Present  day  society is maligned and riddled with so many afflictions that the relatively   smaller allergies escape our attention span which in itself has been rendered pretty myopic thanks to the advent of new parameters of judging success  and  happiness.Insipid  and insecure in our individual living , we continue to be inexorably drawn towards the vicious circle of instant gratifications and seek bonafide success  granted by social confirmation.Non - confirmity to  the supposedly  "normal" benchmarks of success and happiness is no longer a manifestation of uniqueness or eccentricity but it is frowned upon in a way as a precursor to social failure and condemnation. It is  a tabboo in modern society to be a single , non drinking, non smoking and self respecting individual with a vision that encompasses  larger parts of the society rather than  sitting ensconced  in your little barricaded canvas. 

        Somehow  the clutches  of the  hedonistic and materialistic living have succeeded  in  making us indifferent  and immune to our own emotions  and  feelings   so much so that we  have lost sympathy for our own body  and soul in the process. The  burgeoning expectations from our parents, peers and    family at large  are pushing us  into a deeper and bigger  hole everyday where the gradual wearing down of  the self  takes place.The increased  competition  for almost everything has   created an environment of mistrust, bloated but fragile egos  and "win at any cost " attitude  which sadly is referred to as " Winning " mentality these days. It  goes without  saying that ,one after another, we just keep pushing  hard for the next  "achievement" and the next "milestone" which is supposed to give u the golden spoon  but  never does. So  the  search and the desperation for newer and better accomplishments keeps us on our toes and the society makes us believe that we are making progress and that it is all about survival and evolution when it is not.

    I  guess what    we  are   witnessing today  is  an explosion  of  virtual reality worlds which owes its success exclusively to   this rampant  alienation of  an individual from the   society.Since  the individual can not  get  the  stamp of approval that it seeks so vehemently and which has been deemed so indispensable for its survival , from the society , the knee-jerk reaction mechanism takes  him/her to the accomodating and all encompassing world of the virtual reality where everyone is welcome and everyone gets a sympathetic hearing. It  is  pretty akin to  the  old age system of panchayats  and  village  communities ( read " chaupal") and stuff like that. In some ways  , it feels  as   if  the  old  systems  were more than adequate when it  comes to handling people issues and  social issues as well.

      In these times of great distress and  mind numbing pressure , the ineffectiveness of systems at work to disperse off the load is not only compounding the stress but actually creating a whole new form of stress...which is to say that the stress busting systems themselves are emanating problems ( read : HR systems at workplace )