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In the last over 20 days, I have had no access to Whatsapp
or BBM or Facebook or Twitter or E-Mail on my mobile phone thanks to Arvind
Kejriwal’s Janata Darbar, held earlier this month where a pickpocket stole my precious BlackBerry Bold 9900—one of the
few phones that I really loved.
As my hunt continues for a new phone (Iphone 5 being the top
choice) the last three weeks, I have survived on a five-year-old Nokia C5,
lying in my drawer unused.
Though it supports internet and Facebook,
I am sure it’s not
meant for surfing the net or posting pictures etc. on FB.
With access to just phone calls and SMS, the first few days
were chaotic. Sun-consciously, I would pick up the phone to check for BBM
updates or a Whatsapp message but only to realize that I no longer had the “privileges.”
I felt helpless. No group chats on Whatsapp, no awesome
games, no daily dose of news from Twitter and to top it all no check-ins on FB
when out with friends.
Suddenly, the life had become boring. I felt like I was not
connected to the world.
But as they say, there’s
a flipside to everything, this situation, that was forced upon me by the blessings
of Baba Kajriwal and the Aam Aadmi read thief, there were some upsides as well.
I had developed a habit of checking my phone at regular
intervals for any updates. Borderline fidgety I would say. That gradually faded
away. I was calmer than before.
No e-mails meant that when I left office, work was the last
thing on my mind until I went back the next day.
Because, official mails kept
pouring in all day long and even at nights—as I work for a 24-hour newswire.
The best part though was the battery life. I am charging it
ONCE and I repeat ONCE EVERY TWO OR THREE DAYS. Can you believe it?
Since the advent of smartphone, we’ve simply forgotten how
the earlier phones would continue to run on and on without needing a recharge.
My BlackBerry needed to be charged twice everyday and from what I’ve heard, the
Iphone needs it even more.
But at the end of it all, after these three weeks, I’ve had
enough of this serenity and calm. I guess we all are dependent of social networking
and vice-versa. We are hooked to it like a drug.
And, just like a vacation to Mussoorie is a welcome break,
in the end you do have to return to your home, your office, your routine life.
