An Extention of "Me"

I hate that extension of myself that I have developed over the years. It wasn’t a part of me when I was born or growing up for that matter and does not in anyway constitute a natural organ of my human existence. Yet, all the time, it is somehow artificially bonded to my mind and body and has become so indispensable. Sleep, walk, talk, eat, work, drive, relax or even die, I know I am not going to get rid of that damn thing. Its presence is ominous but I just can’t help.

So much so that it has become a symbol of my recognition. It shatters me into multiple chips instead of reflecting my human attributes. For a few I am just a voice, for others a text reader or an originator and for the rest a mere “contact”. In short, it overshadows and distorts my very own identity and has become a unique “brand” of my physical existence. Thanks to its presence, people know me more as an 11 or a 14 digit lifeless number rather than a living soul.

The more I realize its tendency to poke into my privacy the more I despise it. Whether I am in the middle of an important meeting or a heated argument or negotiations it would buzz causing a huge distraction. I am reading something really interesting or watching an engrossing movie it would shriek again. Enjoying a nice dinner, weekend or a vacation, the cell phone would just go berserk. To put it plainly your cell would ring or beep at all the wrong places at all the wrong times. It is a dormant volcano that has the potential to erupt at any undefined and undesirable moment.

Another invention of intriguing human mind, it makes me wonder whether it has made our lives any convenient or just added another unavoidable dimension of nuisance to it? While there is a clear trade-off, how far can we allow others to invade our privacy communicating with the tool?

Disguised as a strong and a handy communication tool and ensuring a certain amount of security, it certainly intrudes and indents into my very basic and personal domain of human freedom. You don’t take a call or return a missed one; you are easily termed an arrogant conceited snob at worst and a discourteous fellow at best. Now is it fair when you are expected to take business or work related calls during your personal time?

I always hate to sound pessimistic or to promote any cynical campaigns but am I not becoming a victim of another technological breakthrough here? What realistic options do I have other than to succumb to the idiotic expectations of being accessible by everyone all the time at all the right or wrong places? Do you folks mind pondering on my part, as I have to take yet another call as my mobile phone explodes into a frenzy again……………?