Saturday, March 31, 2018

Food for thought - Net Connect

It has indeed been ages since the pen met the paper. It is my fault entirely. Just the other day I realized we have long since stepped into an era where a fellow human needs nobody anymore. Just a smart phone is enough. We hardly ever raise our heads nowadays, Do we know our neighbors anymore? Are our parents getting enough of our time? Are our Kids? Are our interests - other than what we can do by burying our noses into our phones?

It all started when my internet connection got disrupted last Wednesday afternoon and the ETA on repairs turned out to be 24 hrs for some ridiculous reason. For the first half hour I was annoyed and irritated. I switched on my mobile data to have whatsapp usage uninterrupted - I had to be able to communicate with the outside world at will at the very least...but rain and network dips got in a lag. It was then followed by a crippling anxiety, then a bit of boredom  - and then a strange sense of calmness set in. Gone was the urgency, the constant checking of the phone, the buried head lifted. It was a pleasant summer evening - I took a stroll, enjoyed the mild evening sun on my face, the light breeze in my hair, tea time with my mom, playtime with my dog. I caught up with neighbors with whom once I used to spend hours in a week (but a new job new timings have taken even those small pleasures away. What time is left is usually spent looking at the phone and sleep).

The next day, now almost 15 hrs without internet - took a morning walk with family and  grabbed some breakfast at a popular dosa place in the neighborhood, stopped to smell the flowers as they say. Pondering all while as if this was my first time - was the sky always this blue? does this mild summer heat really feel this wonderful on the skin? It was like all my senses had suddenly awakened. If the city felt this good imagine what the countryside would be like with nature and greenery all around and not to mention the bliss silence that would engulf us. This was what was missing from my regular routine - a certain awe of life and the simple joys - which have been replaced by technological monotony. Do not get me wrong, I simply love technology and the comfort and ease it brings to our lives. Also there is a sense of awe in technology too but I fear it has replaced so much of what should be natural to us as humans.

The net which has connected the whole wide world and made it such a small place to be easily explored is the same net that has us trapped to tiny devices as the world whooshes by us without so much as causing a blip in our radar. Made me wonder how we are imprisoned by something which was meant to connect us and how liberating it was now for me to be disconnected for once.

P.S. The net has long returned and I am back online sharing this with you - the world at large - should you care to read. But lesson learned that, it is in my best interest to actively disconnect on a regular basis and enjoy life as it passes by - even if it is just as a viewer and not a participant.

Feed your soul folks!!

-KPR

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