“Technology makes life difficult”. Until recently, I would have dismissed this idea as a deliberate attempt to stir debate. But of late, thanks to some real life incidents, I am beginning to see there is some truth in this statement. To be fair, it isn’t the fault of technology itself, but rather how dependent we are on certain gadgets and systems that didn’t even exist until a few years ago.
The protagonist of this story is a 19-year-old called Gymrot, which could stand for Gullible Young Man Excessively Reliant On Technology. One day, Gymrot had to travel from Kollam to Kochi. Only a few days had passed after he got his driving license and it was his first long trip driving alone. His father, a businessman, had given him a list of things to do in Kochi. The most important task was to deliver a briefcase full of documents, to an associate who lived in a suburb a little away from the city of Kochi. The other tasks were insignificant meetings and courtesy visits.
Gymrot reached a relative’s house in Kochi early in the morning, and left from there at 9am after breakfast. Since then, his family had no news of his whereabouts and had no idea where he was for the next 12 hours. Had he met with an accident? Did someone knock him unconscious and steal the documents from him? Was he kidnapped? Should the police be informed? A thousand such questions must have gone through his parents’ minds. In any case, Gymrot was missing!
When Gymrot was finally located, he was totally fine, but he had an interesting story to tell. This is what actually happened to him:
Gymrot had started from his relative’s house at 9am, as reported. He had been planning to use the GPS in his mobile phone to find the destination where he was supposed to deliver the briefcase. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to charge its battery, and the mobile phone was switched off by the time he was half way there. He had no clue about the geography of the place, and did not know the address he was trying to reach.
All the important phone numbers he could have used were saved on his mobile phone, which just wouldn’t turn on. The only number he knew by heart was his home phone number, but he couldn’t find any public telephone booths. It appears that once mobile phones became so popular, there has been a significant decrease in the number of telephone booths in our cities, towns and villages.
What could he do? He decided to risk it and tried to find the place on his own. Unsuccessful in that attempt, his only option now was to drive back to his relative’s house and get in touch with his father to locate the place. But his fuel tank was emptied as a result of all the random driving and so he was truly stranded.
He decided to walk to the nearest fuel outlet and buy some petrol. But after a 4 km walk, he discovered that he was carrying no cash, and the ATM card he had in his wallet just wouldn’t work. Without any money, the public phones which he could find served no purpose.
A desperate Gymrot started asking people standing at the fuel station to allow him to use their mobile phone to call his home. But frankly, would you allow a stranger to use your mobile phone if he comes up and asks you? Or would you be afraid that he would run off with it?
Finally, sometime in the evening, some shopkeeper agreed to let him make a phone call to his house, and he was saved! If you look closely, Gymrot was lost and stranded in a busy city, despite being barely a few hours from his own home and even closer to his relative’s house. And all this, because he depended too much on technology!
What would one want to learn from the story of Gymrot? Here are 5 things:
1. Always keep your mobile phone charged, especially if you are going far away from home. Alternatively, you can buy a car-charger to use in your car while driving. Also remember that using the GPS is a huge drain on the battery.
2. Do not depend entirely on the GPS when you go on a long trip. Some maps are just wrong, while some others are not as specific as you would want them to be. Always try to get some idea in advance about the place you are going to visit.
3. Note down or at least memorise a few important contact numbers which you may need to use if your mobile phone stops working for some reason. Nowadays, we tend to remember far fewer numbers than we used to when we depended on landline phones.
4. Do not depend entirely on your ATM card. Always keep some cash with you, at least enough to buy a meal, get some fuel for your car, or to catch an autorickshaw to get home in. ATMs can stop working if the weather is bad, since the networks may come down. The card may also be affected by magnetic fields.
5. If you are ever stranded while driving, take a look at the instruction manual. It is highly likely to contain a 24 hour assistance helpline number, which you can call in distress. Of course, the reach and availability depends on the brand of vehicle you are driving, but it is worth a try.
The above story is based on a series of true incidents, but I did add in a couple of angles for effect. But that doesn’t mean this cannot happen to anyone. Technology doesn’t exactly make life difficult in all cases, but it does spoil us by making things so convenient in some cases that we forget, or become too lazy, to do the alternative.
(aravind.r@newindianexpress.com)