TRAIN JOURNEYS HAVE always been a vibe in themselves—the unmistakable aroma of achaar and poori-aaloo spreading like wildfire through the coaches, strangers turning into temporary friends, and conversations flowing effortlessly from Bollywood and politics to cricket scores and conspiracy theories. These journeys weren’t just about reaching a destination, but about discovering little stories on the way.
But something has shifted.
That once-familiar chatter has dulled. People still talk—but mostly to their phone screens. The old auntie pulling out matthi is now replaced by someone plugging in AirPods, watching Netflix. Instead of Kishore Kumar playing softly on someone’s speaker, we now hear viral meme remixes or catch the glare of Instagram reels flickering on screens.
It’s strange and ironic. The digital revolution promised us connection—yet, here we are, travelling together and existing apart. We no longer share food, we’re more comfortable posting a selfie captioned #villageside #naturelover and scroll through scenic reels even as lush fields roll past our real train windows.
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We’ve been conditioned with caution—“don’t talk to strangers”—yet we’re happy to share our lives with thousands of strangers online. In this age of emojis, we have become fluent in digital communication but clumsy in real connections. We know how to respond to a cute dog photo on Instagram but not how to respond our co-passengers- where we hesitate, look down and just pretend to scroll. Are we truly afraid of strangers—or just out of practice when it comes to human connection?
This is something we must answer to ourselves. Maybe our hesitation isn’t rooted in the fear, but in unfamiliarity. Maybe we do not know how to begin a conversation without an algorithm guiding us. Perhaps, it’s not fear, but a digitally induced social atrophy.
Have we ever asked ourselves: how long can we go without checking our phones? A minute? Five? Ten? As soon as a notification beep sounds, it takes just a few seconds for us to reach out and pick up the device. While a simple beep from our phone is music to our ears, triggering curiosity and excitement. Yet, the voice of a fellow co-passenger—attempting conversation, feels like an intrusion.
Of course, we’re busy. In this age of technology, not only our work, but our world revolves around mobile phones. But let’s not forget, that we are at our core social beings. There is need to relearn the art of looking up to people around us. As the train is still moving, the scenery is still beautiful and the people are still there. Maybe we just need to pause the reel and press the play on the real life again.
(The author is Editor, TheRise.co.in, and graduate of The Print School of Journalism. The author can be reached at <sneha20j@gmail.com>)
(The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ukhrul Times. Ukhrul Times values and encourages diverse perspectives.)
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