The train always reached it’s destination a few hours later than the scheduled time. It was so normal (it still is!), we didn’t bother much whether we happened to be in the train or we had to pick up some masi-chachi from the station. But now? We call at almost every station to know or tell which station we are in and how much late is the train running! Earlier we would have simply called the railway enquiry to know the arrival time and comfortably taken a nap before leaving for the station. Such easy comfortable days those were!
Office goers always returned home late once in a while but family members remained relaxed understanding some extra work taking time. But now, it is not extra work that comes to the mind. It is either an accident or …….cheating spouses! The cause of delay must immediately be found out! What better way than to call on the cell phone to get the report from the horse’s mouth?….. God,… the world has become so complicated!
All these negative thoughts, where were they when the mobile phone was not there? I go to drop my son to school when my husband is still at home. Although I return in twenty minutes, still I have to carry my mobile, whenever I am mobile. What if something happens at home when I am away? Or how will I inform my husband if I happen to meet with an accident? Even when I am going to a neighbor’s place I must have the mobile with me. My son can easily come running to inform me whatever he wants to, but again I think, what if something serious happens and he cannot come to tell me? Were we careless in the olden golden times or is it that we have just become more loving and caring these days, sensing some end of the world (doomsday)?
Then there are the older people who are forced to buy a cell phone by their over concerned, caring adult children. May be sometime the old parents had gone to the washroom and hence could not pick up the landline. No further question! Keep a mobile wherever you go or sleep or dance. We must know whether you are still alive and kicking and so we can comfortably go on with our independent lives in some other far away city. So the poor old parents have to carry this lifeline every where, which they naturally forget every time they step out of the home, leaving the offspring super worried all the time. Add to this, the older generation’s inability to find the missed calls and messages. What is missed is missed! No confusion there. Old parents and mobile is really a funny combination. Grandpa will never forget his jhola and cap when going to the market, but the poor mobile remains immobile at home unless grandma runs with it after grandpa when he is leaving. Most often it is heard from under the pillow when grandma calls to remind grandpa to buy her medicine!
Whether it’s a busy businessman or executive, a carpenter or a rickshaw puller, everybody’s on the phone while on the move. The most immobile granny too is busy advising her married daughters on phone and the housewives too found the little mobility from kitchen to drawing room to pick up the landline, too much time and energy consuming.
There is neither time to bother about the road traffic, nor to listen to the birds chirping. Whether we are driving or strolling in a garden, in the office or in the bed, we always have to stay connected to the world! Socializing in the air!
