Civilisation explores its
dark side and embarks on a dangerous experiment – one that doesn’t involve
technology.
On November 22, 2012, disaster struck the world – actually,
it struck just parts of Australia, but since their cricket team was getting
beaten by every other country, the nation decided to adopt the American motto
of 'We are the world' and focus only on its Big Bash league. And thus, the disaster
was dubbed to be one of global proportions.
A telecom major suffered a blackout because of a fire and it
led to a world that was left bereft of technology. Research indicates that on
an average, people had to spend 10.59 days without internet, 10.12 days without
a landline and 4.21 days without mobile phone service. However, what the
research failed to measure was the volume of tears shed by many – living
without technology was bad news, but if there was something worse than feeling
bad, it was the fact that no one could post how they felt, online.
Soon light dawned on mankind. The blackout wasn’t when they
lost access to technology - it was that prolonged era when they had become
slaves to technology. The wise men congregated and soon, arrived at a decision.
"We've survived for centuries before computers, so why should we be so
dependent on them in the ‘after digital’ era?"
Thus technology found itself booted out of many houses.
Door-to-door salesmen of atlases, dictionaries and encyclopedias hit jackpot as
GPS apps, online thesauri and Google search were abandoned. Kumon classes were over-attended
with great zeal as people realised that they had to learn to calculate all over
again. Memory Plus tablets (or the equivalent of it Down Under) set new sales
records as everyone tried to remember birthdays and phone numbers - the absence
of mobile phones meant no birthday alarms or contact lists.
Even old-fashioned mechanical clock businesses that had
wound up long ago reopened their shops because digital clocks and LED displays
were no longer permitted inside homes. Manual cameras and film were back in
vogue and people were spared close-up shots of shoe laces, saliva dribbles of
dogs, and of lizards eating moths – luckily for them, both community websites
and digital cameras were out.
Banks resumed their duty of being a social hangout for the
retired types and pickpockets enjoyed a new lease of life, with people carrying
cash instead of credit cards. Post offices did brisk business, selling
truckloads of envelopes and letters, while dogs were delighted as more postmen
began coming around. Hallmark and Archies were so overwhelmed by the unexpected
demise of e-cards that they promptly announced a new occasion to be celebrated
- the Kick Tech Butt day.
So life was chugging along merrily, until things came to a
grinding halt. Over the years, Facebook had changed people's habits as they
didn't have to peek into others' homes, look through keyholes or eavesdrop by the
window to know what was going on with the world – the regular status updates
would say it all. But now, without social networking sites, it was getting increasingly
difficult to find out what people wore in their holidays, how husbands wished
wives on their anniversaries and where people binged the previous night. The
old-age art of keeping tabs on the neighbours had become extinct. Society went
into a deep freeze – people simply had no idea as to what was happening in
others’ lives.
It was utterly disgusting. "These days, what happens in
the family," a socially challenged citizen lamented, "stays in the
family." And that was the last straw. Unable to bear it anymore, people
threw open the doors to technology once again. The laptops, mobiles, tablets
and the internet connection were back. "Never again," muttered the
scarred veterans as they shook their heads gravely.
And they all lived happily ever after, kick-starting the celebrations
with the latest status update - Avi was going to wear a pink ribbon around his
neck when wishing his wife on their 23rd wedding anniversary.
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