Upside Down

Social media has undoubtedly been a boon as it keeps us connected with our family and friends. But we often run into many such incidents where the irrational use of mobile phones or different applications out-turn it to be a curse. I have witnessed one such sad hap that terrifies me till date. 

Mohan hailed from a family of artisans, who were now striving to meet their basic needs. Living in a small village in Odisha, he always aspired to move to a big city someday. It was the time of harvest festival and his friend Shiva, who works in Visakhapatnam, was here to celebrate the fete with his family. Both the friends met after a long time and had a heart-to-heart conversation. Amidst their talk, Shiva offered, "Mohan I work in a factory that manufactures household plastic items. There is a requirement of more staff in the factory. If you are interested, I will talk to my Sir about it". Mohan jumped for joy as this would make his dream come true. He agreed without giving a second thought. His mother was quite apprehensive but she too gave her consent as the family was in need of money. Both the friends left for the city and soon Mohan was also an employee of the factory. 

Mohan was trained to handle a semi-automatic machine that was manufacturing the lid of a plastic box. In this procedure, the polymer granules are fed into the machine and then subjected to heat and pressure to take the desired shape of the article. The mould gets opened and the lid has to be manually taken out. The person operating this needs to be quick and alert as the mould gets closed once it has been unlocked after removing the lid. Mohan acquired the required skills and took the responsibility of this process. He was appreciated by one and all for his sincerity and commitment towards the job.

A month passed and he received his first salary. He was elated and sent half the amount to his family and with the other half he bought his first smartphone. This one deed turned his life upside down. Like numerous other youngsters, he too fell the victim of Social Media Addiction. He was constantly active on different messenger and social networking applications. Though against the rules, he carried his cellphone to his work. He was often reprimanded by his senior employees but he shut his eyes to their warnings. 

One day he was working as usual in the production and was quickly removing the lids from the mould. All at once, he was distracted by the beep of his phone. He peeped into it, simultaneously working on the machine. Within a fraction of seconds, everything turned horrifying. His right hand got stuck into the mould. The locking mechanism was broken and his hand and wrist were crushed between the two walls of the mould. A jarring blast of lightning was sent into his brain and he squealed in pain. Shiva and others ran towards him, opened the mould and rescued his hand. The sight was full of blood and shrieks. Shiva tied a tourniquet to his hand and Mohan was rushed to the hospital. When the owner of the factory learned about it, he immediately got into action and called the best Orthopedic and Neurosurgeon of the city. He pleaded with the doctor to save his hand at any cost. But all in vain. Despite the best efforts put by the doctor and his team, his hand could not be preserved. The nerves of his palm and forearm were so intensely damaged that his hand had to be amputated upto the elbow. The boy who was merrily living with two hands just two days ago was now left with only a left hand. 

At the present time, Mohan is living in the same village, with his mother regretting every day for sending her son to the city. One wrong addiction resulted in a life-long misery. Dear readers, let us vow to protect ourselves and people around us from this dependency on different smartphone applications. Let social media be a boon and not a curse to our society.