Head in the Clouds to Head in my phone

 Yes, yes, yes, we like to deny it. Most adults in my teenage life have told me at some point of time to put my phone down. Either through an impassioned speech, a disgusted stare or a passive-agressive joke in public about the youth of today. And as much as all of us like to say "That's not us" it is quite true for the most of us. 

The phone has evolved from a means of emergency communication that was used once in a while, to STD boxes, to the tiny, indestructible phones christened 'dabba' phones, all the way to the smartphones of today, which ironically seem to kill my braincells. 

The phone is not just a way to talk to people, but a small entertainment package. There is no limit to what can be achieved through a phone. Television, sports, social media, youtube, instant messaging, gaming, payments, photography, news and music - all of which used to have their own individual devices have been clubbed into one sleek little device. The phone has something for everyone. An essential for communication today, the phone also has apps to cater to each one's personal timepass. From Call of Duty to My Little Bake Shop, from YouTube to Productivity apps, from calculators to Byju's, the whole spectrum of humanity will find something they use their phone for. 

The phone, which no one had a mere 30 years ago, is now crucial to one's identity. Forget your underwear, but don't forget your phone. 

The phone has simplified life, to an extent I fear that has given our highly intellectual brains too little to do. It has become almost white noise, something we do as a reflex when we're bored. I've had moments where I've been in the middle of a conversation and out of nowhere find myself scrolling WhatsApp on my phone. 

The phone and other means to access the internet gives us a way to think less. Feeling sad? Watch a funny show. Feeling mad? Listen to your favourite politician yelling at the other party. Feeling bored? Circulate a WhatsApp forward about the dangers of consuming goat intestine and have fun. 

I find myself replacing the time I should spend reflecting, writing or conversing trying to fill my brain with noise. Because noise is easy. Noise doesn't require thinking. 

The phone is a predator. Initially it was these 'young people' and 'teenagers' who fell prey to its shiny exterior, it soon fell into the hands of children. Every child has it programmed to put on their favourite song on YouTube or to start playing Banana Kong when the adults start talking. What happened to drawing, to playing, to running, to falling, to blabbering, to asking questions? Your 3-year-old child is more familiar with the characters on Dora than with the sisters in your family. 

But the more senior adults, who looked down at us for so long, have fallen prey as well. My own father, who not that long ago told me about how he doesn't 'do all this WhatsApp and all', finds himself receiving and sending numerous messages everyday. The seniors I think have found a captive audience in the phone. A void of data they could fill with their sometimes problematic opinions on everything that is life which they were told not to talk about at family gatherings. WhatsApp is no longer just a place to text your near and dear, but a dumping ground full of misinformation, status updates, comedy videos with a loud laugh track in the back, offensive jokes, political propaganda and so much more trash that stares us in the face every single day.

 And the phone is beautiful. It is not all evil. We meet people we love, we reconnect, we discover, we explore, we learn through the internet. What we see repeatedly we learn. But, the proportion of rubbish to useful stuff on the internet is skewed in a disappointing direction. The smartest, most empathetic and self-confident of people can turn into self-loathing zombies because of the sheer amount of toxicity thrown at them on the internet. It takes a self-assured person to know and derive their confidence from themselves, rather than an influencer whose only qualification is popularity. 

For me, whenever I experience an unsettling event or a strong emotion, I record my highest screentimes. To distract myself from what is real and what is in front of me, I need high stimulation, often provided by the phone. We are so scared of anything real, of acknowledging the world around us that we trap ourselves, spending our limited minutes idling away in front of a shiny box. Feeling things is beautiful. Feel how it is to laugh till your sides hurt, feel that cloud of rage build up inside you, feel the damp tears on your cheek, feel the breeze play with your hair, feel the sturdiness of the chair you sit in, observe the people around you. The world can give you a much huger 'social connection' than that provided by the AppStore.