I once went to a restaurant that had this sign put up – no we don’t have Wi-Fi, talk to each other. Pretend it’s 1995. Maybe this was the restaurant being cheap in the age of free Starbucks Wi-Fi (which itself is a bit redundant now, given how economical data is now). Or maybe the restaurant was sending out a useful message about being social and about simple human interaction; a message that 85 year old Asha Bhosle seemed to echo recently.
She is 85 years old and techno savvy enough to put out this tweet: “Bagdogra to Kolkata... Such good company but still, no one to talk to. Thank you Alexander Graham Bell” In the picture she can be seen with a resigned expression on her face; with everyone around her immersed in their respective phones.
People were sympathetic to the legendary singer’s tweet. Our phones have had the paradoxical impact of isolating us even as they keep us connected 24x7.
Many of us have become used to virtual conversations which we can draft carefully, delete and time precisely. So much so, that we find it increasingly difficult to have real conversations with actual people. Conversation is a dying art, it would seem.
It is in fact ironical that a device meant to promote communication and interpersonal engagement, has served to distance us from the people and the activities that ought to matter the most.
Asha Bhosle has touched so many lives with her voice and her music… Anyone would be privileged to be in august company such as Asha Tai’s. There would be a fund of fascinating stories and insights to be gained from a person of such immense talent; a treasure trove of experiences in a career that spans so many decades.
One tweet decided to pedantically point out the details about the invention of the phone. Clearly the purport of the original tweet escaped this person.
According to this tweet, this is the story all over the civilised world. I would differ. It isn’t very civilised to be engrossed in one's phone when one is with others. It is simple courtesy to pay attention to the humans around us rather than to permit an electronic device to consume all our attention.
Not too long ago, older people would admonish younger people who were too wrapped up in their electronic devices. Now as more and more older people become tech savvy, they can be found texting good morning messages, sharing funny posts and laughing at cat videos while in company! So really no one is immune to the lure of technology today. Why, even 85 year old Asha Bhosle is on Twitter – at some point after that picture was taken, she must have tweeted it out… using an electronic device of some sort.
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