Why Techno-fasting is the need of the hour

Techno-Fasting? Now what is that? – Fasting and you might be poles apart but techno-fasting is not starving of your stomach, it is to give your mind some rest. It has not been advised by any God or Prophet or Jesus or any self-proclaimed god man. It is okay, but what makes it the need of the hour? Read out the following behaviors and check if they strike any semblance to you or your dear ones.

One fine Saturday morning, you wake up late (nothing unusual on a weekend) cuddling your beloved pillow, you reach out for your “smartphone” and all of a sudden you realize that it is not beside your pillow. Where on earth can it go? Though it is a “smartphone”, it is not smart enough to walk alone in spite of having a near-flawless map with it. You shout for your “crisis-manager” – your mom to activate her networks of maid, cook, grandparents and your dad to search for the device. You feel anxiety and tension already scaling up. To top on this, your dad teases you by reciting one of a memorable and apt for the situation dialog from a famous Bollywood movie “Babumosai, hum sab rangmanch ke kath putliyan hai, jiske dor unke ungliyon mein bandha hua hai, who jab chahe, jise chahe, jahan chahe ring kar leta hai-ha-ha-ha-ha”. With bitterness you wonder, such a realistic dialog on satellite communication.

Suddenly your maid recovers the device and hands it over to you. Last night you were speaking with someone till you opened your shoe-laces and have kept it above the shoe rack. You almost snatch it from her hands only to find that it has drained out of charge. Now how dangerous is that? You try to anticipate whose calls you have already missed – how many status updates and above all what about your secret friend?  You cannot tolerate this anymore your head is bursting out of nervousness. You immediately put on the charger to make yourself accessible to the world. Now let me tell you – you are a Nomophobic. A phobia of being away from your mobile. Survey shows that almost eighty-five percent of the mobile subscribers are nomophobic in UK. I am not aware of any such survey in India till date, so cannot give you the statistics.

Now let’s look at the youngsters who call themselves a “gamer-with an attitude”. These days it’s the most happening discussion in schools and colleges on the level of toughness you have cleared on a game. It is a world of virtual warfare out there. The effect is much alarming on them. They are now much more violent and outrageous in their behavior. Are they playing game or are they on a killing and shooting spree?

Many countries like Japan, UK and China has already started camps for technofasting where there are no luxuries of phones, internet, computers or video-games. This is a great approach to reduce the addiction and bring them to enjoy outdoor games and indoor games in real. Results as verified by psychologists and parents are quite evident in their child’s behavior.

Do you feel now that there is need of technofasting for you? Comments are always welcome if you are experiencing nomophobia or you are experiencing violent behaviors in your dear ones.