Let's Talk It Out!

Reviving the art of conversation.

- Sujatha Rao

My toddler is already reaching out for the mobile phone!”

“My one-year-old doesn’t eat, unless I show him videos from YouTube.”

“My son knows how to operate the mobile phone better than I do, though he is only five years old.”

“My 12-year-old threw a tantrum for his own mobile phone. Finally, I gave in.”

“My teenage children hardly talk to us. Both of them are into their mobile phones day-in-and-day-out.”

These are the common refrains we have been hearing over the last few years. During the last one year, the following got added to this list:

“What else should I do? There is no school and I cannot go out and play.”

When you go through these oneliners by the parents from all walks of life, don’t you notice an evolutionary progression in them? Sadly, in most of such cases, it is the parents who start their child off on the device for reasons better known to them. However, the initial pride in the technical proficiency of their kids slowly gives way to frustration, as the so-called talent gets into an out-of-control obsession.

This is not the malady that is afflicting the children alone. This is something that has taken a deep root in our society across people of all ages and has uprooted the art of holding a meaningful conversation.

WE’RE TRAINING AND CONDITIONING A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF PEOPLE THAT, WHEN WE ARE UNCOMFORTABLE OR LONELY OR UNCERTAIN OR AFRAID, WE HAVE A DIGITAL PACIFIER FOR OURSELVES. THAT IS KIND OF ATROPHYING OUR OWN ABILITY TO DEAL WITH THAT.

The Problem