A DAY WITHOUT GADGETS
This article was my second speech at my university toastmasters at the University of Texas, Dallas.
Good afternoon Sir toastmaster, fellow toastmasters, and dear Guests.
I am Naina and I am here to give my second speech — “A Day without Gadgets”.
As a millennial, I have lived most of the recent years on technology. My day literally starts with my mobile phone alarm, I am sure this is the case with most of you all, followed by browsing through my news feed. In recent years, I cannot imagine myself without this mini gadget, it always by my side like how a magnet is to iron bar not really sure which one is a magnet, but mostly like I am the magnet and this mini bar is the iron rod.
How many hours in a day do you spend on your mobiles?
Quite a lot of time. Living in an era, where we are almost amalgamated with technology, it is practically impossible for us to get detached from it. But a day did come when I had given up all these gadgets including my analog watch which I practically wear 24 hours even to sleep.
And no, it was not for a digital detox or part of any self-imposed research but was for the wedding of my friend.
A few weeks ago, I got an invite from a decade-long friend of mine, saying that she was getting married in Dallas. I was so excited mainly for two reasons — meeting my friends who all in the USA after a long time which was true, but mostly because I was getting a chance to get dressed up after a long time during the times of pandemic, which according to me a good chance to post pictures on Instagram which I have not done from a long time.
Amidst deciding which clothes to wear, I receive her invite to our common group and was surprised by seeing the theme — “No Gadgets”. Taken aback from seeing the theme and wondering if the wedding was happening in the middle of a forest or part of some secret mission to protect our planet from corona, I decided to join the group video call which included all my friends where the investigation for the culprit behind the theme was in progress.
On the D-day, ignoring the theme, or I can say completely forgetting the theme, I went to the occasion with my mini luggage, only to be asked to give away all my electronics including my watch at the entry. With a heavy heart and reciting a mini farewell, I handed over my gadgets to the logistics team and went in search of any familiar faces.
The ceremony was traditional and lengthy just like any south -Indian ceremony but had limited guests due to covid. Deprived of gadgets in hand, we started interacting in real, we started capturing the event in our eyes, rather than on reels. We started to travel the path of nostalgia, remembering our college days, relishing our favorite food rather than taking pictures and adding hashtags.
Concluding with laughter and hugs and promises to keep in touch we start back the next day collecting our gadgets. When I sit down to rewind the event, I cannot help thinking but how much we are bound to technology, cannot help but ponder over the fact if technology is saving us or shackling us?
Many times, we capture the beautiful sunrise or sunset on their phones or digital cameras and start editing them by adding filters to post on the virtual world, we tend to miss the complete moment.
Living in the virtual world we are parting ourselves with reality. When she sent the invite saying, “No gadget”, I was unsure how would I ever sustain that one day. I am glad not only that I did, but also that day will be the closest to my heart in recent times because I was really, in the real world with real people.
I thank this toastmasters club wholeheartedly for giving me a platform to share real day memories in a virtual way.
Thank you.
