"I am going to India for 10 days. Do I need any shots?" A young man asked.
"Depends on the places you will be visiting in India," I said.
"I'll just be at an Ashram in Bangalore," he said.
"Ashram? Associated with which temple?" I asked.
"No...no... This trip is not religious. So no temple or any Baba or Godman involved. This is for e cleansing," he said.
"E cleansing? What is that?" I asked, my interest piqued.
"My wife and I are both going. Its electronic and social media cleansing," he said.
"Really? So how does it work?" I was really interested now.
"You go to this resort-ashram and for 1 week, you are totally disconnected from the world," he said. I could see that even thinking about it made him restless.
"Disconnected from the world? So no cell phones?" I asked.
"No cell phones, no TV, no laptops, no internet connection... nothing," he said, sounding nervous. "Oh God...I don't know if I'll be able to handle it."
He won't make it the whole week, I thought to myself. "Why are you doing this?" I asked.
"Because in our house, our lives revolve around our i phones. We barely get our noses out of our phones. There is no conversation in our house anymore. Its all about facebook, twitter, whatsapp, i messaging...Before I started this crazy texting, I didn't even know my thumb could get a cramp!"
"So what happens when you get out of there, after the week is over?" I asked.
He gave me a wry smile and threw up his hands.
Are we getting to a stage where we consciously have to disconnect from our electronic devices to connect with real people? There is a barrage of information, a 24-hour news cycle, keeping up with what your good friends and the "not-so-good" ones are up to, the whatsapp videos about cute babies and funny monkeys....and oh yes... there's work, and kids, and social commitments....it never ends. It might be worthwhile to connect more to your significant other, than to your mobile device!
Well, the reality is we can't avoid social media, and we should not try to either. Social media is a great tool for a variety of social & professional issues. How we use or abuse a tool is entirely up to us. If we find ourselves trawling endlessly through "friends" and "friends-of-friends" Facebook profiles, it distracts us from taking care of our own lives. The American Psychology Association (APA) is conducting research these days to add IAD as one of the recognized disorders. And what is IAD ? No...no... not the Dulles Airport...it's "Internet Addictive Disorder"!
"I like my new smart phone, my i pad works just fine, my laptop is perfect, but God, I do miss my mind." ~ Author unknown
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