Technology is like a double-edged sword. If  we become over-dependent on it, it makes us blunt. For example, we forget to make manual calculations and whenever the need arises we search for a calculator, thereby loosing our mental abilities.

The immediate victims are our own kids who are glued to the net like never before. Though there are some parental control options, there is easy escape route to access pornography, which is the biggest challenge of our times. 

The 90s changed the landscape of India as most of the companies started switching to computer networks and hands-on experience with computers became a prerequisite. I witnessed its growth from being simple word processor machines to today's sophisticated online computing devices. It has reached a stage where your laptop is your virtual office and mundane chores like paying electricity bills to e-shopping is simply a mouse click away.

It is quite natural to be addicted to new technologies. But there must be a lakshman rekha with regard to addiction. Considerable research squarely blames the habit of remaining online for lengthy hours. We see some odd cases where some adults want to interact with their peers through social networking sites rather than  face to face. This is a bizarre  development. The internet  giant 'Google' has silently seeped into our lives  as a friend, philosopher and adviser at every step of life. It would affectionate call it as Google Maa, being mother of my information needs.   \

Now-a-days, I don't ask anything to my peers or colleagues and I just strike search button of Google. It is increasingly becoming difficult to de-addict from this powerful medium.

A recent survey conducted by Norton Security of Symantec reveals that online Indians stay connected to the Internet close to 8.4 hours a day.  It is not a happy development. Such net addicted people have to pay their pound of flesh on relationships  both within as well as outside family. Net addiction is also equated with any other malady, but the only difference is psychological.

The other interesting revelation that came in the survey is, 83 per cent of the respondents said they could not stay away from the Internet for more than 24 hours. Internet withdrawal symptoms struck fast when Web connection got severed, with one in two online Indians feeling the effects within the first three hours.

I read somewhere that we must browse internet with clear agenda in  mind.  We should search according  to our requirement. In fact, the requirement should be quantified in definite terms with duration of time to be spent so that we could distribute our time efficiently among all our chores.  

So it is my sagely advice to keep a tab on online habits, otherwise, it may snowball into a psychological  syndrome  and collapse our life.