Daily Times

A declared enemy damages but a snake in the sleeve destroys. The English idiom, a snake in the sleeve means a foe in guise of friend. Surely the wounds inflicted by such a foe are deep and deadly because he/she is always with us and knows well where to hit hard. Smart phone is our modern snake in the sleeve which deteriorates our health, affects our relations and deprives us of skill of observation.

This smart foe worsens our health, makes us lazy and lures us to stick to its screen for hours together. Resultantly, most of the youth today have weakened their eyesight and are wearing glasses, very thick ones at times. Besides, addictive use of smart phones have made us so inactive that we do not wish to enjoy the simple yet long lasting pleasures of physical activities such as walking, jogging, playing sports etc. Due to this, neither the children nor the elders of today are physically so strong and mentally so relaxed. After all, physical activity reduces stress and chances of several coronary diseases.

Another injury this friendly foe has caused is to our relations. People visit one another less frequently now than ever before due to growing economic needs and their fulfilment. But smartphone has added fuel to the fire. Whatever time individuals get now is devoted to its use

Another injury this friendly foe has caused is to our relations. People visit one another less frequently now than ever before due to growing economic needs and their fulfilment. But smart phone has added fuel to the fire. Whatever time individuals get now is devoted to use of smart phone. Comments of ‘get well soon’ and ‘RIP’ on Facebook and Twitter posts have replaced the practice of paying visit to the sick and to the relatives of the deceased. Even five people sitting in a room are all found occupied with their smart phones. How can they build and strengthen relations and care for one another?

Thus, blood relations- let alone social relations- have become strings of silk, easy to be disconnected and broken.

To cap it all, a profound loss smart phone has made is to our brains making us dull and least observant of our surroundings. Once Sherlock Holmes, a famous detective character in the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, asked Dr. Watson about the number of steps which led up from the hall to their room.

Dr Watson expressed his ignorance despite having walked up and down the stairs several times. Sherlock Holmes remarked, “You have not observed. And yet you have seen”. Our case is almost the same. We see many things around us but are unable to observe because of the breath, the eyes, the mind held tightly by this gadget. We do not pay attention to details of things and therefore many of us are ignorant of what is around.

In a nut shell, smart phone has turned out to be a modern snake in the sleeve and is causing damage to our health, relations and skill of observation. Basically, it is our moral and spiritual weakness that a small gadget has taken hold of our lives. We can turn this foe into our friend by using it for constructive rather than destructive purposes. Let’s try and do this from today.

The writer is a lecturer at Sukkur IBA University. He is currently pursuing his MPhil in Education and can be reached at kasiddiqui06@gmail.com