Train journeys now are not what they were back in the day. That is what I realised during a recent trip to Tirupathi.
The train arrived at the platform at the scheduled time. We got into our coach and occupied our seats. The compartment was packed with passengers, but an eerie silence pervaded within half an hour of the journey.
Wondering at the unusual, unexpected quiet, I looked around, watching fellow passengers. Everybody was gazing attentively at the screen of their phones and was lost in the world of WhatsApp and Facebook, not bothering about the people around them or to watch the scenery outside. Young and old, all were busy with their smartphones.
While an elderly woman was scrolling through WhatsApp messages, her husband was viewing a movie on his phone. Young people were talking incessantly on their phones. Children were playing video games.
There was no warmth of interactions between the passengers. Nobody made any attempt to strike a conversation. No smiles, no laughs, no jokes, I noticed. No-one was even reading newspapers or magazines. There was a total absence of camaraderie and bonhomie.
A few decades ago, train journeys were different from what it is nowadays. We looked forward to them, as each trip offered us an exciting and memorable experience. Apart from giving us a nice opportunity to see new places, train travel brought us new acquaintances, a wealth of unique emotions and joy of sharing ideas, and helped us learn more of life beyond the circle of our kith and kin.
Zero exchanges
Passengers, though strangers to one another, would introduce themselves, talk freely and frankly about themselves, exchange ideas and share emotions, crack jokes and laugh heartily. Those who would be poring over their newspapers and magazines did not mind lending these to their fellow passengers and they would discuss news and views. Passenger would even share their home-made food.
All these camaraderie and bonhomie have simply vanished, as train journeys have become a monotonous, tedious experience with the technological tyranny of smartphones ruling the lives of people.
As Ruskin Bond said, “We are the true robots, not those sad mechanical creatures created in our own image.”
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