What a life!

What a mess of Life have we made!

During last 10-15 yeas, our lives have changed drastically. The Internet, Cable , Satellite TV, 24 hour channels, The entertainment& communications electronics have changed our lives forever. But, at the same time, have brought in unseen and undreamt of complications and what a bloody mess have we made of our lives!

1. Plethora of Remote control units : I sit in my room and arranged around me is an array of remote control units, and many times, I just go crazy trying to find the right one and when found, make it work ! I have to slap it, rub it, shake it, fondle it,snap the battery cover, adjust batteries, many times change the batteries and then make the damn thing work…. ....just to realize that I am struggling with the wrong one! Now the number of remotes: one for the AC, one for the Music System, one for the Set Top Box/DTH, one for the TV, one for the speakers/Home Theater, one for the DVD Player, At times I just recall those good old days of simple life, my Dyanora Black & White TV with just one channel-DD, and just a few hours of uninterrupted bliss, ogling at beautiful Mukta Srivastav and enjoying dashing smile of Salma Sultan, Matronly, benevolent Pratima Puri's calm voice used to be such a solace.
2. Then there is a huge confusion of chargers and adopters. My whole house if full of chargers and adopters of various shapes & sizes. The number of plug-ins is more than the plug points available, which brings us to the complications of extension cords and mess of dangling wires all over. Many times I have chase the wire all the way from beginning to the end just to find out which gadget does this cable belongs to!
3. Then there are a couple of computers , laptops, i-pods, and other gadgets full time on, in addition to the good old MTNL phone ( which qualifies for address proof, if nothing else), and another land line given free with the broad band/internet connection.
4. My kids’ room looks like the cockpit of a space ship with gadgets strewn all around, number of cables, plethora of chargers and adopters with their blinking colorful LED’s, phones ringing incessantly while my daughter tries to ,locate the handset under the pillow/behind the sofa/buried under pile of clothes stacked aimlessly in a corner. Many times, she calls her own mobile number from the landline just so that she can locate her handset! While the laptop is busy downloading music/videos/movies/tv serials whatever, i-pod dock is blaring away at peak volume, and then she is shouting into her phone because she cant find the remote control to mute or reduce the volume while her mother is shouting for her to have the breakfast which is anyway getting cold on the Dining Table. Just to keep herself away from all this mess, she locks herself in her bedroom and we have to send an sms to inform our daughter that Dinner has been served! What a life!!!
5. All of us pretty much stick to our rooms with a handful of remotes keeping us fully busy, and then if someone calls up on the Landline phone, or rings the main door bell, Oh God, what a punishment it is to answer the call or the door!
6. Once in a while if the charger conks off, or the mobile charge is down, it looks like a disaster! What will I do Papa ?wails my daughter. I have to find another way of enabling her phone by locating an old charger, usb cable, or just to surrender my handset for her to load her sim card for the time being.
7. Every time my blackberry chimes, I run to pick up and check the mail…. Just to find that one more junk mail has landed offering me a dream flat / dream holiday/deal of a new insurance policy etc.
8. Multi-tasking is something which I had never understood in full till I discovered it by looking at my kids, my daughter has her TV on, she glances at it once in while, she is one phone in her one of those endless conversations, and 10-15 windows are open on her computer , 3-4 down loads are happening, 3-4 emails are open, a few portals as well as 3-4 chats are going on. All this is happening while she is having her breakfast, or Dinner. I am waiting at her Door just to ask her if she can send back the driverto her Mom, and she is to signaling me to wait just for a minute, for the last 15 minutes. My wife wants to know whether she wants her eggs fried or boiled for today’s breakfast, there are two servants nagging my wife to tell them what to do, and the phone is ringing.
9. I am running around trying to get ready and leave early to beat the traffic, but the phones wont stop ringing, and the door bell rings every few minutes, the milk man, newspaper, subziwala, maid, driver, chowkidar with a RWA circular, presswala asking me to count the number of clothes, someone or the other is at the Door. Me and my wife are constantly shouting at someone or the other, and most often , at each other as well.

This is the High Tech Life, full of gadgets, comforts,etc. But, is it any better?
Where is the quality of life, where is the peace of mind, contentment, and Time to enjoy and savor each and every small morsel of enjoyment?