There I was after a meeting at Church, tapping away and not paying attention to anything happening in my surroundings. I had my earpiece plugged in and was listening to some songs and reading an e-book when a loud sound that penetrated through the music in my ears sounded and I lifted my eyes to see half a dozen pairs of amused/slightly irritated eyes fixated at me.
“What?” I asked everyone and no one in particular. One of them volunteered to be the spokesperson of the retribution.
“You’re always glued to your phone. I’m sure you’re doing nothing other than chatting which you could always do. Why don’t you focus on the people around you? Why must you be so self-absorbed?”
My first point of call was to tell him, in the politest way I could muster, giving the rage brewing in me, not to ever assume things. That first off, I wasn’t chatting and even if I was, it was my phone and he didn’t get to tell me what I did with it.
He blanched. They all did actually and I figured it was mostly because I was the quietest person and always seemed meek maybe? So he must have thought I’d get all flustered and bow in apology. However, I didn’t fail to realize that even though he delivered his speech wrongly, he did have a point.
I did drop my phone till I eventually left the place but I got to conclude that I was truly always holed up in my phone, doing my own thing, oblivious to the people around me. But that’s because and like I always tell those who ask that a huge percentage of my happiness comes from my phone. My friends are there, my books are there, songs, virtually everything apart from food is there. I had no reason to want anything else.
Yet, I decided that I would try it. Try to appreciate the things around me better. The people around me too. Fortunately, or unfortunately, an opportunity presented itself about a month later. My Mom asked me to please accompany her to her state for three days as my aunt, her younger sister, was getting married.
When upon deliberation, I agreed, citing to myself that it would be nice to get away from city life a bit and enjoy time with other relatives in the village, my Mom thanked me for my sacrifice and I remembered wondering what I did that was so sacrificial.
I didn’t have to ponder on it too much as I found out that the more we neared the village, the poorer the network reception was. By the time we got there, I was completely shut off from any form of reception. I literally became dizzy. How would I survive here for three days without my phone? To finalize it all, there was hardly power supply so my phone would switch off in no time.
My phone did switch off before I knew it. I couldn’t wail and I couldn’t turn back either. So I made the most of the opportunity. It would be the second time in my life going to my mum’s village. The first had been when I was so young. I met her relatives too. Very warm people. One of the ladies there who I found out was a distant cousin of mine offered to take me around the places we could go to.
One good thing about the place was the abundance of trees. Tall, large, shady trees that were so majestic and made the entire area so breezy. At a point, I zoned out, almost forgetting my tour guide and just got lost in the feel of the cool wind on my skin, the sounds of rushing water from the nearby stream, and all of nature’s beauty surrounding me.
Rains there start abruptly, no warning given at all. So I got soaked soon enough in the pouring rain. I did my first twirl in the rain after so many years. I don’t remember the last time I did anything like it. It was so fun and I’d never felt more attuned to nature. I loved the entire experience. When I got back to the house there, my Mom asked me why I was grinning so much as she expected me to be sad over the fact that I couldn’t use my phone.
But I just twirled again, flinging droplets of water everywhere. She playfully scolded me and said to cease such childish acts immediately but she was smiling too. It was a wonderful time. And while we were on the bus headed back to the city after the marriage events had been concluded, she said that I never told her why I had been so happy even though I was soaked in the rain. I just replied by saying. “Lost, but found.” Mom’s no poet but she got the message and beamed at me.
Image above is mine.