Opinion    
Technology or Tensionology

Today, man has become used to an easy mode of life. Thanks to the advancement in the fields of Telecommunication, aviation and automobile technologies. In fact, Man has become slave of the electronic and other mechanical devices at his command now. He gets many jobs done from the comfort of his home or office without moving out.

Think of the Railway Reservation System. Any one can book now the Railway Ticket through Internet. Similarly one can do entire banking and other financial operations through Internet banking and trading. Use of Mobile Phones is fairly common these days. This has further added to the savings in time and money. One can be in touch with their near & dear ones and business associates at all times. With the passage of time, the technology is getting cheaper and making deep inroads in the life and style of India’s middle class which is a huge market.

The technology is not only benefiting urban society but has direct impact on rural society as well. The speedier flow of information about commodity prices in various Mandies and nearby towns help a farmer to decide quickly to sell his farm produce in a market where he gets maximum price. Another useful example is the increasing Computerization of land records in the districts. This has positive effects on disputes about land ownerships In spite of all these benefits, there are certain negative aspects of technology development.

As mentioned above, men have become slave to these technologies. There is now less physical activity of human body as many things for which one was required to move out of home previously can now be got done either by the click of a mouse or simply by a phone call. This has resulted in many people gaining weight i.e. they are becoming obese with the consequential ill effects on health leading to wide spread prevalence of deadly diseases like Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis etc.

The dependence of people on these technologies is now proving counter productive. Think of the pollution generated on our Roads by ever increasing volume of vehicular traffic and the increase in number of Road accidents. Looking at this scenario one is bound to feel that traveling by Cycle will be a better option both in terms of improved health and better environment. China is an example... Failure of technology when it is most needed is the root cause of all tensions and stress in our daily life. As you get up in one fine morning, you find that there is an electricity failure; you can not read the morning newspaper as the room needs to be lit. You can not have access to water as the motor is not running and you had by design chosen to live on a third floor. Your morning meals can’t be cooked in time as your most dependable microwave can not function. More over, you can not take bath as you can not get the hot water you love to take bath in this winter of Delhi, is also not available. You had prepared that presentation (of your office project) on you computer last night by sitting late and wanted to copy it on your laptop for carrying it to office, how will you do that now? What will you now say to that unpredictable Guy (Your Boss !) Isn’t the tension and stress building up? You are trying to get in touch with your family or children who have gone out. You need to know where they are? You told them to assemble at a particular time at a particular place so that you can pick them up while returning home. You don’t find them there at the appointed time and place because they are held up somewhere due to a traffic bottleneck. Your mobile fails to connect. The situation is getting out of control and full of stress.

Well, you can say that these are normal tensions in an urban way of life. I say these tensions are penetrating deep in the rural way of life as well. Ignorance is bliss, more so in such situations. Imagine those days when you were ignorant and not using these technologies. Life was pretty simpler but was moving at a slower pace. The ambitions were not materialistic and there was considerable peace of mind. Well, as they say nothing comes free., perhaps this is the price of development.    

– V.S. Bhatnagar
March 13, 2005

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