E-Sanyaas

Young bachelors, working for well known multi national corporations, brains filled with technology and the will to explore the new. We wanted to own and try every possible gadget that was launched in the market. We had the money to spend and didn't know what to spend on.

Our spendings started when we were in school with game CDs, music cassettes, (yes I am that old) music CDs, expensive headphones and then diverted towards other technology products. We used to read all the published tech magazines. We had the latest PC with super fast processors. We were the lucky few who had our own dial up internet connection when it was launched in India. With isp like eth, caltiger (free internet), VSNL, sify etc, we tried them all.

Skyrocketing telephone bills, electricity bills, optician's bills, nothing could seperate us from the latest technology.

Cell phones were a luxury at that time and call rates were as high as RS 3 per minute and we had to pay for incoming calls too!!! Slowly and steadily we convinced our parents that it is a good idea for us to carry a cell phone with us. Incoming calls became free and we jumped with joy. We numbed our thumbs typing unlimited sms on the latest Nokia 3310.

Then came broadband, BSNL launched blazing fast 256 kbps broadband connections, and obviously we were the first few to apply for it and get it.

Smartphones by Nokia (Symbian based) started becoming a big hit, we had to own them too. I sold my old gadgets, old computer, bicycle and my cell phone and got myself a pre-owned Symbian smart phone. It was just amazing, it was a phone which had a camera in it!! colour screen, bluetooth and internet. My hands never left my cellphone since that day. I just had to have my cellphone with me at all times. From an optional accessory the cell phone became a necessity. I forget to carry my wallet a couple of times but never forget my phone.

Then came in e-commerce, an amazing idea by someone who could forsee the future well. With websites like baazee.com and rediff shopping, indiatimes shopping, we were dazed to know what all is available for sale in India. Soon e-commerce became a big hit in India and we were hooked on to it. Baazee.com was bought over by eBay corp. Flipkart, myntra, snapdeal and many more e-commerce websites were launched. Technology, gadgets became more and more accessible to us. We couldn't stop ourselves from buying all the possible gadgets, few of which we never used till date. eBay was my favourite, where I have bought so many gadgets that I don't even recall buying now.

Me and my close friend have been suffering from this compulsive addiction to purchase tech products I guess just because they were so easily available online. I'm pretty sure if I scan the local markets, I would find the same thing but I would not buy everything there.

To add to it is electronic money. You stop realising how much you are actually spending because you don't actually see the currency go away from your hands. If your pockets feel lighter, we would stop spending so much on unnecessary things.

Buying online is so so easy now, just pick your phone, open the app, search, press buy. It hardly takes 5 minutes and that too from the comfort of my couch.

Once I was looking for a pen drive at home to copy and take a few videos with me on a trip. I couldn't find it anywhere. I instantly picked my phone and bought a pen drive to be delivered the same day. I got the new pen drive in just a couple of hours. That's when I realised I needed to stop.

Me and my friend used to confess to each other after making an online purchase. We both tried to stop each other from buying things that we didn't need. But both were neck deep in the same puddle. We couldn't save each other while we were our self drowning in it.

We used to read about the bad effects of these gadgets on our health, in the news and on the internet and like any normal person chose to ignore it. Soon I started to see the I'll effects of only staring at computers, phone, tv, tablet whole day. I suffer from pain in my wrist, pain in my elbow and dry eyes. Some days I get a headache because of this.

E-Sanyaas was a term created by my friend and me. We started realising that we need to get out of this before its too late. First was my friend. He gave up technology for a week. No internet, no whatsapp, no online shopping. Oneweek passed by and he was a new person. Then it was my turn. I wasn't able to convince myself to give up my passion. Then one not so fine day, i dropped my HTC one and the display shattered. At the same time i got a nokia 107 gift and so my E-Sanyaas began. My HTC was at the service center for three weeks. I was  cursing myself for dropping my phone. The first week was a very difficult time for me, Every few minutes I took out my phone for multiple reasons, and realised that the phone was incapable of helping me. I borrowed my friends phone at times, and used my office PC for the rest of the times.

It was soon evident to me how dependent I had become on this device - the smartphone. The second and third week passed by very easily and quickly. I got my phone back after repairs. My E-Sanyaas was finally over. I was so happy. But then, I started feeling the pain of carrying my smartphone with me all the time. More than a convinience it started feeling like a burden carrying an expesive device in my pocket. Keeping the battery charged at all times.

I started to spend a lot of time without my phone around me. The FUP on my unlimited broadband connection remained untouched. I feel very free now. I dont get up every morning searching for my phone with my eyes still closed. Its a very good feeling. I am not dependent on technology now. I just use it for the reason it was made for.  For all those of you who are slaves to technology should try this.

E-Sanyaas (c)