveniently kept aside our note-pads for a more ‘engaging’ discussion. We were each taking turns narrating incidents from our lives. When my turn came, I could only think of stories from my father’s farm and estate. By the end of the narration—about my family being chased by wild elephants during a field trip—my friends were either awed or falling over in amusement. “Oh, it all sounds so scary and adventurous – funny, but so exciting, too,” one of them said between gasps. The others agreed.

“The only jungle I’ve ever seen is the concrete one,” another quipped, “and the only animals, the domestic or the human kind.”

This observation lead to a discussion of the lack of attachment with, or understanding of, nature that defines the urban kingdoms, and about what can be done to rectify this.

Predictably, this later became the concept for our EVS project. It received an amazing response, with the rest of the class—and even other students from College—all wanting to join in our Turtle Walks (these are midnight strolls along the beach to collect the eggs of the endagered Olive Ridley Turtles, which are relocated to a safe place. When the turtle hatchlings emerge 45 days later they are released safely into the sea) and buy, or even design, the cool ‘n chic clothe bags. This was clearly the ‘in’ thing during that semester, and nobody wanted to miss out—thanks to FOMO. The changes that I’m sure we’d made, and the companionship and memories we built are exhilarating to think of now.

So, one cannot banish the probability that perhaps this supposed ‘weakness’, called FOMO, is a strength waiting to be realized. However, it’s up to us to recognize the “pleasures” we can afford to miss, and the ones that we ought not to let go of, and it is important that we make this distinction. To all those who claim that we need to smoke and curse to belong with our friends, I say, let’s give ourselves and them more credit than that.

I remember a few years ago, I was at the farm with my family. One day, at the break of dawn, I woke up to a sound of a rustling paper and realized it was from my father sitting out in the porch. Curious, I joined him and asked him why he was up so early. His smiling reply was, “I wouldn’t want to miss out on the sunrise.”

Well, neither do I.