So Little and Yet so Vile
By
Mohammad Ashraf Chaudhry
Pittsburg, CA
Please don’t get carried
away by such catchy Ads as: Dream Calls, today’s
cell phones shoot video, play music and organize
your day. Ignore the sticker shock and ask for
fat rebates.
Motorola V710’s claim is that it has made
a major leap forward by introducing its Verizon
Wireless. This gadget as claimed, combines true
voice recognition with speakerphone and wireless
connectivity for headsets. Samsung’s MM-A700
boasts of having all this plus a 1-megapixel camera
and camcorder, along with news, sports and weather
in streaming video… BlackBerry 7100t, Sony
Ericsson S710 and Motorazr, all are lined up to
ambush you. Since its introduction in 1983, this
little gadget, popularly known as cellular phone,
has not looked behind. In fact, its 40% annual
growth has made it an integral part of our business
and personal lives.
Khursheed Alam of Bangladesh, settled in UK, would
first write a letter to his parents, telling them
the date and time he would make a phone call.
His parents in Bangladesh would prepare for the
journey of a week, boarding two ferries and three
buses to receive the call. A telephonic call from
Alam would become an event for the family. Now,
like the transistor radio of yesteryear, cellular
phones reside in the pockets of most Khursheed
Alams in the remotest and inaccessible parts of
the world.
Cellular phones have become our net pets. Most
people, even in the developing countries, are
using them anytime and anywhere they want. The
possession of a cell phone is no more a matter
of convenience; it is a symbol of status and snobbery
now.
Personally, I fall in the category of those 85%
people who use a cellular phone only occasionally.
I have found it acting as a guide when traveling
with family in more than one car. It helps to
schedule appointments; to check business deals
with the broker; to report an emergency, and to
stay in contact with the loved ones. There is
no denying the fact that as far as convenience
in life is concerned, after the invention of car,
this little thing, is perhaps the most sterling
and wonderful addition.
But, stay well guarded because it is a double-edged
sword. Its lethal influence especially on the
youth is beginning to register its toll. And this
is where I find it most pernicious. North Caroline
data has found that the use of a cell phone while
driving increases the risk of a crash many times.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
endorses the findings, “Cell phone use is
only one of many distractions that can contribute
to driver’s inattention and a potential
crash”. According to Joseph P. Ferry, in
Japan traffic accidents related to driver’s
talking on or dialing cellular phones increased
by 11% between 1997 and 1998, and no wonder that
most countries in Asia, Europe and South America,
and some States in America have banned its use
while driving. Cars kill two people every minute,
and the first victim of car accident, Ms. Driscoll
in 1896 was hit by a motor car that traveled at
a speed of 4 miles per hour. Yet cars have not
been banned. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “It
is up to the governments - and all of us - to
make sure that cars’ impact is as benign
as possible”. The same is true of the use
of cellular phones.
Australian cancer specialist, Dr. Andrew Davison,
points out the dangerous effects of its overuse
on people’s health, too. According to him,
male brain tumor patients increased by 50% and
female brain tumor patients increased by 62% between
1982 and 1992. This could, however, be disputed
as brain tumor develops very slowly, and the cellular
phone made its appearance in 1983. But nobody
would admittedly dispute its negative and anti-social
impact on the manners and traditional values of
people who use it most.
A mention of a few real instances would not be
out of context in this regard. While parking my
car I heard someone saying, “Hello, how
are you?” I responded promptly and loudly,
“I am fine, how about you?” And as
I turned back to greet, I found a gentleman talking
to someone on his cellular phone. In a similar
situation at another time, I just chose not to
respond, and got a taunt from my wife, “Since
when have you chosen not to respond to people’s
greetings?” I stood accused of bad manners
because this time it was not the little devil;
it was a real person trying to greet me. Not long
ago, a man talking to himself/herself with hectic
gesticulations was construed as either lunatic
or one on the verge. Now it is a common sight.
I have seen people thumping the dashboard, fisting
the steering wheel and swerving the car at 90-degree
angles. People behind the wheel used to be pretty
normal when there was no such thing as a cell
phone. 77% people just like to hold it even when
not using it, just for the love to feel it, to
touch it as if it were the hand of the most endeared
person.
The assignment I had given to the students in
a High School was: “Define these five words;
specify the part of speech each belongs to; use
each one of them in your own sentences etc”.
I was appalled to see a good number of them at
the backbenches huddled up and watching a football
match on a cellular phone. Marisol, a girl student
was virtually found by me crying half day long
because someone on the other end of her cellular
phone had said something, which was not to her
liking, and this had upset her drastically. Students
withdraw themselves blatantly from others only
to engage themselves in Romeo and Juliet version
of dialogues during the class and off the class
time.
According to Dr. Kim, most teenagers are addicted
to this new technology…they use more of
their time with them. In other words, as parents
do not be surprised if your teenager son/daughter
lately is not found in good mood, stays distracted
and distraught, and in many cases is just lost
in his/her own world. It is the work of the little
birthday present you gave him/her so lovingly
and so innocently. The little thing has become
his/her breath of life. Without it, most teenagers
feel disconnected somehow with their peer groups.
Thanks to the antics of the servers (sign for
six months and you get the devil at a throw away
price of $9.99 with free calls between 11 p.m.
and 5 a.m.), and the privacy you have provided
to your kids in the form of their own rooms, only
a fool will waste his/her time in reading books
or sleeping. I bet, 99% of youth is engaged in
either amorous talks or in “chatting”.
As a parent, you are the first line of defense
against your child’s drug use, I mean the
cellular use. The bond of trust between you and
your kid is the pre-paid insurance for your child,
a kind of home drug testing kit. Alas, this trust
has ceased to exist and you are left with no tool
of persuasion except coercion, which has no room
in the whole scenario.
You might have bought your son/daughter their
first cellular phone at a nominal price. You showed
them the way. It could end up, if you could afford,
by giving what an industrialist in India gave,
a Vertu, a Nokia-funded cell phone studded with
the finest jewels and most precise instruments,
price a meager Rs. 3-17 lakh.
The outrages of this little mischief-monger far
outweigh its utility and convenience. A 17-year-old
Anara Gupta was crowned as Miss Jammu in 2001.
Digital camcorders, like the kind your child may
have, embedded in the cellular phone, put this
Gupta on the Internet when she was in an uncompromising
position with a husky. Soon she was everywhere.
As India Today of November 29, 2004 presents in
its story of “The Seedy Drive”, Gupta
is not the only girl, growing up with stars in
her eyes. ‘Bold is better’ has become
the motto with most, and the willingness to do
anything for fame, for revenge and for perversion
has no end. Never think that your kid is immune
to such onslaughts because you pray five times
a day. There is so much muck around youth that
it takes the heart of a real saint to stay upright
and moral. An average Briton is caught on camera
up to 300 times a day as he goes about his daily
business. How many times you, I and our kids are
caught on camera is anybody’s guess. It
may be easier to live without a cellular phone;
it may not be with shame.
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