Smartphones alright but not humane

Paras Sharma, Assistant Editor, India News

When I take the bus to work, I see people glued to their phones. They seem so busy with their phones that they seem to have forgotten the charm of looking out of the window and admiring the beautiful landscapes as the bus passes through different roads. Nearly everyone is busy with their phones that almost every time, I feel out of place and an urge to take my phone out of my pocket pricks me. "Am I the only one who is not busy?", "Are these people doing important stuff on their phones or just browsing social media?" and "Do I not have enough things to keep me busy on my phone or why do I not feel the urge to browse social media like others", questions like these cross my mind often when I'm in the bus and FOMO grips me. I feel as if there's something abnormal about me. Phone in the pocket, looking out of the window and travelling without earphones are things about me that make me feel like an alien with almost all people with their headphones and phones on.

Nobody on the bus notices the woman sitting and crying at the next bus station. Nobody hears the sounds of so many other things going on around. It's hard to tell who is in the virtual and who is in the real world. Who is missing out and who is not? The other day I eavesdropped on a tourist couple sitting on the bus trying to understand the route to their destination. They were almost panicking as they were unable to find the correct route on their phones. As we got down I approached them and told them the exact route and they seemed so relaxed and thankful. The happiness on their faces made me feel good about myself. Thank god I wasn't having headphones on. Eavesdropping can sometimes be good. The point that I want to make here is that there is no substitute for google maps and technology but conventional ways of helping people around have and will always have their own place. And people to people contact will only rejuvenate if we give a break to our phones and headphones and make our lives more human.