Enablers

Can we imagine this world without all the contraptions that we have now?  It was not so long ago that we did not have any of these technology enabled devices.  In today's life, there are so many day to day items without which we cannot imagine our day or life..  Take for example the simple case of morning newspaper.  When in Chennai I used to get restless around 630 and 700 and my wife keeps screaming that my coffee is getting cold and I be prepared to have it cold - no reheating, no second serving. But somehow, coffee and paper go together, not otherwise.  The funny thing, my neighbour also keeps doing the same thing and we bump into each other.  The delight is when we hear the running feet of the newspaper boy up the stairs, throw the paper and we reach for it... Really the days, when there are no papers because of holidays makes a miserable morning.  So much for our recent habits.  And then maybe 50-60 years back, people may not have had this habit.

And then there is a whole host of such things which came into being in the last 50 - 75 years and have really made themselves indispensible... the gas, the fan, lights, canned water, refrigerators!, televisions!, packeted milk, toothpastes, toothbrushes, fanciful razors - wow literal invasion into the ways of living.  Not for a moment I am discounting the immense value add this has created.  Just imagine simple things like modern sanitation arrangements - we would shudder to think of any other arrangements for performing our morning duties..

But - all this are simply enablers - that enable us to lead a better life and reserve our energies for stuff that is better.  And we do utilise these very well and move on to more things.  There are whole industries churning these useful devices - and we owe our patronage to them, lest we be left without these facilities in the future.   The greatest challenge would be that single day when suddenly we find ourselves without any of these benefits.  And that would be the time for "back to basics"

Literally, if we observe, one thing led to another and the whole construct of modern world is literally lodged on these tender footing..  All seemingly enabling man to something higher and something higher.  People travel great distances in life and serve as anchor poitns and leading lamps of success.  But the journey is not complete.  There are the rest of us running and surging ahead - in a rush to go past and reach greater and newer heights.....

But so far with each such achievement, technology only has proved itself to be a great enabler, it is not the end in itself.  The purpose of life is different.

More in my next....