Why we can't imagine life without a smartphone
Indians have no private life. We ask personal questions innocently. We can narrate our entire life in a few sentences. And we love to chat, mingle and jostle. But today the device which was intended for communication has become a necessity, and that makes us "available" now all the time.
Do we have the confidence to give our mobile to anyone for a few minutes? Men, women, boys, girls, businessmen, social or secluded - we all see the phone as our last saviour.
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| The urban milieu it seems can't live without their smartphones. |
We stare at the screen a thousand times a day, in hope and despair. We unlock it constantly to see something new, hoping as though a notification will somehow transform our lives; forward messages as sermons; smile at jokes; treat checking junk mails as serious activity; play games like a sport; listen to music; and are always frightened to see the "low battery" symbol.
The mobile phone is our lifeline. As the smartphone has entered public imagination, and everyone is on their way to purchase a newer, faster model, we have been swept by a revolution.
First, the mobile phone was intended to make calls, then message, then mail, then do social media, and now watch VoD (video on demand). What next?
One thing that has changed since mobile phones came into our lives is that we have changed. The mobile phone is like a locker of our real thoughts. We have become so attached to it that we protect it like our life and "izzat" (honour).
A rickshaw puller/street vendor has as much dependence on it for music as a student. And education has little to do with it.
The urban class it seems can't live without its smartphones. It is his only way to talk, play games, listen to music, gain information and to escape the daily burdens.
In all this, I hope we remember our old phones, dying somewhere in the corner of our cupboard. Every old model reminds us of the fragility of this tool, but we rely more on it day by day. Minute by minute.