Technology: The future of a sedentary lifestyle

I had a chance to visit Bengaluru a few weeks back for some work. It was my first ever trip to this beautiful city and thus, my first-ever landing and takeoff from Kempegowda International airport. However, what I am about to pen down is interestingly not about this high-tech city itself but something that I observed in the washroom of its airport. Interesting isn’t it?

As I waited for my turn in one of the women’s loo of the airport, a sign posted outside the door caught my attention. It said something about “Bio-Clean” with a picture of a comb-like device. As I was trying to figure out what that meant, the lady in front of me came out and I went into the loo. Call it my habit or my over-conscious sense of cleanliness, the first thing that I look for in any public washroom (apart from it “being clean”) is a functional tap with mug or jet spray and to my surprise, I found none. No!! This can’t be possible- this was an international (though a domestic terminal) airport; what are people (in this case, the womenfolk) supposed to do if they need to poop?! If not water, how are we supposed to clean ourselves; after all, not all Indians are comfortable or familiar with tissue/toilet paper isn’t it? Forgive me for my outright blunt (and bold) use of words but “nature’s call” doesn’t really serve my purpose here.

So coming back, as I looked around for some sign of water, my eyes fell on another sign stuck to the door; finally, I found the use of that “Bio-Clean” thing! Two knobs were attached to the toilet seat, which can be turned according to one’s need to cleanse one’s private parts, if required. Though I fawned over this “never-seen-before-in-my-life” substitute of jet spray, my mind got disturbed some facts that I would want to highlight:

·         Our Indian style toilets are already losing their existence and so, we no longer squat and rise for something that is a vital part of our daily routine.

·         Emergence of the jet sprays have, no doubt, reduced the wastage of water, but have also reduced our bending movements!

·         And now this “Bio-Clean”- relax even when getting cleansed after you pee or poop!

Well, no doubt, in a place like Bengaluru, where people are in dearth of water, this kind of water system in the toilet maybe an effective solution to prevent water wastage. But does this have a side effect-in my mind YES! IT DOES and this, making us human beings even more sedentary!

Please don’t think that I am against technology-I am a doctorate today in the field of science (Thanks to The Almighty!) and I, all my fellow researchers would know how much ease the development of technology has provided us with. But there is no denial to certain aspects to which we have all become blind to. Look at all of us today – we lack any form of physical activity in our daily routine and become more glued to our chairs, with eyes fixated on our desktop/laptop screens. The only things that we are probably gaining in our busy jobs/lives (in addition to high bank balance) are a huge amount of stress, obesity and a large amount of lifestyle-related disorders. Our food habits are changing greatly and owing to the less amount of available time, we are also getting more accustomed to the “fast food” culture.

With the advent of technology, something like this “Bio-Clean” system is probably a way to reduce water wastage and promote cleanliness and hygiene. But then, it is again adding to our sedentary lifestyle and making us even lazier. Inside that Bengaluru airport washroom, all I could picture that moment was the video (that went viral some time back) of the fat man, sitting (and pedaling, in the name of workout) lazily on a comfortable chair, munching on a bag of chips and watching television. Just a wild thought – is this what technology-based sedentary lifestyle leading us to in the near future?