I belong to the generation that is proud to be the last of the breed that played on the streets, watched only Doordarshan as a kid and successfully lived through teenage without a mobile phone. Today, however, I am guilty of giving into the latest trend and have surrounded myself with screens of all resolutions and sizes.
The obvious side effect has been a growing waistline. We tend to sit with a bowl or glass of some junk in front of the TV; we choose to order our grocery over phone instead of taking the walk; at work we find ourselves pinned to our system. In the process we land up sitting a lot and encourage our muscles (well most of them) to forget their purpose. We are ruining our health.
The obvious side effect has been a growing waistline. We tend to sit with a bowl or glass of some junk in front of the TV; we choose to order our grocery over phone instead of taking the walk; at work we find ourselves pinned to our system. In the process we land up sitting a lot and encourage our muscles (well most of them) to forget their purpose. We are ruining our health.
The other side effect, that most people ignore, is growing distance between us and the ones we love/care for. I rarely see a family sitting together for dinner without the TV switched on. Whereas this was the time, in my family, where we exchanged updates about each other at the end of a long day; shared joy and laughter. We do not meet our friends as often because we have Facebook. We don’t visit family/relatives because “A call should suffice”. Yes, I hear you scream, “Where is the time?” But think about it, before communication moved to the digital arena, we would make at least one trip to meet them.
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The bond that I share with my family or siblings today is because I never had the option to plug my ears or glue my eyes to the computer or PS3 or Xbox, isolating myself from all the love and care that flowed around me. We distance ourselves from our spouse too. How often do we find ourselves with our “devices” in the evening instead of chatting with each other? And then we complain we don’t have enough time to spend with each other.
Our quest for excellence has assumed break neck pace and we are losing what should be most precious to us. How hard can it be to put our foot down and tell our office, “I am in the office for a good 10 hours. Intelligent time management should not have you looking for me after that. Unless of course someone is dead or the building is on fire.” I promise to give it a try. How about you?
Our quest for excellence has assumed break neck pace and we are losing what should be most precious to us. How hard can it be to put our foot down and tell our office, “I am in the office for a good 10 hours. Intelligent time management should not have you looking for me after that. Unless of course someone is dead or the building is on fire.” I promise to give it a try. How about you?
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