Hello, are you silent, loud or vibrating?

July 17, 2010 11:53 pm | Updated July 21, 2010 02:52 pm IST

The silence of the night was shattered. Passengers who were blissfully asleep lullabied by the chugging train frowned as they were rudely awakened. It took a few seconds to realise that the culprit was none other than the loud blaring ringtone of a gentleman's mobile phone.

Mobile phones have mushroomed in every nook and corner and have seeped so much into people's lifestyles that many feel helpless and lost when they realise they have forgotten to carry the device with them. The mobile phone is almost a consort to people these days. It has transmogrified life so much that we have become heavily dependent on this piece of technology in various walks of our lives.

I remember spending my times in the evening, after school, playing with friends, climbing trees, hopping on the playground, running after butterflies. But these days, one finds school students either SMSing (thanks to ‘free SMS' offers by service providers), calling up friends informing them that they had sent them a funny SMS or playing games on the phone! Whatever happened to the age of scrabble, running and catching, kho-kho, bicycle races and sand castles after school? It is a pity to see the beauty of childhood being snatched away this way. This has lead to children growing up in a precocious manner.

Barbie dolls and toy cars no longer occupy the prime position at the bedside. That has long been conquered by the mobile phone which has replaced bedtime stories and dreams. Lego toys, Sherlock Holmes novels, knitting and embroidery seem to be passé as smart phones have crept in. What a pity to see young minds flipping away idly! It is an eyesore to see children playing football, soccer or cricket virtually instead of engaging in the game in the real world.

At weddings, it is a common sight to see relatives of the bride and the groom huddled on the dais handing over their phones to the newly weds informing them that their cousin from the U.S. wants to wish them well. The priest has to stop chanting the mantras and wait for the conversation to finish. The wedding hall these days reverberates with ringtones from different mobile phones, each humming to its own glory unmindful of the sanctity of the proceedings.

Even the priests are busy answering phones in the midst of the rituals. I find it strange that at the workplace people do not bother to turn their mobile phones into ‘silent' or ‘vibrate' mode. Meetings are usually interrupted when one of the attendees' phones starts blaring out and then the attendee sheepishly mumbles a, “sorry,” and switches off the phone. What sort of ‘productivity' are we talking about when employees spend their time chatting, SMSing or even switching off their phone?

Moving on to road safety, when has it become acceptable to drive with the neck craned onto the shoulder to balance the mobile phone or ride with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding the phone? Nowadays, safety does not depend upon on how carefully one drives but it depends upon how the others drive on the road. Signals offer plenty of opportunity to quickly type an SMS. Handsfree systems and Bluetooth technologies have crept in and offer solace to drivers to stay connected even while on the move. But, at what cost? Is it not our responsibility to be judicious in our usage?

Movie watchers also have to endure the interruptions from people updating their friends on the phone on what the heroine is wearing or apologising to someone for not being able to speak as they are in a cinema hall. I once requested some people to turn off their mobile phones for which I invited sneers and catcalls from people sitting alongside. So much for etiquette!

My cousin recently passed away. We were offering words of comfort to her parents as she lay in her coffin in front of us. The atmosphere was filled with grief and distress. Out of the blue, a mobile phone blared out loudly. One of the visitors hurriedly rummaged through her bag to locate the phone that was comfortably nested right at the bottom. The rest of the evening, more such phones with different ringtones calling out, filled the air. Even the final hours were not in peace. Do we have to remain connected at the cost of distressing someone?

Lack of sensitivity

I am sure each of us has gone through more such annoying situations. This only goes to prove that we have lost our sensitivity towards our fellow beings. We are deeply engrossed in our lives alone that we have forgotten all about civic sense. We have started living in silos, our community being the ‘Contacts' list on our phone. Our increased need to reach out and call up people demonstrates the fact that we are getting lonelier with time.

It is time to think of the following:

a) With the advent of mobile phones, are we actually staying connected?

b) How many of us convey birthday, wedding wishes on the phone and fail to attend the function?

c) In a social gathering, how many people can actually walk up to strangers and strike up a conversation rather than flipping through their mobile phones to act busy?

d) Are we so self-indulgent that we have forgotten to be sensitive towards others?

Mobile phone technology has indeed changed the way we communicate and connect with people. While the pros are many, it is high time we exercised a civic sense and a responsible attitude towards its usage for, freedom without responsibility can have consequences unasked for.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.