Ruchira spends a day without social media. She let down her hair and enjoyed the day. An exclusive for Different Truths.
For almost two decades now social media has spread its tentacles into every (well almost) aspect of our lives. From our daily meals to, to commuting, to professions to entertainment and leisure social media is the king. All you need to do is to acquire/download a few apps and hey pronto! You can jolly well remark Duniya meri mutthi mein (the world is in my fist) for sure! With the click of a few buttons, news and happenings worldwide, appear on your mobile screen. In fine, life (more particularly urban life) in any part of the globe would come to standstill in the absence of social media.
One fine morning I discovered to my horror that my mobile phone (aka handset/cellphone) had conked off! I was alone at home; the other inmates had gone out and would not be back before nightfall. Therefore, sending it for repairs was out of the question. Then I had a brainwave. I told myself not to panic and decided to enjoy the day in my own way.
Sounds uncanny, doesn’t it? Ah well, that’s what happened to me recently. One fine morning I discovered to my horror that my mobile phone (aka handset/cellphone) had conked off! I was alone at home; the other inmates had gone out and would not be back before nightfall. Therefore, sending it for repairs was out of the question. Then I had a brainwave. I told myself not to panic and decided to enjoy the day in my own way. The first thing I did was to put our landline phone off the cradle so there would be no incoming calls. Next, I fished out a few music CDs turned the player on and settled down comfortably, in my rocking chair… the next couple of hours tripped by on rosy wings, while I got regaled by the popular ditties sung by Perry Como, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves and more… the melodious strains transported me back to my sunny, carefree, school and college days!
A gnawing sensation in my stomach reminded me that breakfast was due. So I headed to the kitchen grabbed eggs and bread to dish up guess what? Scrumptious golden brown French toasts! I love all egg dishes including French toast, but nobody else in the family eats eggs owing to various reasons. So I had the time of my life savouring my favourite dish. Luckily, the maid came to do the chores timely. After she departed I was back in my rocking chair drinking in more music to soothe my soul my inner being.
It was so strange to see my handset lying silently on the bedside table whereas on normal days it was active virtually from dawn to dusk. The hours passed languidly….after the mandatory shower at midday, I literally let my hair down, put my feet up and instead of more music decided to catch up with a good movie from our private collection. My choice fell on the Jeremy Brett starred, The Sign of Four, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective novel of the same name.
It was so strange to see my handset lying silently on the bedside table whereas on normal days it was active virtually from dawn to dusk. The hours passed languidly….after the mandatory shower at midday, I literally let my hair down, put my feet up and instead of more music decided to catch up with a good movie from our private collection. My choice fell on the Jeremy Brett starred, The Sign of Four, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective novel of the same name. A blend of superb acting, brilliant camera work and overall presentation had me mesmerized. A wave of nostalgia swept over me. My parents had gifted me the book on my 16th birthday, so many years ago. Tears rolled down my cheeks in memory of my parents, who are now in a better world.
By the way, I was sort of surprised at the utter stillness prevailing at home. On “other days” Whatsapp messages, Facebook posts, texts and phone calls literally keep me on my toes. Especially during morning hours, you would find me darting in and out of the kitchen or the laundry area to check my phone every now and then. But on that particular day, the silence was overpowering. I was in a world of absolute serenity. After lunch, I took to reading since I still had a few more hours of leisure left. Over the past few months, I was trying to read the immortal American classic Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It is a poignant saga of the harrowing life condition of the black slaves in 19th century America. I raced through the pages, with vivid images appearing before my mind’s eye and the lucid language tugging at my heartstrings. I was so engrossed in reading that I didn’t realise when I had dozed off. I woke up with a start to see the evening shadows lengthening across the skies. In the neighbourhood, the lights were coming on. An entire day had gone by in a pristine ambience with internet technology kept at bay!
Photo from the Internet
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