Am I Or I Or Am I Not?

"Hey, Amit! I am planning for a trip this month, wanna join ?" said Kushal to Amit, both of whom are fresh out of college and in internship with a reputed software company.

Amit keeps staring at his phone while replying to Kushal "Tell me about it, where do you plan, or better even, send me the links, i'll check it out and let you know." and he casually moves away still hooked to his phone.

The next day, they meet in their company premises and Kushal lays out the plan of going trekking for a day along with 4 other friends.

Amit after pondering - "Will my internet work though, will there be range while trekking ?"

Kushal - "Its trekking dude and we would have a guide, he would be our internet. You can also let your parents know about it, since these guys are professional, besides its just a day"

Amit responds - "May be we should have the net, you know, ask the folks to have some arrangement around it, if they do, Iittle come along"

Kushal and his friends think over and then tell Amit without confirming with the trekking vendor that the internet would be provided in case theres no network.

They then inform their parents about it and plan for it on a weekend. Amit packs and also carries his phone and power bank without miss.

His attachment to the phone and internet has grown multi folds over the years and have started having a hunch back and neck pain due to consistent usage of mobile and with it the internet. His entire life converged into virtual reality and his dependancy on the internet for everything only grew incrementally by leaps and bounds.

The day of trekking, everyone gathered at Kushal's home and started the trip in a bus until the edge of the hill. The guide was at the foothill waiting for everyone to arrive.

A brief round of instruction was given and everyone started the trek at 6 am uphill.

Although everyone focused on the trek and the view of sunrise, Amit kept checking and rechecking his mobile for connectivity and posting selfies to social media.

This went on for an hour until they reached a steep dense forest and automatically the network was gone.

Amit after being restless for sometime started raising the concern of network. Everyone advised him to carry on with the trek but as time passed he grew immensely restless.

Amit demanded - " Guide, you either get me the network or let us downhill, we abort this trek"

The guide politely refused and gave foresight of the trek and what would be valuable as an experience and view wise.

Amit refuted and everyone else started consoling him that he wouldnt miss anything on the social media or internet . Amit slowly became disillusioned in a matter of 4 hours into the trek and with no internet.

The guide offered water and asked the group to halt until Amit reasons and comes along.

In the next one hour, Amit kept fidgeting with his network and phone, asking everyone else for their mobiles and obsessively trying to fix. So much that he looses track of time and loiters in the forest without thinking. The group as a result had to follow him.

Soon it came evident to everyone that the behaviour of Amit was unusual and they need to abort the trek and move backwards.

When this news is spilled to Amit he becomes hysterical and starts rushing downhill and slips, breaking his arm and hip in the process.

With much difficulty, he is taken to a hospital and admitted and his parents informed.

While everyone expected this entire event unnatural, Amit was diagnosed with individual behavioral addiction pertaining to the internet and social media.

He was in denial initially but later realised that it was so. With a lot of counseling Amit slowly moved out of his addiction.

This also came as a learning and red flag to all his friends and family.