With a bunch of friends sitting in a circle in a class we all chose to send our kids to - we were all yapping while we were on our phones. We had overpaid for an overrated class for our 6 year olds. We had 2 hours of time to kill and we chose to still stare at our phones while talking to each other. With kids going to different schools, Priyanka and Nick's wedding pictures and a bunch of other worldly things to chat about - we went from one random useless topic to another.
Just then, another common mommy friend had posted a picture of her baby from when he was 1 month old (she obviously waited a year cause if she posted it as soon as he was born, AYYYOO KANNU PATTRUM). The picture was this little button of a boy dressed with a crotchet hat and mittens and a diaper sitting in a wicker basket with a truck very tastefully placed near it - truck na boy aama. And of course, blue hat and mittens - so we know its a boy. The picture was captioned - 'I know a little boy. He stole my heart. He calls me mama.' I did melt for the picture and the others went 'Aww' but there was that sarcastic part of me kindled by Chandler Muriel Bing that just blurted out 'There is this thing. Its called a mobile phone. It has ruined my life.' The others went into boisterous laughter and silently liked the picture of the baby and laughed again.
Have you ever experienced this awkward silence between two topics when a bunch of people are sitting together? Well - this was it. An engineer, a half-baked chartered accountant, an ex Infosys employee and me an ex-Googler - here we were after quitting our jobs wondering what topic to talk about while we knew in our heads we were just worried about what to make for the kids at home for dinner. It happens. Its happening everywhere. Our phones have taken over us, haven't they?
What was a remark that was true to its very sense was something we never think about let alone say out loud. What then happened was wonderful - we all went into a confession zone. Our guilty pleasures being Koffee With Karan but for serious times, we'd do re runs of FRIENDS and Game Of Thrones. One of us even liked comedy shows on Vijay Tv, cause you know - Ennama Ippadi Panreengaley Ma. Netflix, Prime & Hotstar had pretty much ruined it for many. With running around for the kids and putting their schedule before ours - I guess the little let out we had as mothers was this. Some chose the gym. Some chose movies. Some chose their girl gang. Some chose shopping. Some of us just chose to stay home and do this one our phones. That moment I took to asking my friends - if you had to explain yourself in one sentence, what would it be?
'I'm a montessori mother of two who loves to cook and create cute clothes for my kids'.
'I'm a mother of a strong-willed boy who loves to scribble on my walls and i make art out of them.'
'I'm a crotchet mom with a cooking blog.'
As much as I would have loved to say the truth, I made it cute and sugar coated with and topped it with a red jujip and said, 'I'm a mother of a 6 yr old who hugs like a teddy and reads like a dinosaur.'
Who was I kidding? And who was I to judge the girl who posted the picture of her little boy with a stolen phase from Pinterest? In my head, I clearly knew I was a housewife an online streaming addiction hook attached to my eyes.
Towards the end of 2018, I had made amends - I didn't allow myself to use my phone until I was alone and was in need of timepass. I had read considerably very few books in 2018 - so I bucked up and finished Michelle Obama's Becoming. And what a book it was! (Will be another post altogether) I did what I always do, I decluttered. With a week of mind cleansing, singing out all the Varnams I had learned as a kid - I had finally realised how much could be done when the mobile phone wasn't around.
2019 - Id like to mend the ways of how technology has me hooked. Little Netflix, Lottle Books. Little posting, Lottle Writing. Little Meat, Lottle Veg. Little Reacting, Lottle Responding.
Have you weighed out your Littles and your Lottles for this year?
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