No wonder, in a short span, technology has taken leap and bounds, making itself an inevitable part of human life. Right from placing grocery needs online to feeding oneself , booking tickets online to commuting - everything, today takes place in just a ‘click of a button.’ In fact, in just a fraction of a few seconds. The launch of the world wide web has made life easy like never before. And the world with no boundaries. In other words, technology has made the unbelievable, not so distant past things.
- But with the huge quantum leap of technology to future, aren’t we forgetting the analogue past that made us what we are today. How it has turned the globe all upside-down?? Not unknown to many, Francine Cefola, Co-author of the book ‘Tell It To The Future,’ once quoted- “There’s a great saying that if we don’t know where we come from, how can we know where we are going??”. Those days when one pretended to be the coolest by holding a Sony Walkman or writing a letter to a pen friend or a dear one and figuring out how the giant world looked so tiny in an atlas! was indeed a thrilling affair.
Today, its all about two ‘I’s - ‘Invention & Innovation.’ Hand-written letters are taken over by mails and digital texts; top-up cards are now digital wallets, tuition centres are education apps, downloading movies/music to streaming movies/music online - all took curvy roads - claiming an innovative world.
With the passage of time, technology has taken a huge control over our lives. And, a new product and a newer version of the existing product is nothing exciting anymore. It has merely become a general thing. It could be a blessing for the new generation but at the same time, it could be a not-so-likeable factor for many-especially, a generation of the 90s or before that. Being a 90s kid, I personally believe that it was the best of the era we lived in because the term ‘technology’ was just a jargon. Those five-stoned games(commonly known as gutte), Antakshari for quick-memory minds, Chuppan Chupai AKA hide-n-seek, gully cricket, football with pomelo fruit and list which is unaccountable not only brewed a fresh bonding among friends but with time, making it even stronger(Trust me, I still have those gully friends as my adulthood partners. Chuckles!!)
My past memoirs not only make me ponder upon the fast-moving advancements but indeed make me go back to the point when a young girl who answered the Missile Man’s vision of a New India, which reflects in his book ‘India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium” - a developed India. Reflecting on Kalam’s word, what keeps me hitting my head hard is that ‘Is technologically advanced India, a developed India? Is it only limited to infrastructure, technology, and economy, and not the overall human and societal development?
From all the above-mentioned factors, I firmly believe that happiness lies in being minimalistic, not maximalist. And, that seed is needed to be sown right from childhood. Today’s kids are more engrossed in mobile phones and are unaware of the practical world. The fear of losing the first place, in any event, be it academic or extra-curricular, has made their life so mundane that - all they believe is in the virtual world. With the advent of Smart Phones, and Smart games taking the forefront, life seems to be more of an artificial kind, thus, fading away from the social touch gradually. Living in thatched roofs than concrete jungles would teach values and add more to life rather than making one vulnerable and competitive in no matter what.
Before Robot Butlers, Flying Cars to Exoskeleton Suits covers the entire universe; it’s important to live in the moment and grow by observing things, not directly grasping to experience them. It’s now time to understand that the essence of living lies in small happiness. In present times, modern parents should understand and culminate among kids the knowledge of sharing, joy, and happiness. Allowing them to play in the mud, reducing the usage of digital apps to learn each and everything to speaking their native language will not kill their curiosity; in fact, it will enhance them to learn more and more about the moving world.
To conclude, technology is best when it brings people together, and definitely not by exceeding humanity. Furthermore, it should not make humans think about how powerful they can be.
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