8 hours ago
- copy link
N. Raghuraman, Management Guru
At the beginning of the year, standing at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, I understood what the real meaning of ‘riptide’ (turbulent water area) is. When I was walking on the river Ganga (yes, you read that right) I was able to do so because the water was not able to reach above my calves. But as soon as I went a little further, disobeying my sailor’s advice, I suddenly became aware of the depth, which is called ‘riptide’.
It is a place where two different streams (of Yamuna and Ganga) meet and due to that the sand of Ganga suddenly starts moving towards Yamuna and that area becomes unexpectedly deep. My colleague Ashish Rai from Bhaskar Digital – where he does everything through technology – was taking pictures of me with my phone. And suddenly he kept my phone aside and started taking pictures with his phone. His facial expression changed as he switched from my phone to his.
And I could read the writing on his face. His unspoken words were, ‘This person’s phone has become a victim of ‘Riptide’.’ Then I realized that I had fallen deeper into the hole created by the flood of apps on my phone, which were crashing into each other like the streams of Ganga-Yamuna meeting at the confluence and creating a ‘riptide’ .
I went to the hotel and swore that in 2025 I would not only dig myself out of the deluge of technology, keep it minimal and clean, but also create a list to help others do the same. Some of those points are as follows:
Good phone-hygiene: Recently I shared a photo I took and another of my colleagues in print said it was too ‘washed-out’ to publish. Some people also call it ‘burnt’. If you have a Google Pixel, it has a setting that alerts you when the camera lens gets dirty.
This happens in some Samsung phones also. But I have to keep an eye out for stains on my iPhone myself. No matter what phone you have, it’s time to practice good phone hygiene. All you need for this is a microfiber cloth, which comes with the glasses. If this is not available then a handkerchief or T-shirt will also do. But keep cleaning your phone like glasses.
Technology can be used to read 30 books in a month: Shocked, right? But yes, I have been doing this for the last one month. I ask the AI to first summarize a suggested book in 2000 words. If I like it, I ask for a 5000 or 8000 word synopsis.
If I still like it, I buy the book. Otherwise I can get a preview of it in just half an hour. Through this process I have purchased more books, but have not read them all yet. But with the help of technology, at least I am exposed to more books and their contents and have become more intelligent on various subjects.
Take out the AirPods and give them to an elderly person at home who has hearing loss: There are two reasons for doing this. You should not lose your ability to hear by using them excessively. And two, it will help someone in need at home. I have given my AirPods to uncle, who is using them with the help of Media Assist.
It increases the volume of calls, FaceTime, videos and music. This has made it easier to talk to him and he is able to easily talk on the computer on FaceTime as the phone has become very unpredictable due to network issues. For this reason, I am also taking less gadgets on trips.
The bottom line is that In a world flooded with technology, keep your technology clean. With its help we will be able to avoid falling into the shallow waters (apses) created due to ‘riptide’!
