{"id":4222,"date":"2016-05-20T14:39:27","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T09:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4222"},"modified":"2016-05-20T14:39:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T09:09:27","slug":"smartphones-window-seat-train-bus-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4222","title":{"rendered":"How Smartphones Killed the Art of Sitting at the Window Seat and Doing Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p>travel by public transport in <\/span>Mumbai<\/span><\/a> every day. If it\u2019s a decent day, I manage to enter the bus without breaking a bone. If it\u2019s a good day, there\u2019s place to stand in the <\/span>train<\/span><\/a> without me being forced to smell the breath of another man and guess what he\u2019s had for breakfast. If it\u2019s a lucky day, I get to rest my skinny arse on a seat, and when all the stars align and I hit the jackpot, I get a window seat. <\/span>\n\nToday was one such day, and the joint winner of the jackpot was a father-son duo who had landed the window seat opposite mine. The dad and I hurriedly scrambled for the seat like our lives depended on it, but once we settled in, we did what everyone does these days \u2013 lowered our heads and stared at our phone screens. Our <\/span>ride<\/span><\/a> lasted an hour and neither of us cared to peek outside, even once. I was hooked on to <\/span>The Umbrella Academy<\/span><\/i> on <\/span>Netflix<\/span><\/a>; the father was simply scrolling through his phone, and the kid was playing Ludo Star on his dad\u2019s second phone. I looked around and realised everyone was doing the exact same thing \u2013 everyone was lost to their cellphones. <\/span>\n\nTechnology has been a giant slayer of many things wonderful and one of them is the joy of sitting by the window seat. <\/span>\n\nAs a child, I remember that most of the thrill of travelling by <\/span>public transport<\/span><\/a>, whether it was the train or a bus, long-distance trip or a short ride across town, revolved around the drama of the window seat. The moment my cousins and I boarded a bus or a train, we scanned it for an empty window seat, and made a dash for it \u2013 if the four of us found four different windows, it was like <\/span>Christmas<\/span><\/a> come early. <\/span>\n\nIt wasn\u2019t just a kiddie thing; I\u2019ve seen adults break into a brawl over the coveted seat. These were simpler times, when a handkerchief would be used to call dibs, and arguments would break over whether what was ethical when it came to claiming the seat. Does hurling your purse on to the <\/span>seat<\/span><\/a> count? What if you smuggled a <\/span>kid<\/span><\/a> through the window? There were no rules to this game. Passengers that didn\u2019t get the window would keep waiting for the occupiers to get up, so they could slide in and feel the wind in their hair. And <\/span>children<\/span><\/a> like me used their cuteness to their advantage. An innocent, \u201cUncle, uncle mujhe window seat do naa, please\u201d mostly did the trick. <\/span>\n

Back then, the window seat was the envy of all travellers, more sought after by passengers than a seat in Parliament by our greedy politicians.<\/blockquote>\nAs a kid, I played my cards well. I\u2019d often move through the crowd in a packed train \u2013 mostly the <\/span>Churchgate-bound<\/span><\/a> local, when dad took me to the movies at Eros \u2013 and stood right in front of the window. And if I got lucky, a kind passenger would either vacate his seat for me or pick me up and make me sit on his lap. It might not have been the most comfortable journey, but the window seat was worth it. I can close my eyes and still feel the breeze on my face. And the view and the smells are unmatched. We did not cross green fields and high mountains, but the aroma from the Parle biscuit factory as you crossed Vile Parle, a tiny glimpse of <\/span>Bandra\u2019s<\/span><\/a> faraway marvels, and the hustle bustle of the chawls as the train sped past Lower Parel, were more engrossing than any Netflix show. The pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance of this joy ride was of course the view of the sea as your train approached Marine Lines. Every head turned to get a little glimpse of the blue. But today the only blue that we seem to be drawn to is the light from our <\/span>smartphones<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nBack then, the window seat was the envy of all travellers, more sought after by passengers than a seat in Parliament by our greedy <\/span>politicians<\/span><\/a>. And then came the mobile phone. The lure of the window seat waned along with any interactions that we had with our fellow commuters.<\/span>\n\nMuch like every public place in cities the world over, our buses and <\/span>trains<\/span><\/a> are now filled with people with their necks craned at a screen. The <\/span>college<\/span><\/a> student is binging on web shows, the middle-aged man is watching HDRips of Bollywood films, the old woman is reading the Hanuman Chalisa on her phone and the rest are too occupied with Candy Crush to care. <\/span>\n\nI\u2019m not different from the crowd; looking out for a whole minute without reaching for the next new <\/span>notification<\/span><\/a> is a challenge. Each time the phone wins because the need to feel \u201cconnected\u201d all the time is infinite. <\/span>\n\nWho cares about that little patch of blue at Marine Lines when you scroll through the pictures of your friend\u2019s Maldivian honeymoon on <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a>? What can be so engrossing on a Mumbai road that it diverts your attention from the <\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a> fight over Pakistani artists?<\/span>\n\nWhen we watch movies where <\/span>humans<\/span><\/a> turn into machines, it almost always begins with the protagonist\u2019s hands turning metallic and their speech robotic. But in the real world, change begins with tiny and unnoticeable compromises, like a slow erosion of our faculties of fascination, curiosity, imagination, and wonder. <\/span>\n\nThe phone makes us feel guilty for \u201cdoing nothing\u201d. It does not even spare us a moment to stop and stare out of the window. And for that we must be worried. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technology is a giant slayer of many things wonderful and one of them is the joy of sitting at the window seat. Where do we have the time to simply sit and stare amid the constant notifications and the lure of Netflix on your phone?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":4223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[3698,7611,3804,18,7612,1341,7613,3816,119,998,2481],"class_list":["post-4222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-amazon-prime","tag-attention-span","tag-bus","tag-family","tag-mobile","tag-netflix","tag-notifications","tag-public-transport","tag-technology","tag-train","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Smartphones Killed the Art of Sitting at the Window Seat and Doing Nothing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Technology is a giant slayer of many things wonderful and one of them is the joy of sitting at the window seat. 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