In a crowded bus in Bengaluru

Every evening, as I board a crowded BTMC bus to get back home I see weary, tired women mindlessly watching stories on Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook. They hold on to handrails, squeeze between what little space is left in the overcrowded bus and stand in contorted positions to look at what other people ( often strangers) are doing with their life.Some catch up on episodes of their favorite series and soaps and comedy shows as our benign service providers auto play them one after the other. Bangalore has enough traffic to make sure you binge watch these episodes and if you find a seat throughout your long journey home, well jackpot! The visuals roll back endlessly without you having to do a thing. I get a disagreeable shiver down my back. What worries me is not the fact that they are constantly on their cellphones but that they are zoned out even when they are watching something, reading something, doing something. Our lives seem to be a distracted blur.  Sometimes, when I am waiting to cross a traffic signal and when it counts down from five seconds, my mind says 'Skip Ad' in my head! Funny, absurd and ridiculous but also frightening.  I remember having read 'The Machine Stops' by E.M.Forster and I think we are hurtling towards a similar ending in real life.