Tech One.

Who doesn’t love a Smartphone? I’d be lying if I say I don’t. It has become a dominant way of life. What’s a day in 2014 without touch scrolling down the Facebook news feed and liking a post or two on the way? Just a few days ago, I was going through the headlines on my Times of India application, when I came across an interesting piece. It spoke about a 10.5 km Wi-Fi zone in Rajarhat, New Town. It was going to be a first in the country that will enable a large number of businessmen and IT officials to avail this connectivity while commuting on that stretch. It made me wonder, is technology like Pinocchio’s nose? Will it never stop growing? 

I still remember the first Nokia phone I owned. It was a no camera, monochromatic phone with butterfly buttons. It had six ringtones and two games (I still maintain that Snake is the best game I have ever played). Two years later, after a respectable score in one of the semesters, my mother presented to me, a Nokia 3550. It was jet black and shiny. It even took pictures and allowed me to Google. For many days after that, the phone couldn’t escape my clutches, even in slumber. A few more years down the line, QWERTY became a fad, and I proudly owned the Golden Matte Nokia E72, expressing great alarm at how people could still manage to type with a phone keyboard. Little did I know then, that soon I would be an outcast owing to the fact that my phone had buttons. Pat, came my fourth phone, or to be precise my first Smartphone, the Sony Xperia P. It gave me a parallel virtual life where I could play the piano, refer to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, buy discount coupons, make music, find restaurants, book tickets, feed my pet cat, translate English to Bengali, maintain my expenses, check the mirror to smooth my hair… the list is endless. I can almost feel it breathing in my pocket, demanding to be fed every few hours and sometimes shoving some major attitude by being stubbornly inoperative.  

Gone are the days when a hostel-ite had to wait in queue to call home from the sole landline. With Skype on your desktop, meals, happiness and sorrows can be shared with equal ease - homesickness has gone down by several notches. 3.7 frames/second. That’s how fast my DSLR fires. On a particular weekend trip, I took 500+ shots capturing into a memory every moment spent there.  When my mother is shopping, she Whatsapp’s me the images of the two bags she wants me to choose from, thus removing the hassle of a second visit.  Have a crush on someone? The only thing you need to know is his/her number/Facebook ID. And thus shall begin your online courtship. Once, I saw a girl taking a picture of the number plate of a taxi. On being asked, she said she would upload the photo using the Kolkata Police Application, so that requisite action could be taken against the driver for refusing service. In the mood for a particular song or movie? Entertainment is now live and in the air. Just type in the name and it will appear in your Downloads Folder in no time. The latest Smartphone of Samsung allows one to check their pulse rate. Just Dial is the new Yellow Pages, Google is the new encyclopaedia. Quick and easy are our new middle names. Indeed, technology has silently sniffed its way into every nook and corner of our existence. 

Yesterday, my friend texted me saying that she had something important to tell. When I asked her what, she replied “Meet korle details bolbo, e bhabe bolle tor reactions gulo dekhte parbo na” Her words hit me and it made me think. Does the hostel-ite of today experience that crazy craving for home? Has he ever felt the all-troubles-being-washed-away moment when you hear your Mum’s voice at the end of the day? Did the 36 photo reel camera make us value every photograph even more? Do we miss waiting eagerly for the photographs to be delivered in the paper envelope? Have we forgotten how blessed it feels when one surprises you with a gift and also gives you the receipt in case you want to exchange? Are we becoming our own doctors? Do we feel sad when we see the cassette shelf collecting dust? Do you remember your excitement when your family took a trip to the VCD parlour and you were allowed to bring your favourite movie home? Do we wish we belonged to a time, when love meant building up the courage to face her and say it and then boldly bearing the brunt in case of a rejection? Are we not savouring in the hurry to swallow? Some questions are best left unanswered. 

Those who say that the technological revolution happening in India is much required, probably have valid reasons to say so. But for me, this revolution should have taken place after certain standards were met and certain parameters fulfilled. When we epitomize the developed nations and their fast moving environment and strive for their urbanized commodities, we are probably overlooking the basic difference between our bedrocks. What is the use of technology in a nation like ours, whose majority is malnourished, impoverished and illiterate? Wouldn’t it be like painting a broken pot? After all, a key ingredient of technological growth is the knowledge of resourcefully using the same. Given the wavering foundation on which we have built our dome of digital development, are the chances of its misuse increased? Unfortunately this question is very much answered in the affirmative. The lower strata of the society may not have food in their stomach or money in their pockets, but most definitely they have a phone in their hand. Apart from basic communication requirements, the phone is also a source of their carnal satisfaction thanks to the percolation of the internet in even the most basic of handsets. How often is it that you were walking in your locality, and you saw a group of paara chyangras all huddled around a phone?  I am sure they weren’t watching cartoons with such glee. I am also sure that coupled with a drink or two, what their depraved minds desired could ravish the life of another. But wait. Why should I say the lower strata? Wasn’t a member of the Parliament caught enjoying porn when he should have been deliberating on issues that affect the nation? Don’t qualified professionals commit data theft? Doesn’t that college boy morph pictures of the girl who refused him? Even the very literate have corrupt intentions of abusing technology. I do not want to sound like a cynic, but I strongly believe that there are much graver issues to be resolved before focusing on e-expansion. It is somewhat like giving a knife and fork to an ape before he has evolved into a human. Would you blame him if he chose to use it as a weapon rather than cutlery? 

A friend once said, ebaar dekhbi emon ekta app aasbe jekhane khabar ta dekhle I pet bhore jaabe”. Although said as a joke, the thought was scary. Are we moving away from the real world? Birthday wishes have been reduced from cards, to emails, to phone calls, to text messages to Whatsapp to not remembering at all. I think we can safely say that our fingers talk more than our mouth. Yes, I won’t deny that there are moments when technology makes me smile. One evening, my mother informed me with childlike happiness that she had found her best friend from school on Facebook after 30 long years and they were planning a reunion soon. Her words lighted up my eyes and made my day. It was like the silver lining of a dark looming cloud. Whether technology is a bane or boon, is something everyone will have a different answer to, but for now I just have two things to say: To you, the administrators of my state, there are remote places that don’t have permanent roads till date, try connecting them properly, I assure you it will be stronger than the proposed Wi-Fi connection and to you, my reader, the next time you meet a person you love, hug them tight right away, and let the tiny virtual black hearts take a backseat for the time being.

Grimly Gay (Picture Courtesy: Internet)