The 'mobile connections'

A year ago, I would never have thought that my family would end up like this. Right now, the four members are in four different districts of Kerala and the place we call 'home' is a place where none of us actually stay. The connection between the family members is through the ubiquitous cell phone and deprivation of its use due to low charge in the battery or even low balance causes much heartburn. This is the case with many of us today and I feel that I am seriously addicted to the phone. I become very irritable when deprived of it. The two hours I spend without it when I have to charge it seems an endless torture to me. Hell, the joke is that the government must provide us all with free mobile connections and it must not charge us for it because 'free speech' is there in the Fundamental Rights. With the extremely low tariffs prevailing in the state today, it seems that indeed the joke is becoming a reality.

The places with 'low range' are become curiosities. People are increasingly 'networked'. I still feel that I have the same kind of warm relations I had with my family as I feel that they're near and I can communicate with them any instant I feel.

There is a problem, however. When you actually meet the persons you talk with for hours over phone, there is a paucity of subjects to talk on. Everything has already been dealt with. There is nothing new to catch the other's attention. I will narrate an incident. Some of my classmates and I decided to have a get-together last thursday. We met and we ate but we didn't talk as much as I expected. Later, after reaching the hostel, I talked with each one of them over the phone in much more friendly terms than when they were actually present in front of me.

The reason may be simple: When you are actually meeting a real person, you subconsciously decide that the other person would like to hear fantastic things from you. Since you have talked about the 'fantastic things' in your life to practically everyone you care about on the phone, there is nothing left. So after the meeting you sometimes wish had not met. A lot of time, money and planning are requires to arrange direct, face-to-face meetings. You don't feel it worthwhile to waste such precious moments talking about mundane things. The result is the almost silent atmosphere. It would take some time to change this conception and realise that your friends are not really expecting great things from you, but by the time the truth actually dawns on you, it is time to move on. On the other hand, talking on the phone requires little investment and it actually helps us relieve our stress. The net result is that though we virtually converge, we diverge in reality. Mobile connections have really redefined our society and our relations with others. Inspired by Asimov, I am almost tempted to say that this kind of technological innovations may finally result in the creation of a society where members are averse to physical contact and communicate through virtual, 3-D technology.