If I have to name an invention of the last century that I can't do without, it would be broadband.
Just how much I depend on high-speed Internet was brought to light when my connection was terminated a few months ago.
I felt as though I had been deprived of food.
I went to the nearest service provider and gave him an earful that he had no right to terminate my connection without notice and I wanted it back immediately.
Needless to say, I got my connection only after a month.
The reason given was that as I have no permanent address in India or documentation issued here, I can't get a post-paid connection.
During my days of 'deprivation', I discovered that I could actually complete my study projects without the Internet and that too in record time!
I also went back to reading books that I had forgotten.
Ever since then, I've never felt the need to go online everyday or stay connected all the time.
Cyber connectivity has made the world a smaller place, but it also has narrowed our social perspective.
The omniscient Internet often gives the illusion that personal problems, world-wide crises, famines and droughts can all be solved with just a click.
The growth of 'slacktivism' is perhaps one of the reasons why so little concrete action is undertaken anywhere.
Facebook groups such as 'Feed a child with a click' and '9,999,999 fans and I will empty my bank to help Haiti' serve to embed people's sense of complacency.
Many of us have at times wondered why inspiring actions and revolutions don't happen in our day.
That maybe because all the potential revolutionaries of our time have been lost to the cyber world and being on our feet and getting our hands dirty is not attractive anymore.
Our social relationships too have undergone change, with close friends and family being ignored in favour of considerable time 'friending' people online.
The most appalling example is the recent case of the South Korean couple who let their three-month-old baby starve to death while they were busy helping their virtual daughter 'Anima' recover her memory and develop emotions, in an online game.
That maybe an extreme case, but the Internet's contribution to the Information Age and the escapism from routine it provides, can't be ignored.
I for one can't think of a better way to spend my seven-hour wait at the airport tomorrow than to burn the 1.2GB that's still left in my prepaid Internet balance.
One of the things often spoken against the generation to which I belong is its demand for instantaneous results, as most teenagers would rather Ask Jeeves or visit Wikipedia for garbled truth, than take the pain of going to a library.
I remember my history lecturer from the first semester lamenting the days before the Internet when she would pore over dusty volumes for reference.
You may be called a Neanderthal today for doing that, but she gave us a rather strong lesson on using information with integrity.
It was the last day of the term and she entered the class looking livid.
We didn't have to wait for long to find out why, as she admonished the class for having indulged in mass plagiarism in the term projects.
"I would have expected better of youngsters who are well-informed and know how to use almost any gadget," she said.
"Do you know why the Dark Ages were called so? It's because people were content back then to accept what the rulers and the Church decreed.
"They allowed themselves to remain ignorant and sold their intelligence to those lording over them.
"You folk are no different, accepting everything that's on the Internet and downloading information that is served up for you, without questioning or reasoning it.
"Do you realise that though you may be living in the Modern Age, your minds are still in the Dark Ages?"
¥ Jennifer Gnana is a former Bahrain resident now studying in Mumbai. Her family still live here.
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