Once I sent my drawings to a friend; she liked them and from then on she started asking regularly whether I have made any new art work or not. On the other hand, I am not able to produce artworks on a regular basis, however hard I try. So the next time this girl asked me for any new painting, I didn’t have anything to show. I was also afraid that she would start giving me sermons on the need of a more disciplined life and to be regular in art — all that stuff which I had heard several times from her and others. So in order to escape from rebuke, I searched my hard disk and sent the photograph of a very old painting which I had made long back. She replied, “Wow this is very nice work! I should say your painting skills have improved a lot! Great work!“ This was the first instance of fake appreciation for me. She was trying to tell me that I had made great progress in art but her facts were incorrect. I immediately understood that she was simply passing superficial comments and perfunctory appreciation.
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How To Handle Criticism
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यदि सोशल नेटवर्किंग साइटों पर होने वाले तर्कों को देखें तो लगता है कि हम लोगों के पास किसी भी समस्या का समाधान नहीं है । इससे अधिक बुरी बात यह है कि पुराने मुद्दे सुलझते नहीं, और नए मुद्दे आते जाते हैं । मुझे तो यहाँ तक लगता है कि हममें विचार करने की शक्ति का ही अभाव है । बात अनन्त काल तक तर्क करते रहने और किसी भी नतीजे तक न पहुँचने की नहीं है । बात है तर्कों और विचार-विमर्श की गुणवत्ता की । किसी भी मुद्दे पर समाज की प्रतिक्रिया पढकर अब झल्लाहट ही होती है । फिर राजनेताओं और मंत्रियों की भाषा शैली ! ध्यान से देखें तो पाएँगे कि अधिकतर बातों में अथवा टिप्पणी में कोई संदेश होता ही नहीं है । इस पर प्रश्न उठता है कि यदि हम किसी भी विषय पर तार्किक टिप्पणी ही न कर सकें अथवा दूसरे के तर्क को सुन-समझ ही न सकें तो फिर हमारी 15 वर्षों की शिक्षा का क्या लाभ ? 
A well known publisher once expressed his concern about the declining reading habit these days. He seemed to be extremely worried and started a discussion on Facebook asking how to encourage reading habit. Some people gave very good input. The discussion was over in a few days — the usual lifetime of any Facebook post. However, couple of months later, the publisher posted the same query once again! This time nobody replied to him. 
Routine annual inspection of our school went well and smoothly. After the education inspector left, the teacher asked our class –
I do not remember the exact title and date when that article was published; the only detail I can recall is that it appeared in The Hindu, and that it examined the role of cinema in violence and other crimes. It made an interesting observation that although people may not be immediately motivated to subscribe to violent behaviour after watching action movies, watching it played repeatedly on screen does make them callous and apathetic. No arguments; yes, we do not seem to be appalled any more while witnessing the aftermath of violence of any type in society. 
Walking through corridors of computer centre and various laboratories, I occasionally witness students and young workers completely glued to the screens, switching the tabs between YouTube and Facebook. It is not that elders and seniors do not act in a similar way. My concern is the draining out of precious efficiency, strength and creativity of youth years. Sri Harishankar Parsai called it the age to make mistakes and learn from them. There is something hypnotising in these services, which makes it near-impossible for the young to retract their steps. It does lower the conscious level, makes the mind dull and stupid, not to mention the number of hours wasted that way. 
Pradyot 