A young IT engineer got married three months back and was leading a happy married life at Mumbai. He was in his twenties, a graduate from Bhubaneswar. Both husband and wife were employed and were leading a star life; money was no problem for them. They used to spend three hours a day just by traveling to office and back. Suddenly on a dreadful Saturday night, he had a chest pain and on way to hospital, he breathed his last. Recently the young engineer had undergone a routine test and the cardiologist said ‘everything is in perfect condition.’
This is an example of stressful life taking away young lives where life has no valueIJ The modern machines and newer discoveries are a boon to mankind, but like any comfort or luxury, one has to pay a price, mostly though medical bills.
The present generation is the victim of these two gadgets. One is the smart phone and the other the laptop. They get up with them, go to toilet with them, eat with them, walk with them, travel with them, drive with them and lastly sleep with them. Once someone brings office to bedroom, he or she is destined to have a miserable life. The writer crosschecked with hundreds of IT executives and went deep into their working hours, relaxation time, leisure time, sleeping time, sexual life, family life and financial aspects and lastly happiness of life. Majority stay alone in one city and wife in another city but meet once in a month on weekends but their ears are warm due to continuous telephonic conversations with wife, if married, or with the boss, or due to extramarital affairs. No one came out frankly to say that they are in a hell but like a pseudo moralist, they claimed that they lead a fantastic and enjoyable life— money was everything for them. Parents are old timers; a big generation gap hangs in their mind. They get themselves insured and go for periodic health checkups. Even after five or six years of marriage, the woman fails to conceive because of stress and hormonal and age factors. They think IVF is a child’s play to get a child but would know the stress and money involved in each attempt. lastly, the parents would get anxious for not having a grandchild from the only son they haveIJ The hospitals and IVF centers are having a roaring practice in big cities! As years roll by, the modern couple feel lonely in life and the greatest charm of life for a woman of having an offspring slowly and slowly vanishes like the last compartment red light or a cross sign of a superfast train at a turning.
Due to modern machines, villages have been slowly destroyed as the aging parents migrate to cities with airports. Their son or daughter- in- law is reluctant to travel by train to meet their parents. The corporate hospitals with their modern machines are centered on capital cities with airports. We should not criticize the modern times and modern machines but our concern is modernism for which the present generation is suffering from auto immune diseases, malignancy and many psychiatric aliments.
The modern machines make distance short for a price. Twenty four hours have been reduced to two and a half hours. Majority can’t think of spending more than ten hours inside a train; it’s boring and dirty. A sneeze or vertigo means the son flies to her mother. Wife finds it difficult to attend to her husband due to job pressure and financial loss! Due to modern machines, the mother is in constant touch with her son and daughter in law. When they meet after months there is nothing else to talk about as the events and dialogues are over long back.
They feel bored and go out to hill stations to please the spouse and their parents. The modern method of delivery of piping hot food at doorstep has made the art of cooking obsolete. Money is no problem due to digital India. The modern machine-induced lifestyle amongst officers has increased the incidence of hypertension, diabetes, glaucoma, trigger finger, migraine, cervical spondylosis, low back pain , gallstone , cystitis , stress , insomnia , peptic ulcer , carpal tunnel syndrome ,impotency, suicidal tendency and depressive psychosis.
But with digitalization and fastness, life of the newer generation is full of miseries. They are not able to enjoy food due to early onset of diabetes, high blood pressure, acidity, indigestion, high cholesterol and coronary artery diseases. We must remember that modern machines kill more number of people than they save!
(The writer is ex-Director, Health Services, SAIl. Mob-9438484054)