We all accept that mobile technology is a boon to all of us in many ways. But I can quote how interpersonal relationship of parent/kids has been affected by the intrusion of a mobile.
Previously when the parents of small kids used to take their children on prams or in their arms outdoors, they would show the kids various things which come on their way and patiently explain everything. They would also answer the curious questions of their kids happily. But nowadays the scenario is different. The child and the situation is still the same but the priority of the parents has changed. The parent is so preoccupied talking on the mobile that they miss some pleasurable moments of their lives. I wish to quote a couple of incidence which I have observed.
The other day I was sitting in a mobile gallery waiting for my turn when I saw a mother running out of the gallery to show her child an elephant passing on the road. During that time she was attending a call on her mobile and she was so engrossed talking on her mobile that the kid did not notice the elephant at all as she was facing the gallery looking for her dad. The preoccupied mother failed to attract the attention of the kid over to the elephant. The child missed a very good opportunity of seeing an elephant and the detailed description given by her mother.
The other incident was of a father who was taking his kid for a walk in the evening through a pathway of our colony. The kid was jumping with joy and asking the father some questions. But the father was preoccupied talking on his mobile that he did not bother about the kid at all. I was just some steps behind them and watching the fun.
This time I was sitting with my husband in a garden of our colony park and we saw a mother walking up and down on the jogging track with a pram on which lay a beautiful kid lying quietly. The mother was very busy discussing some serious issue on her mobile for a long time mechanically pushing the pram on the track unmindful of the child’s reactions.
These are few examples of parent/kid relationship versus mobile. But I have seen even lovers sitting on the lake side or gardens fiddling with their mobiles than indulge in talking sweet nothings in each others ears. What we need to understand is that we should learn to live in the present and give importance to direct communication with our near and dear ones. We should learn to manage our time between our personal life and work and use the technology to our benefit and not let it damage our basic values.