Let’s UnPlug. Let’s Un-Phub !
Are you sleeping with your Smartphone?
Are you waking up to whatsapp and not ginger tea anymore?
Does a Google Map navigate your drive even when you pretty much know the place?
Do you crave for social media more than Junk Food?
Do you deal with notifications while you are still in bed and have your teeth unbrushed?
If the answer is YES, read here
…True that Smartphones have brought in phenomenal practicality in our lives. And living this digital life is quite easy. Be it buying Diwali diyas, lights or clothes everything today is online. It is good because it adds to our convenience. More important than anything, it gives us more time that we would have otherwise spent in the crowded market looking for that one empty parking lot.
But I am curious if the time that we save by going digital is well spent with family or friends when they are around us. A lot of times, we are caught in a situation where we are physically present with our loved ones but busy on our Smartphones, choosing digital interaction over human interaction.
This is a unique 21st century problem. While the Smartphones were to connect people with each other, they are making us feel disconnected.
We are losing the art of conversation. Conversation that involves Real human interaction. Love and connection are the basic needs for human survival and growth, and that’s what this digital life is taking away from us, making us feel even lonesome.
Let’s introspect;
Have we moved to the zone of being rude?
How many times do we tell our kid; wait a minute?!
The answer in most cases would be yes and that’s where the whole problem starts.
It is actually more of a behavior than a problem. It’s called–Phubbing. Yes, Phubbing ! We are either indulged in or victimised to Phubbing. It has been acknowledged internationally and has become quite rampant in India too. Phubbing means snubbing someone in favour of a Smartphone. Ohh, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The seriousness of this word made its place in the dictionary and called for a movement internationally #StopPhubbing.
While it seems to be a simple behavior correction, it got a room full of brilliant minds gather in the University of Sydney (year:2012) and create something that would get people to put their phones down and get talking to each other. Soon it became a movement in other countries too.
Our relationship with the Smartphone has gone too far and is getting to eat away the real moments of joy and peace. It’s about time, we re-think this relationship. It’s time we make more human conversations.
So next time, jab aapka dil baat karne ki dastak de, to phone ki bajaay kisi apne se milkar baat keejiye. Dekhiye to, baat karne ka maza kaise duguna hota hai J
Stop being a Likeholic on Facebook or Instagram. Because this new hormone of pleasure (gets activated when you interact with your Smartphone) goes away very quickly and that’s how you go back to your device. This is a vicious circle and makes us a victim of Phubbing.
Put your phone down and start talking. Meet up with people who have become your phone buddies due to a hectic work life. Catch up with old friends whom you reconnected on facebook. And most importantly, give 100% attention to your family and loved ones when they are around. Or just simply pay more attention to people around you.
Oops……..ahhh ok. So I have disabled all the notifications in my phone until New Year. So that I can pin and repin my memories in real life and not digital.
Let the upcoming festival be the festival of UnPlugging where we connect more with people in real.
– Ruchi Adlakha
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