The Wicked Journey from a Playing Field to Playstore!

Before you proceed to read this post, perform a task which you can relate later on.

Put off the cellular data or wifi in your cellphone and keep it away from you in a place where you can see it but cannot touch it. You will have a continuous urge to grab it back but please don’t! Stay in this manner for about an hour.

Now, at the end of the entire one hour, you can have your cellphone back.

After that, if the very first thing you have done is ‘turn on’ the data or wifi on your phone and wait for incoming messages and notifications, let me tell you a harsh thing. There lies a problem, a big problem! And the problem just doesn’t end there. A bigger problem lies ahead of you. And it only gets worse!

If you look back some mere 8-9 years ago, times were totally different. The virtual world didn’t yet exist in such a fashion and the cellphone didn’t take over our lives completely. There were no apps which instantly connected us with our friends, as well as those who lived far away. There were no apps which allowed us to share our class homework instantaneously. There were no apps which solved mathematical problems at once. There were no apps which kept valuable information about the best restaurants nearby us. There were no apps by which we could order our foods. There were no apps by which we could share photos of the fashionable meals we just had. There were no apps which updated the world about the basic activities we do throughout the day which includes breathing, eating and sleeping. There were no dating apps. There were no shaadi apps! Phew, so many apps!

The other day, I met a neighbourhood aunty who was boasting about her young 5-year old son being the master of a smartphone, with which he ogles through games, videos and what not! This is not a thing of bravado. In fact, kids being glued to cellphones are really a disturbing sight.

In my time, life was so beautiful. Being a young kid back in the day meant going out in the park or the nearby field to play a game of cricket, football or just any other outdoor games. Also in those days, cycling through the lanes and speeding through thin ones like a boss along with the other kids in my locality was a lively activity. Finding me at home during evening times was like finding a needle in a haystack. Memories of getting hurt in the knees and elbows are part of my much-cherished nostalgic treasure! Even today, I bluster about those injury marks with pride! I very much miss those wonderful days!

Things have become quite different nowadays. Swiping through pictures, replaying videos after videos & games and excessive shopping online by sitting in our comfy rooms are part of not just a grown-up man’s lifestyle but also every kid’s daily obsession nowadays. The humongous numbers of apps that are available there on the net have erased some very useful and necessary customs from the new gen kids’ life! The apps, no doubt have made life easier but over-reliant on them is having a really negative impact on the younger generation. The growing number of young kids with high powered spectacles is one of the many outcomes of this growing crummy habit. Apps help us save time but they are killing off the very limited physical activities that were once part of us. In present times, believe it or not, we are being reliable on apps in a very perilous demeanor! Machines taking over this entire planet no longer seem to be the story of a science-fictional movie. Sigh!

The good thing is that the situation is not completely out of control. There is still time. If we together make awareness about this entire scenario, a solution can be brought up. ‘Spare the smartphone, Save the child’ must be the upgraded motto of every family. Let the kids go out and play! If they won’t play outside at this tender age, when will they? Without a playful childhood and without enshrined memories, adulthood would almost be inferno.

Let them roll out!
Happy playing!