Spying Sherlock Homes

There are many in our society, who would defeat even Sherlock Homes in spying, and in attempting to resolve the mysterious riddles. Spying on innocent men and women, tapping their phones, and reading others mails are some of their trade secrets, and it is hard to stop them from doing it, either in public places or in their private circles. It is sickening if they try to do it when they are living with others. Where there are parallel phone connections, as soon as the phone rings, they would rush to the other set, and wait for the person concerned to start talking, and they would quietly pick up the other set and eavesdrop all the person speaks, so much so they do not feel even a qualm of consciousness to do such a dirty job.

I have come across quite a few people who enjoyed doing it, though a good part of these people belonged to the fairer sex, though I would not overrule the other sex as well. What is at the root of this kind of attitude which impels them to spy on others is more than obvious: it could be looked at on two levels, one is that they would like to know the ins and outs of other persons, so that they would be in a better place to blackmail them and therefore force them to do what they want; the second reason is that they have certain emotional needs and wants, which they wish to fulfil through passive pleasure. This is in straight forward language a perversion, and they take pleasure in such a perverse thing, and there is none to question them.

Unfortunately the people who do such a thing are those who have not received the kind of love and attention that the younger people receive these days, and they are all full of jealousy, and cannot tolerate this happening. But if someone were to confront them and ask why they pick up the phone when another person is talking, their answer would be more than innocent: oh, I wanted to make a phone call, and so was checking if the phone is free! Everyone knows that this is just an excuse for them to continue with their eavesdropping. But it is another matter, if someone else were to do the same when they are on the phone.

Phone tapping had been a big issue on the national level some months ago, and it had been said that it was undertaken by officials under the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, but when ordinary men and women spy on their brothers and sisters, what pleasure do they get. When children become unruly and disobedient, some of the parents do spy their children, to catch them red-handed with something they can accuse their ward of. But in such cases, spying is done with all good intentions, and sometimes it does good to the children too, but not in the case of adults, where it can only create bad taste in the heart of the members involved. This is a reality many struggle with silently, and there may not be a solution in the near future.

Every information that I share with another person is purely private and no other person has the right to eavesdrop; such a person can be taken to task, but we do not do this, because we do not want to create problem unnecessarily. When younger persons are victims of such vile tactics of some senior persons, the juniors are helpless victims, who cannot do anything to stop such a menace. Life has to go on, and they most often tolerate such senior persons, though the juniors have all the right to pull up the senior and teach them a lesson. In a respectable society, such a thing may not happen, but there may come a time, when such senior persons may be confronted squarely, and then people may relate to one another freely and without fear.

Minding the Machines

My cousin sister was proud to show to me on the webcam the different gifts her friend had sent for her from Germany, which included some silly items as a nail-cutter, and a Swiss knife (why does she need a Swiss knife, anyway?). She was overjoyed that he had taken the trouble to send them across through a common friend, who was coming from there. Earlier she had told me about the laptop which he had left behind for her, when he packed his things to leave for Germany for the next five years. Why would he need a laptop in Germany; he would as well purchase one on reaching there, and it was given to my sister, who was more than overjoyed to receive it!

Now she is online often during the day and even night, most probably chatting with him over the net, sometimes even neglecting her responsibilities; but that is not my business to ask her if she is wasting her time with the laptop with internet connection and webcam facilities. The modern electronic gadgets are a big blessing to humanity, but they can also become a big hindrance to us, who are not fully conscious of their utility. When we begin to give them more importance than they deserve, we are bordering on viciating from the purpose they are made. The sooner we realize it, the better it is for us to save ourselves from insanity.

For the uninitiated, having round the clock internet connection is a dream come true, and they may give up regular exercise of body and mind, skip meals, cut short rest in order to drown in the limitless ocean of the internet. They may not mind losing their sleep, and losing their way in the highways of the sites, only to realize here on the net, one desire leads them to another, and they are initiated into a vicious circle, and later find that it is not easy for them to free from this circle. The same is also true with any sophisticated electronic gadget; one of the biggest craze today seem to be for cellular phones, which have all and more than what an ordinary person would require.

So for we had been talking in terms of "need" of these gadgets, and squeeze ourselves in order to purchase them; today they are no more needs, but "necessity", which cannot be dispensed with. But how can I go around without a mobile phone, because my friends want to be in touch with me all the time! This is their theme song; I should be available to all those who require my help! Is this a fact or a mere imagination? What were we doing before the advent of mobile phone boom in the country? Were we not in touch with the people who needed our help and assistance?

