A smartphone has a heart of gold, if we use it well
The world has changed unbelievably in two decades, especially since the advent of the smartphone. Who would’ve imagined the instant sharing of messages and videos, the scramble to get ‘likes’ and the phenomenon of posts going viral till a decade ago. This revolution in communication has touched our lives in many ways.
However, this spectacular transformation has come with its own set of problems. Mental health professionals are only just discovering the perils of prolonged screen time, leading to smartphone addiction and disruption of professional output and social responsibilities.
Being a psychiatrist, I’ve been coming across an increasing number of concerned parents bringing along their young children, who are addicted to the smartphone whether it’s online gaming, shopping, or virtually any application of this sly device. Researchers from around the world are working to unravel treatment strategies for this latest entrant in the list of mental health disorders.
I recently discovered another hitherto ignored aspect of the smartphone, albeit unknowingly. My mother turned 75 last month and we gifted her a smartphone. I anticipated a cold welcome to the device but the grand old lady of the house left us surprised. Before long, I found my mother lost in the virtual alleys of the smartphone. She managed to open a WhatsApp account, a Facebook and a YouTube account as well.
This changed her life dramatically. She stopped complaining of loneliness and could be seen preoccupied in the virtual world through the day.
One of the first places that she searched on YouTube was her birthplace, Kot Najib Ullah, a tiny village in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. The videos of dusty lanes and the rugged landscape left her teary-eyed. It was a poignant moment for her to have returned to her place of birth in the evening of her life, though in virtual mode.
Her enthusiasm for finding out new recipes has also been rekindled by this device. She stays abreast with the latest news at all times as she has subscribed to news channels.
We see her singing along vintage Dev Anand songs and re-experiencing the romance on the silver screen. It has brought back a flood of happy memories relating to long queues outside cinema halls for getting the prized ticket to the first day first show of a Dev Anand movie; the eternal debate that she and her friends used to have on who’s a better actor between Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar. Who says smartphones are sinister devices full of vices!
My mother was overjoyed when she managed to connect with one of her MSc classmates, who had shared pictures of his trip to Europe on social media. The classmate had recently lost his wife. My mother made it a point to send her condolences through WhatsApp. The connection through social media mattered a lot to both the senior citizens. The smartphone, after all, does have a heart of gold, that’s only if we use it well.
IT WAS A POIGNANT MOMENT FOR HER TO HAVE RETURNED TO HER PLACE OF BIRTH IN THE EVENING OF HER LIFE