An Attack of MAIDS

I had heard about it. The symptoms and all the signs. The mental state of the patient and the physical manifestations of the inner turmoil. And I had never given serious thought to it. Denied it in the same manner that we deny that we may suffer from a certain disease until we are afflicted from it. The realization dawned on me only when the disease actually took over. I was suffering from MAIDS.

Nothing much to worry about, my friends (and in case any of my foes are reading this, nothing for you to cheer about)! MAIDS stands for Mobile and Internet Dependency Syndrome and is afflicting quite a percentage of the young generation.

It came to light when I made a trip to my Uncle's place for two days. My Uncle lives in a slightly rural setting and internet connectivity is not so widespread at present. I was prepared for that. What I was not prepared for was my unreliable network ditching me in my hour of need. Nothing unusual about that, i assure you. While I was 200 yards from my Uncle's place, the signal was quite good. As i entered the house, i glanced at my cell to see the now usual 'emergency services only'. What the heck! Its two days only, i thought. Hardly two hours had passed however, when my eyes and my hands started repeatedly wandering towards my cell. Glances at the mobile screen told the same old story.

It was quite a distressing two days. What with not much of socializing (my aunt had taken over the task of making me look younger and covering all those premature grey hairs by applying a thick paste of henna, as a result, confining me indoors for a whole day- the result of all that hard work is quite pleasant, i assure you ;)), i had to pass my time by resorting to a rereading of some old novels and a screening of some episodes of BR Chopra's Mahabharat (thank God for that!)

Well, i am back now and my nomophobia has been addressed (nomophobia is the phobia of getting disconnected from your mobile) but my internet dependency has yet to be cured. The unreliable network (who claim of providing total network where there is no air, no water, no land- no wonder they can't provide it where all are available!!!) is experiencing troubles with the gprs services. So, its been another long day of distress alleviated by the fact that i am accessing the internet using one of my friend's connection.

That pretty sums up my present state of affairs and my first encounter with MAIDS. I guess more are to follow. Still, its a small price to pay, i hope, for remaining connected.