In the modern times, the human persons have too many masters; there were times when we were masters and today the roles are fast reversing, and if we are not careful then the machines will give marching orders to us, and we too might follow their order blindly. Today the machines seem to have far more capacity to compute, calculate and process the data than a normal human mind can, but that does not make the machines superior to human persons; there is a danger today facing humanity to give more importance to mindless machines than human persons with mind and souls. If this danger catches up with us, then even God may not be able to save us from this peril!

Mobile Mad Rush

I am often bombarded with the question, why I don’t possess a mobile phone, and it is hard for me each time when someone questions me to give an adequate and satisfying answer. Given the present situation and circumstances I don’t feel the need to have one, but the very next question that my friends pose is : But we don’t get you when we want! It is true, often I am ‘out of bounds’ for some people, because I am out of the house, and so they cannot contact me immediately. But the fact is that at least some times I do not want to be contacted at all, by any one! This I call my ‘private time’. No one has the right to intrude into my private time, for whatever reason. It is however not that I am so very adamant about this notion of private time, but I don’t want to auction my private time for anyone to intrude. Even when I had the mobile phone for a year, I was sure to turn it off at 9 p.m. and switch it on at about 6.30 a.m. That too annoyed some of the people who could not have access to me during the time in between, but I was clear that I did not want to be disturbed at that time period.

Frankly speaking there are reasons for not possessing a mobile phone, which I consider quite personal, apart from the reason I had mentioned above. Without entering deep into the issue, let me just highlight what keeps me at a distance from the purchase and use of a mobile phone, which today has become an absolute necessity. I have seen it in the hands of rickshaw pullers, auto rickshaw drivers, even beggars have it. I am not exaggerating. While walking along the prestigious Camac street in Kolkata, I came across a beggar in his wheel chair (probably he was crippled), shouting at someone on the mobile phone. We take it for granted that everyone who matters in the society should have one; it has become such an indispensable means of communication that when being introduced to strangers, the first thing they ask is ‘what is your mobile phone number?’ And there is an expression of bewilderment when I tell them that I don’t have one! I leave it to them to imagine what had gone wrong with me that I don’t have one. I am happy with whatever they might think of.

It may be possible that I am quite prejudiced against the mobile phone, and would often find more reasons not to have than to have it. I would not go to enlist the reasons why we should have a mobile phone, and why it may be necessary that every citizen in the country has a mobile phone! Nor will I try to enlist the reasons why we should not have. However from a personal front, there are perhaps two reasons why I find it not suitable for me, at this juncture. The first one is this : technology has grown rapidly in the recent past few years, more than the past centuries altogether, and the life of human beings has changed considerably due to it. But I feel there is a limit to flow with the technological current; without denying the uses of the cellphone, we are aware of the misuses of it, and how the use of it can be detrimental to positive human growth. Just because technology offers the benefits of being “connected”, I am not required to make use of it, whether I really require it or not. Imagine the danger if we were to flow with the current of technology… we may end up nowhere! It is not a personal battle with technology, but a personal control mechanism to say that I may not use the technology that I don’t require just now. I feel the need to say ‘no’ gracefully, and am very happy not to have it.

To have a mobile phone has become a prestigious issue today, and every educated and literate person is expected to have one; there are even illiterate persons, who cannot read and write in their vernacular, making use of the mobile phone to be in touch with their circle of friends and relatives. I would prefer not to run in the rat-race, and have nothing to complain about those who feel the need of it. Others may have necessity which I don’t realize, and that is another reason which keeps me away from having one. Maybe there is a wicked pleasure and joy in me while telling people that I don’t have it, but honestly speaking I am happy without it, and wonder if I would be happy to have it at all, even if everyone of my friends wish I have it. Sometimes I feel the pinch of not having it, but I feel that is part of the deal. Yesterday after the Christmas mass at night, some of my friends wanted to wish me by calling me and since I was in a mission which did not have a land-phone, they could not reach me; but what gives me so much of hope is that, we managed all these years without it, and can’t we manage some inconveniences by not having it?

Today I would like to pause for a while and reflect on the different blessings of nature and technology which are at my disposal. Most often I take them for granted, and don’t even question if I truly need them to reach my fullest potentiality! Today is the time for me to ask that moot question : does this technology really help me to reach out to others, and to reach my fullest potentiality. It may also be possible that I realize that there are minor and so-called older technologies, which may be far more useful for me than the most recent ones, and it may call me to reorganize my thinking. Let me be content with what is useful and needed for me, instead of running to acquire every new thing that enter into our markets. I do not want to be lured by market or technology, but wish to make use of them in as much as they help me. But let me close this blog with an open ending : if after a few months, I feel the need and urgency to use a mobile phone, I would not hesitate to get one, and I will do it happily and joyfully!