Saturday afternoon I found myself drifting away and the audiobook lulling me to sleep instead of firing off neurons! What else could I expect after a hearty, satisfying, carb-heavy meal of idli-dosa-sambar-chutney? I slept soundly for two hours and this took place without the phone ringing even once. No annoying announcements from Unknown callers, no frantic voicemails from telemarketers selling insurance, the internet or home improvements! I grudgingly acknowledged the quiet (and was secretly pleased too), still grieving a bit though. It was just about two weeks since we had decided to disconnect our “land-line” and I was still holding on to it like a life-line, not willing to let go.
Mom called my cell phone early last week from the Bay Area, exasperated, mystified, and demanding to know “how can this happen in America?!” She had called the dysfunctional land-line thrice in two days and an automated voice alerted with her with a message to the effect that the number was not in existence. Oops! With all this training in Systems Development, User Acceptance Testing and Organizational Change Management I had completely disregarded a core user base, my generally tech-savvy parents – specifically Mom! I squarely lay the blame on hubby – he had decided to disconnect the line, ha! Of course, the fine print was that I had given the green signal – only considering the use case of the daily short call he made to Mumbai which could easily be done using the immensely popular (and vilified-for-one-weekend over privacy concerns) WhatsApp. I knew neighbors, friends, cousins who had disconnected their land-line phones, and I decided we could tough it out! Didn’t realize there would be withdrawal symptoms on the other end as well.
The boon of Bluetooth technology shows me on my watch who is calling, even if my cell phone is in another room. It’s a feature I have chosen to turn on, to always immediately know if my teenager is calling me. That in itself is an infrequent occurrence – since the default mode is Text Only or FaceTime and the pecking order is the family group, little bro, then Mom-Dad. So, if she actually reaches out the old-fashioned way, I never want to miss that call!
On the other hand, the quandary is my Mom invariably calling me right when I’m kneading Roti dough as I prep for dinner and all I can do is watch the green phone icon flash on my wrist while everyone else is busy with their own devices upstairs and downstairs, and there is no more yelling “Can someone pick up the phone?”
Oh, the choices we make!
~AK Irvinekar
Archana, as always beautifully written. Your words are so descriptive that the reader is carried along living out the experience via your words!
Nicely penned thoughts on the typewriter style keyboard of your laptop computer! Those thoughts and those connections can traverse the old and the new. But we do miss the charm, grace and familiarity of the old ways!
Nice choice of topic – something that is on all our minds! I am with you – hard to let go even with the annoying anonymous calls..
Thanks Padmini, glad you enjoyed reading it. Always a balancing act…old vs new!
Very nicely penned Archana. With every change we adopt, we do miss some ways of the past. Technology is convenient but wonder if it makes us too independent. Dependencies feel good esp. to increase family interactions. Having one home phone for all of us to share, one TV to decide what we can watch, helped us collaborate more. But now each one to our own gadget, surely comes with its pros and cons. You have so subtly shared these observations.
Always pros and cons! Guess we just have to factor everything and choose what makes the most sense.