WHAT I HATE THE MOST ABOUT MODERN LIFE AND WHY?

WHAT  I HATE THE MOST ABOUT MODERN LIFE AND WHY?

While expressing my thoughts on the subject, I have to compare the modern life with that in my childhood.  It is like a typical old man speaking and irritating young generation.

For old people it is often suggested not to speak about their old days.  What is the use? Gone is gone.  After all, who is interested in their past life? And whey others should be? But old people are generally adamant as they love their old days, condemning all the negative things of the modern life.

Understanding the modern days, adapting with the modern life, knowing the latest technology and applications and using them in daily life is the sign of liveliness.

But this is not enough.  One has to apply sarasar vivek i.e. power of discretion in this aspect.  For example, how much importance is to be given to mobile phones, computers? Should we allow them to overtake the charge of our lives?

We must appreciate and be grateful for this marvelous technology – mobile phones. Within seconds we are in contact with our loved ones at any time anywhere. Now I can have video call with my son in USA at any time.  That too at negligible cost. Every time after having video call with my son, the feeling of gratitude overcomes me.  I know some decades ago, parents of a child who has gone to USA for education or job could communicate with him by postal letters only – a letter usually took 15 days to reach the child abroad. So we are lucky old people due to the modern life technology.  And we are grateful for that.

Laptop- its application

However, I remember one cartoon sketch wherein the banner showed ‘Get together’ of certain 1975 batch of a school.  All the gathered were shown looking at their mobile phone, without bothering the batch mates they were meeting first time after 35-36 years. But this is the tendency of the people in modern life.  One prefers to get engaged with the person at the other remote end ignoring the ones in front of him.  Moreover, the conversation is not brief but prolonged one. This is wrong.

Nowadays, mobiles are as good as computers. Everything is there, movie, games, camera for photography and video shooting and what not.

Once I came across a quite disturbing incident. Two children aged 8 and 13 years were playing on their separate mobiles.  They were playing the same game and were discussing which weapons should be selected for the particular purpose in the game so as the target is effectively achieved.  This was very unfortunate. 

This led to inevitable comparison with my childhood.  We used to play kites, hide and seek, drawing and painting, open door games like cricket, kabaddi, football, etc.  Those activities gave us ample scope for us to develop love and sense of belonging to the nature, developed our power of imagination, creativity, ideas, physical fitness. Of course, our parents were conscious as to what we were engaged in.  Now in modern life parents appear more helpless than being aware of the activities of children.

Same thing about environment in the family.  After returning home in the evening all are glued to the TV serials, news and all other good for nothing programmes. Very rarely personal exchanges take place among the family members.  Alas, this is a part of modern life. This leads to lack of attachment among the family members. 

Post computerisation, lot of works, especially those of old people, have become easy. For example, paying electricity bills, water bills, municipal tax, banking, other similar works for which otherwise one will have to waste one working day. We old people must express gratitude for the same and ensure secretion of endorphin in their system and achieve rejuvenation, both physically and mentally.

But the darker side cannot be overlooked.  Due to internet, children have easy access to each and every thing they are eager to know but afraid to ask their parents.

Summarily, I can say that all I hate about modern life and technology is because of the wrong application we have been ignoring sarasar vivek i.e. the ability to understand what is right and wrong,what is good and what is bad, what is advisable and not advisable. 

And for having strong sarasar vivek one must put efforts to come into contact with right values in life – moral and amoral, ethical and unethical, humane and inhumane, lawful and unlawful.

And most importantly, having sarasar vivek must be followed by its application in our daily life.

This will lead to transformation in life.

Next time ....