MUMBAI, INDIA: Ever wondered why Sherlock Holmes always sniffed out those elusive specks of truth with precision and speed? Should be something more than his acute legerdemain or cigar puffs. While everyone and that includes Mr.Watson, was busy looking at the mise-en-scene, Mr. Holmes went for the missing pieces. He never asked ‘Who screamed?' Rather he focused on ‘Why did the dog not bark?'

Paradoxes, serendipity moments and ironies keep punctuating our lives. The problem is we never pay attention. When this correspondent went to meet a TV Star armed with questions about how he manages to spin Facebook and YouTube so well for engaging with his aficionados, little did she anticipate a strong Jamais Vu moment waiting to stupefy her.

Viraf Phiroz, a sailor and discoverer at heart (yes he also spent five years training for the Merchant Navy), a former Grasim Mr. India (swimming in the glamour industry as the face of Pantaloon India since 2005), the pirate-of-many-female-hearts who dropped his anchors on TV shores slowly but consistently (you can not forget this cute guy from the Limca 2010 summer campaign with Hrishita Bhatt or from music videos of Shaan, DJ Suketu or Ahmed Khan), who is now etched for many Indians as the quintessentially perfect guy ‘Shiv' from Yash Raj's hot series on Sony Entertainment ‘Mahi Ve' and ‘Kismat'; the same chivalrous, genteel, suave ‘Shiv' talks about some basic manners around how not to be overwhelmed with technology.

But then, everything great, be it music or a detective thriller, is always about the spaces left untouched. By the time you finish reading this interview the candid, objective, down-to-earth, deep-thinker, charming Viraf Patel would have taught you some similar ‘let-it-be' technology etiquettes too. Just in case, if you are one of the kind who is grabbing the phone or opening another email tab simultaneously as you read this page, then this could be the Sherlock moment scripted specially for you. Don't let this pass by. Step forth.

Hi Viraf! Thanks for taking out time for this chat. You always do so for your fans online as well. How do you manage?

 

It's a pleasure and thank you for having me on this chat as well! As for my activity on social media, I enjoy connecting with my audience, especially the way technology allows today. So, time is a non-issue when one enjoys something!

Don't you think that in this era where you, as a celebrity, becoming accessible through Internet makes a dent on the mystery halo?

Honestly, that's a question that has plagued me as well. Am guessing the trick is in striking that perfect balance between being mysterious and yet staying connected. Obviously this balance is going to be unique to every individual. You can wish me luck that I strike a fine one!

Well said. Yet, often celebs are alive on social media only when a movie is releasing or some controversy is brewing. You have been consistent with your videos and posts. What's your take here?

Firstly I must confess, I haven't posted a video in a while now, perhaps because I ran out of an agenda (flashes his charmingly-disarming smile). I would say celebrities are only human and they cannot be connected all the time and what's wrong with them promoting their ware anyway? Aren't we all selling something to someone everyday! Just the way we are jointly selling this article to the reader right now (winks). To add to that, social media is like the common cold virus, it evolves so fast that before we can come to terms with it, there is a new form to deal with. Will be interesting to see how it all shapes as we go along this ‘tech era'. Regardless of celebrity status each person has his or her own learning curve about understanding and using technology or social media. Be it Facebook, Twitter, Youtube those curves happen and to each his own curve!

What brought you here online? Any special spurs?

Enter Vishal Parpia, a friend of mine who amongst the many things he does, also happens to be the founder of ActivElement, a web/software firm based in Pune. Being true to his website nick, vizkid, he is an internet ninja of sorts! I owe my web presence to him, he not only encouraged my website idea when I went to him with it around nine to 10 years back, but also set it up for me and over the years he has painstakingly helped me graduate it, to more user and Internet-friendly designs. By the way, it was also thanks to him that I realised how seriously I was mis-managing my social media.

How? Can you elaborate?

Online there are individuals whom you already know or get to know and then there are individuals who know of you by virtue of your work or social presence. One may want to connect on social media with both these groups. Vishal sensitised me to the fact that, if I wanted to make the most of social media, my communication to both these groups cannot remain generic or common. He also pointed out, that I was actually limiting the number of audience connections to 5000 by adding them to my friend list on my Facebook profile and that I need to set up a Facebook page dedicated to my audience (which allows unlimited connections). This is what I eventually did.

So what is your social media/web presence like now? Which social networking sites you prefer?

So now, besides my web page, I browse by my Facebook page occasionally and but more than often, I share as much as I can with my audience there. Be it my thoughts, insights, questions, jokes (which are silly most of the time) and have linked the same feed to my Twitter account. I find Twitter more enriching and informative than Facebook hence I find myself spending more time on it. Am weary about Facebook! Though I admire its ability to engage, I feel helpless at its ability to steal my time! However am quite excited to see what Google + does in the time to come with regards to education, considering it has almost no minimum age limit. Imagine fourth graders discussing their homework or assignments with fellow students across the globe with hangouts and circles or Skype!

In a nutshell, technology has been all good for you?

Yes, but there's a bothersome flipside to it as well.

What are you saying (the reporter is a bit flummoxed)? How?

Viraf's Interview continues

 

I think, we don't realise the negative impact technology is having on our existence. I am bothered by the way I and everyone around me uses phones/gadgets. We can end up being apathetic to people around us thanks to our phones. Therefore, I have come upon to believe that your relationship with your mobile phone is a reflection of your relationship with yourself.

You relationship with your mobile is a reflection of the relationship with yourself. Intriguing! Help us understand more. Like no mobiles on dinner tables?

Not just that. I think it's time we take a leap from ‘It's cool to own a smart phone' to ‘It's cool to keep your mobile on silent'. We remain so absorbed in the virtual world that we've started caring less about the real physical world. I strongly feel that, very soon we should have a Moral Science like curriculum called Gadget Etiquette, or something on those lines, imbibed into the education system, right at the school level, as the minimum age to use a gadget is diminishing more quickly than the Parsi population in India:). What is also scary is for almost everyone including impressionable teenagers, the number of 'Likes' matters more to them than anything else, which dangerously moves the roots of their self worth from inside of them to some place external. Plus our general awareness is bombarded and numbed by the tamasha created with the millions of dollars of ad spends done by the tech giants of the world. It's like facing the most powerful marketing muscles in the world, mercilessly aimed to convince more and more of us to buy/use and eventually get addicted to a gadget.

How can we wake up then?

Well for starters, I have become nonchalant towards my phone. After work hours, my phone goes on silent. It's silent even now as I am talking to you. It is set to ring only if my family members or close friends call. I have to realize that the world will not come to an end if I don't pick up a call. Neither am I going to feel liable to every phone ring just because the person on the other side has my number. There ought to be a more balanced way of consuming technology as opposed to being consumed by it.

I am present to the fact that it's a life-altering device but I do not have to let the phone be around me all the time. People and my space deserve me more. Sometimes gadgets make us live shallow lives, without those deeper conversations or poignant moments.

Any tips/ideas for today's generation?

- We need to give ourselves, gadget holidays. For eg. Sundays can be strictly no-gadget days, not even the TV. (These break days may soon become essential to maintain sanity, at least in the urban scenario.)
- My mobile is perpetually on silent mode, except for my family members and close friends, whose calls come through.
- Whenever I am out for leisure with my friends, I avoid taking calls. I think anyone who is with me in person deserves me in totality rather than just my mere physical presence. Needless to say one finds time to call back.
- No one really needs to carry the phone to the temple, gym, shower! That's the ‘me' time.
Being left to our own devices may actually not be in our best interest ;)