Be is on the road,
bustling public place, cinema theatre, place of worship or even corridors of
Office – you find people glued to their smart phone and walking without caring
to look at anything else ....... Away, this advertisement was irritating to say
the least – the so called ‘Axe effect’ drawing women in hordes to a male who has sprayed
himself liberally with the Axe deodorant. The Axe brand of deodorants from Hindustan
Unilever primarily targetted at 15 to 25 year old males. ..... and this one
newsitems attracted more ..... "Unable to attract even a single girl,
frustrated man sues Axe" - this was
published in many websites too including TOI itself. The news was not real though !!!
Faking News, originally
started as a form of blog, is a news satire website that publishes fake news
reports containing satire on politics and society of India; it was launched in
Sept 2008. In May 2013, it was announced
that Faking News had been acquired by Network 18-led First Post.
In 2009, Fake IPL Player had
created a much buzz. The blog was controversial from the start, giving
unflattering nicknames to players, coaches, and owners of KKR and other teams,
telling sordid stories, and showing most of them in a very negative light. As the blog rapidly became popular, it was
believed to be of a fringe KKR player who was upset at not being part of the
core team. The blog worsened an already bad season for KKR, which lost most of
their games, had controversies surrounding their coach, John Buchanan, and
frequently changed captains. In that 2009 season in South Africa, two KKR
players, Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar, were sent home to India midway
through the tournament. This fuelled speculation that they were suspected of
being the person behind the blog. The team was also rumoured to have banned use
of laptops by players. Later it was
revealed that it was not any player but a technie Anupam Mukherjee.
Getting back to the ‘Faking News of First Post’ – there was an interesting
news item on Sept 10, 2014 – titled – ‘Government announces new lane for people
who like to text while walking’. It read
– newly appointed BJP government took another public-friendly step today when
the Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced a new lane on
all the roads of the country for the people who like to chat on their phones
while walking. “People’s safety is the biggest priority for us. We don’t want
people clashing with each other on the middle of a road anymore,” Nitin Gadkari
said while making the announcement.
Apparently, only people with
smart-phones in their hands will be allowed to walk on these special lanes.
There’ll be CCTV cameras installed to avoid any kind of misuse of the privilege
provided by the ministry. “If someone is caught watching the road while walking
on these specific lanes, we’ll surely penalize them or even jail them if
needed,” an official told Faking News.
“The phenomenon of texting while
walking has become more prevalent as our society has become dependent on
smart-phones and other hand-held devices for sharing creepy Good Morning Dear
stickers and yes this is me and my
pimples selfies readily accessible information. When people walk with their
head down and not focused on the scenery in front of them as they text and play
video games, the potential for disaster unfolds. This problem isn’t generally
discussed as much as distracted driving or texting while driving however the
danger is just as real. Therefore we’ve taken this step,” Nitin Gadkari stated. On this lane, people will not have to worry
about the stupid pedestrians who move faster and force them to move faster as
well just to get to their work. One can concentrate and share everything with
their friends and the people they know nothing about. One can share all their
problems or their happy moments like how good a bowel movement they had in the
morning.
“We know that the government is failing to create jobs, but after this
announcement, the jobless people will have something to rejoice about. Just
imagine, you can reach your destination and clear a Candy Crush level at the
very same time without getting hit by a vehicle or a telephone poll,” Nitin Gadkari
further added.
.................interesting
to say the least, and sad it was portraying the way people were using the road –
rather using smartphones on road without
caring for the road users and their own lives...... and a newstory in
Daily Mail (15th Sept. 2014) reports it is indeed real elsewhere - that World's first lane for pedestrians who cannot
resist using their phones while walking is created in China
The 100ft
stretch of pavement in Chongqing has a mobile phone lane; it was set up because
of the huge number of people addicted to their phone - yes the 100ft-stretch of pavement created in Foreigner Street in the Chinese
city of Chongqing has a lane specially painted for people who have their eyes
glued to their screens. It has a picture
of a phone etched on the ground, the word 'cell phone' written down and a thick
white line separating it from the rest of the pavement.
The lane was
set up in response to the growing number of people who are addicted to their
phone - which is a major issue in China. The idea for the mobile phone lane, on
Foreigner Street, appears to have been copied almost exactly from a project by
a television programme on the National Geographic channel earlier this year. That
programme found only a few people changed which side of the pavement they
walked on after spotting the signs. However, officials in China said the
markings would help to quietly remind pedestrians that 'it is best not to play
with your phone while walking'.
What is your take and what would like to comment and you have
the moral right to comment (meaning do you walk / or use the road without
looking into your smart phone)
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
16th Sept. 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment