E-Paper
Spice of Life: Disconnecting from virtual to connect with real world
Doesn’t our life, too, deserve to be unplugged? I found the answer the very next day when I, inadvertently, forgot my smartphone back home.
A busy traffic intersection can be the proverbial door to the floodgate of memories and interesting insights into the enigma called life. The quintessential traffic intersection on my way to the hospital with its daily dose of horns, screeches of cars being brought to a quick stop as the signal turns from green to red, and the occasional “daredevil” jumping the light oblivious to the stares of passersby, had an unlikely surprise waiting for me the other day.
Amid the din outside and the anxiety to catch up with the unrelenting march of time within, my ears caught faint but captivating notes of a guitar, weaving a mesmerising spell. It took me back to the early ’90s when cable television had just made a hesitant entry into Indian households. That was the era of MTV, the VJs, and music videos. That was when I first heard and, almost instantaneously, fell in love with the magic of guitar emanating from the skillful fingers of a gentleman called Eric Clapton in one of my favourite shows, MTV Unplugged.
Indeed, it used to be a soul-stirring experience listening to one’s favourite rock stars singing their most memorable songs without the heavy acoustics and the spellbinding interplay of neon lights. Unadulterated music is what MTV Unplugged was all about.
This unexpected recall of music “unplugged” set me thinking. Doesn’t our life, too, deserve to be unplugged? I found the answer the very next day when I, inadvertently, forgot my smartphone back home. I discovered this at a point where it was not plausible to return home and fetch the phone. So, I had to spend the next few hours disconnected from the rest of the world.
However, this disconnect turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As I drove underneath the canopy of a roadside tree, its senescent leaf glided with delicate grace and landed on my windshield. I couldn’t help but wonder at the sight. A little further ahead, the road was strewn with beautiful pink flowers. I didn’t feel like trampling those beautiful creations of Mother Nature with the tyres of my car. I stepped out, stood between the pink carpet of flowers, and savoured the moments.
The accidental “disconnection” with my virtual world and the resultant “connection” with the nature around us, were working wonders. I appreciated the beauty of the silence that pervaded my car, with no beeps of the smartphone and no alerts of a new email received. I noticed a homeless dog standing by the roadside, apparently looking for food, and offered him some biscuits. His thankful wagging of the tail and exuberant happiness had made my day.
I now realise how much I ended up missing the life around me, immersed in the plastic joys of the virtual world.
Life does need to be unplugged.
The writer is a Jalandhar-based psychiatrist and can be reached at gulbaharsidhu@rediffmail.com
