ADDICTED TO THE
NET
LT COL NOEL ELLIS
04/IV/2022
It is the second day without the
internet, could be catastrophic for many. For us it has been a time to get on
with life. Thank God they haven’t stopped the ‘communication’ part. At least we
can make calls and send messages.
It was also time to clean
galleries of our phones. Thousand plus videos and three thousand plus photos
had slowly trickled in. You mean to say I had spent two thousand minutes almost
thirty-three hours watching junk if a clip averaging two minutes. If one has
spent half a minute reading each pic or good morning quote it would be
approximate the same time spent.
Time spent ‘reading’ messages on
WhatsApp, would consume almost all the time minus the sleeping and eating time.
I am not counting the you tube videos and mails received since the phone was
last cleaned.
Friends & relatives ‘rarely’
call now and neither do I. It is invariably a chat. Probably we are so
connected through social media that it is taken for granted that we are in
close touch. A “like” on anything posted by a friend on face book is equivalent
to a conversation. A smiley conveys feelings. It an equivalent of a postcard of
the good old days. A comment is like an inland letter.
I like the face book trick too.
They ‘suggest’ what should be your reply to a particular kind of post with readymade
templates. Most friends click on a ‘pre-served’ choice. Hold your cursor on
something, it changes from a smiley to a ‘heart’. Double tap a message, it turns
into something else. Conversation takes place thus. You need to understand their
feelings & respect their precious time.
‘Hearts’ are something more than
a ‘like’. It doesn’t matter the hearts are green (with envy), brown as if
burnt, even one that beats. Feelings you see. It means that the contents of
your posts deserve much more appreciation than a thumbs up.
Then they are smileys which have
a black round shaped mouth without teeth. Basically meaning “Wow” it looks more
like it has shocked the recipient who instead of saying wow is saying ‘Hawww’.
There is one more appreciative
kind which has two hands near the smiley. I presume it is a ‘hug’. The lady
friend would never give you a hug in real life for obvious reasons considering
you a ‘thug’ instead.
Be that as it may, the absence of
internet is being missed. Today everyone on the road is seen walking scrolling
his or her mobile phone without the net. This morning a person who constantly keeps
looking at his screen while walking even wished me. Will he do so again when
the net is restored?
There were two ladies a ‘Devrani-Jethani’
team working for us a few days back, addicted to their phones. They would walk
in to work with their earphones plugged & leave the same way. Wife had to
tap their shoulders to convey something which they did not appreciate.
Reminded me of my VIKAS days when
‘buddy’ of yours came in to fix your uniform with a Walkman on, listening to
Dire Straits or Pink Floyd. “Pinja” could also polish your shoes and serve you
a drink but with his Walkman on.
During one of the annual leave,
one bought a Walkman as an ‘Afsaran-e-Hind’. Though one did not like buddy
wearing headphones, one took a chance with Dad. We were travelling to someone’s
house with Dad as the pillion on the bike. One put on headphones and drove on.
He didn’t say a word, so I took it that probably he didn’t mind.
On our return, the dressing down
one got was a lesson for life. “Noel, you come home after ages, when do we get
time to talk” he said. He was right. He reminded me of our long chats. As a
kid, I used be sitting behind his bi-cycle and blabber non-stop on our way to
the river for fishing. He smiled and
said son, there are things which should not be said but understood. It was a
sign of discourteousness.
Today’s generation has movies
& music stored in their phones. They plan their music according to the
journey time. Kids switch off from the world till they reach their destination.
Then ask, aa gaya kya?
Internet is definitely a boon but
a bane too. We have got addicted to our mobiles and lost on precious time people
could spend with each other. The basic courtesies have been forgotten. Even
when people sit together, reading a message is more important than your company,
is what one has observed. Phones should be kept aside in gatherings is my view.
Is there any de-addiction centre? I wonder!!!!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© NOEL ELLIS
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