“Change is the law of nature”, agreed, but at times, it mars the beauty of routine life. These days we come across human beings of all age groups deeply engrossed in their cell phones, thus eluding the little pleasures of life. There is no denying that there has been a paradigm shift in our life style. What was adored and admired before the advent of cell phones does not hold any ground in today’s time. Mobile phones have ushered us into a virtual world deprived of human feelings. A child’s vulnerability can be sensed by how inquisitively he scrolls the screen.

Reminiscences hit me hard when I take a trip down the memory lane. Rushing home after school and waiting for the sun to sink in the lap of the earth used to pump in the adrenaline rush in me. Playing gully cricket with the neighbourhood friends was much sought after.

Accidentally hitting the ball in the peevish uncle’s balcony would draw flak from the latter. Investing little money in buying a new ball now seems more pleasuresome than investing in mutual funds. It gave meaning to life.

Even the power cuts were welcomed. Without electricity, we could not study, which eventually handed us an opportunity to play games like hide-and-seek and run and catch under the moonlight. Such intense physical games were part and parcel of the

then life.

But now when I turn my head to the millennial, I get choked with disgust. I see my daughter lying in the couch the entire day and scrolling the screen and switching from one app to another. Her stupid world is confined to the smart phone.

She is no less than a prisoner, who does not even long for acquittal. If she were to use it constructively for research work, it would be justified, but how would you justify a teen not evading the sight of her phone even for a millisecond? The disruption in the internet connection or the draining out of the battery gives her palpitations. People can be usually seen glued to their cell phones even at the social gatherings.

This for me is a grave issue, which seems to be on the verge of ringing the death knell of human civilisation. Thousands of people till date have succumbed to these smart phones, and millions are in the queue to meet the same fate. In this context, there are two quotes that fascinate me the most: “It is an era of smart phones and stupid people” and “Life was good when phones were wired.”