Louis CK Is Asking You to Switch Off Your Damn Mobile.

Dammit! I sound like a pariah. I think watching the World Cup final without Team India made me just idle around Twitter a little too much. And I feel guilty about it. Anyway now is a time as good as any to share this funny Louis CK clip.

It's classic CK. In that it's about comedy. It's about his razor-sharp observational skills. And about...raising children. It's extremely inspiring to see how much he borrows from his own life. He's a single father of two, and I've reason to believe his kids don't have cell phones. He talks about how kids who spend more time on mobiles are less adept at being empathetic. And then they miss out on the essence of being in the present. Of being able to focus and be alive to the possibility of now without being distracted by the stupid drone on your cellphone.

I think in a few years, we won't do things without broadcasting about it on the internet. But until then, I want you to spend a little more time online and watch this.

Also, Louis CK is coming to town. His first Indian tour was just announced. Can't wait to see the greatest standup acts of our time in person.

My Favourite Banksy.

Oh, Banksy. You all-knowing, all-seeing prophet of our times. You've targeted capitalism, the surveillance state, frisking and many other evils of our time. And now you decided to take on the modern man's love for his mobile.

The beauty of this graffiti is that it's actually very understated. Banksy like most street artists has to go for the hyperbole but here is a sight that you see every day. Go to a restaurant and have a look at any couple or even any family. Nearly every one is busy with their phones. It's as if the human mind is now incapable of carrying out one conversation at a time. The need to attend to unending pings from your phone is second only to breathing. And that's just sad. I mean for the love of God, we have now a disease called ringxiety. We are getting ruder because we spend more time online. So, please for your sake and for the sake of humanity, put your phone on silent. Yes, there's a switch on the side that lets you do that. Believe me you, you would be much better for doing that. 

Ever Visited Some Distant Recesses of Your Mind?

If you have a smartphone, then you are likely to suffer from ADD. Whether it's constantly responding to texts or just scrolling through your news feed every hour even though you know there's nothing to see or just getting bogged down by the influx of official emails, we are all too preoccupied with being preoccupied.

In comes virtuoso travel writer Pico Iyer explaining the virtues of sitting still. Something we Indians have known or practiced all along but somehow forgot about. Check out his fabulous, sensible TED talk where he reveals that the best place he ever visited was the one he was presently at. After that stop reading my blog, switch off your Wi-Fi, put the phone on flight mode and have a digital Sabbath.