The boon and bane of Cell phones...

I give up.
I give up because I don't know wether to praise the pros or undermine the cons of mobile phones.
I give up because everyday I seem to be losing friends to talk to because I prefer to talk instead of text.
I give up because I'm tired.

I know the benefits of having a mobile phone. I know in times of emergency the mobile phone is God sent. My sis and I had forced our mother to carry and use a mobile phone, ourselves! I know that it has helped millions of people around the world connect with each other on a regular basis, the benefits being manifold. The problem is we have stopped using the mobile phone as what it is, a phone, and use it more like a shortcut communication device only. We hardly call each other on the mobile phone anymore. We text.

I know it is cheaper to text or Whatsapp than to make a call, especially so coz nowadays people you want to talk to are spread far and wide and everybody's schedules are so choc a bloc that a simple call does not feature anywhere on their to do list anymore. Actually, it cannot feature on a to do list anymore. Calls cost money, time and attention. Yes, it costs attention. One has to concentrate on hearing and replying and participate in a phone call. It means one has to turn away from whatever obviously more important task one is involved in to answer. A phone call is like confrontation. It is up front questions being asked and answered and immediate fights and resolutions. Maybe, that is what we're scared of. Confrontation.

We are a generation of in betweens. We've known times when we had very limited technology and we now see the big bang of it! When I was a child, every house did not own a refrigerator, let alone a television. We were still tuning into the radio and were lucky that we had a 'tape recorder' at home. I was very lucky because I grew up in a house with a radio, refrigerator, tape recorder and a television. I remember times when the tele showed programs at fixed hours only and had to be constantly adjusted to get a clear black and white picture. The antenna on the roof had to be turned to a certain direction and only a very steady, deft hand could do it, to catch the Bangladesh telecasts!! I remember watching Hulk as a child on grainy black and white flickering image on tv and feeling extremely privileged!! Nowadays, I have so many channels I don't know which one to watch and am constantly jumping from one to another! So, you understand why these current circumstances get to me.

From then to now is a big leap, of course there is the part about how much easier our lives have become, but, at what cost?

I know the mobile phone is here to stay with it donning a new avatar every few years and becoming bigger and better. By bigger I mean in concept only, it's actually getting smaller. but then again they can't seem to decide whether they want it big or small. The phones become slimmer but bigger because of their large screens and the tablets become smaller and handheld.

The story of our lives have changed. Our lives are more complicated. Our lives are larger than we'd ever imagined it could be. And in these mammoth sized existences, where we own every available communication gadget in market, we are more alone and distant than we ever were. 

Here's to a a world where we're constantly lonely but never alone

Always connected but never 'in touch'

Continuosly busy but never without distractions...

Here's to a world so close yet so far....the cell phone befits our lives pat!