Last week I read an article in The Hindu which speculated about what might happen if companies banned email during office hours. According to researchers, productivity actually decreases with too much use of the internet, and particularly with too much emailing. I thought about it, laughed at the idea of giving it up and went to work. When I came home for lunch, two things had happened: the wireless system at the office had failed and now only two computers had connectivity and, second, my home connection had completely disappeared. When I returned to the office in the afternoon, I learned that the whole system had crashed, the computer man had a wedding in the family and that he would only come the next day.

No internet! No emailing!

I was desperate in less than fifteen minutes. I found it difficult to settle to anything. Like an alcoholic or a drug addict, I paced, I snapped at my colleagues, I tried and failed to settle down. What about all the letters I had to send? (Envelopes? Stamps? Did they still exist?) What about the word I needed to define? (Dictionary? What’s that?) What about the article I needed to reference? (Leaf through an old newspaper? Ha!) What if someone was trying to get in touch? (The thought that they could just pick up the phone didn’t even occur to me.)

That day, the problem was sorted within two hours. But then the next week it happened again and today it was off more than it was on. Each time it happens, we get derailed to such an extent one has to ask whether this kind of dependence on a particular technology is actually more of a problem than a help.

Thank God it’s on at the moment so I can post this and ask you to think about it too!