Unplug from virtual world to live in real

When I see my children engrossed and hypnotised by the screens of smartphones, I secretly wish that somehow we could travel back to the time when childhood was more innocent and uncorrupted by gadgets.

Children as young as a year are hooked to smartphones and tabs. Any attempt by parents or grandparents to keep gadgets away is met with resistance, tantrums and panic attacks.

The signs of smartphone addiction start early. Parents are having sleepless nights thinking about deadly, suicidal games such as Blue Whale. No wonder in America and Europe, people take smartphone-free holidays and go on internet detox. They enforce strict internet regulation and child filters.

It is hard to imagine that only 15 years ago, we were dependent on landline phones and STD (subscriber trunk dialing) booths for communication. Landline phones were considered an important device in households. I remember the phone room was the most important place in our hostel of 200 boys. It was the nerve centre, buzzing with activity 24x7. One could get any information regarding any subject or person in that room. It was virtually the Google search bar of the hostel. The boys assigned the duty to man the phones were treated with respect by all. They were privy to intimate details of the who’s who of the hostel.

Late night gossips compensated for today’s Facebook chats. Television rooms beamed the latest songs on MTV and sports channel ruled the roost. Libraries and canteens were hangout zones. The times gone by saw more face to face interactions, idea exchanges, hot debates and arguments. People were more accessible and friendships ran deep. There was ample time for real relationships.

At present, it is common to see a family out on dinner where everyone is busy on their respective devices, oblivious to the surroundings. It’s not uncommon to see a group of friends busy taking selfies, ignoring everyone around. Their virtual world takes precedence over the real one.

If predictions are to go by, we are entering an era of artificial intelligence, machine learning and virtual reality. Robotics and intelligent machines will be a reality. Driverless cars, delivery drones and super smart medical diagnostic devices will replace drivers, delivery boys and even doctors and paramedics. Virtual reality and augmented reality will blur the difference between the real and the virtual world. Commercial space travel will become affordable and Facebook will be flooded with pictures from vacations from the moon or Mars.

We cannot time travel to life without smart phones, social media and virtual reality, but we can surely unhook from these devices for some time and engage in real face to face interaction, more real-life socialising, outdoor games and physical activity. Our endeavour should be to enhance our consciousness to surroundings be it nature or people.

THE SIGNS OF SMARTPHONE ADDICTION START EARLY. PARENTS ARE HAVING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS THINKING ABOUT DEADLY, SUICIDAL GAMES SUCH AS BLUE WHALE FLOATING ON THE NET