Asian travellers are the most addicted to their smartphones, according to the results of a new international survey. The use of mobiles has jumped over basic necessities as the toothbrush, deodorant and driver’s licence.
In a report from Expedia and Egencia that looks at the use of mobile devices in travel, the cellphone is now considered the single most indispensable travel companion for Asians.
Ah, my fellow countrymen and women, we have fallen deep in the pit of mobile addiction.
Many a times people jump off running trains or buses because they realize that they have forgotten their cell phones at home. A man once asked a woman in an elevator who looked pale and breathless, “Are you asthmatic or claustrophobic?” The woman replied, “As a matter of fact, I’m feeling breathless because there is no signal on my mobile network!”
I don’t think that a law could be passed to jam the signals in classrooms, cremation grounds and temples, but people should use their own sensibilities to discriminate when to use a cell phone and when not to. You can’t expect Virat Kohli to say to Dale Steyn as he comes charging down the run up to say, “Hold on, I’ve got a call from an ad company!”
People don’t switch off their mobiles even at cremation grounds. At one such death, as the funeral pyre was being lit, the ringtone on one of the mobile phones rang in full stereophonic sound, “Hun Mauja hi mauja….” The Pandit ji yelled, “Switch off the phone. The song doesn’t go with the atmosphere, you idiot!” “It does,” the relative explained, “the old man has passed on a huge property and cash to us!”
Deprive us of sleep, friends, family, food, TV and we’ll survive it all. But one minute of mobile deprivation makes us all look like the survivors of a holocaust. When we stop at the red light for a minute, we pick up the mobile with a bated breath to see if we have received an important message in the last 1 minute. And if there’s a call when we’re driving, we strike the most intricate of yoga poses to keep the mobile set fixed on our ears, keep our eyes on the road, and keep the hands on the steering. And even after this, Baba Ramdev is berating us for not taking yoga seriously!
The alarming rise in ‘selfie’ deaths shows us simply how crazy we have got with the cell phone. So let’s give some rest to our phones too. If they are our gateway to information, treat them with respect!
A man was getting into his car. He asked his driver,
“Mobile ka charger rakh liya?”
‘Ji janab!’
“Laptop ka charger rakha?”
‘Ji Janab!’
“Camera ka charger rakh liya?”
‘Ji Janab!’
“Chalo phir gaadi chalao”.
After travelling for a few minutes the officer said, “Driver, saara zaroori saaman rakh liya par pata nahin phir bhi kyun lag raha hai ki main kuchh bhool gaya hoon?”
Without batting an eyelid, the driver said: “Sir, bura na man-na par aap madam ko ghar hi bhool aaye ho!”
