The Pandemic, the Internet and the increasing divide

 “Man is a social animal” 

Aristotle precisely stated socializing to be the fundamental right of every human being. It is the one, most essential head that gave rise to all that plethora of rights which came following it, whether natural or manmade, and all those rights are considered to be extremely important for the full-fledged development of every living soul. 

This Pandemic, however, has impaired our development by imposing a bar of SOCIAL DISTANCING on the exercise of our basic right to socialize. 

But certainly, as human nature goes, we never submit our rights so easily and hence have already found novel ways to socialize with the help of technology and the internet. This justifies the significantly rising importance of internet in human life, specifically in current quarantine times. Thus adding one more to the list of essential elements in human life i.e. roti, kapda, makaan, and now INTERNET. A little deep observation will make you understand that in the present times, internet has become a new key to unlock doors to foods, shelter, clothing, and a lot more.

But the question which intrigued me was - Is everyone so privileged to have access to internet and thereby develop themselves? Let’s look at the snaps I have for you. I wrote this when I contemplated that every situation happening around me had a center of gravity which was internet.

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The Student's Stuff

I am a final year law student from National Law University, Nagpur. Before this pandemic started, every time I had any doubt and no teacher or intelligent friend around for help, all I would do is connect to my high-speed internet (of course provided to me by my university) and search for it. But back here at my home town, it takes at least 40 seconds for even my WhatsApp message to be sent. And this is just a starting 

• I could not attend my online classes 

• I could not apply for any webinars 

• No scope for Virtual internship (loss of experience and money)

• No resources for Academic research papers 

• And no social interaction (I could not relate to meme’s sent by my friend on Binod)

Boom! I'm stuck with just a word on the screen - loading….

The Mother’s Meet

My mother is a social work enthusiast. She does everything in her capacity to help and improve people around her. She felt paralyzed by the lockdown, so she spent her time reading the previously read books until lately, when one of her friends decided to get their group together through a conference call, a normal conference call.

Fed up by the discombobulation during their audio conferences, this chunk of beautiful ladies was on their way to connect themselves through a meeting where they could infer each other’s voices by looking at their face — A Zoom meeting.

Their determination and excitement were on cloud nine, but before this idea in their mind turns into material reality — the big boss — NETWORK — smashed the door on their face.

The Father’s Will

English is a global language and that’s why 25.9% of internet content is in English which is the maximum percentage of any language all-round the globe. But that’s not what this story is about. It’s about my father who is a little weak in English.

The lockdown forced him to remain within the four walls of his home and after weeks of boredom finally, he had an urge to surf through his gadget to explore every feature other than calling. But the moment he took it up he felt helpless because he could not make his way through those English words written there. This was certainly when English is not your first language nor is it a second or third. You feel scammed by the education system. Such was the situation of my father.

But this helplessness gave rise to a positive desire in him to learn English. He asked me for any option on his gadgets itself which could teach him English. I somehow succeeded in downloading an app for him to learn, Great Start! Right? But alas! To my horrors NETWORK ERROR... was the first thing which appeared on his screen when he tried to log in.

Those two words remain the most difficult English words I ever explained to him.

The Maid’s Ignorance

Our maid walked in with childlike excitement on her face. Why wouldn’t she? After all, her specially-abled child was getting a subsidy from her school of rupees 3000 to buy a smartphone in order to start learning through her e-classes. E-learning - a luxury, as my maid felt. She never heard of this but always knew as to be something only her employer’s kids could afford. She was telling my mother how excited her kid is to hear that she does not have to visit her school and all the teachers will come to her through this piece of equipment.

Just when she spoke to us about this, I pushed in my line saying, “You need internet for the class to start didi”. She had no clue of it and ignored my say very casually. I am afraid of what happens to her happiness when she would forever have to see that word — Connecting… stuck on her mobile screen.

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We don’t know whether you heard or saw something like this near you but just closing our eyes on these stories will be exactly like turning our back to reality.

We as a privileged class often in our daily lives forget that while we are sprinting in a race chanting equality on social media, there is a part of India who is still out there waiting for their race to start. And because of the rise in capitalism, we overlook the word socialism embedded in our country's moral fabric.

Rural India, has a total population of 918 million as per the 2011 census but only 186 million Internet users. 62% of internet users are from urban areas and just 53% in rural. Inspite of the rural area having majority of the Indian population. Surprising number for us, but a sad reality for them. Those 732 million potential users are still unaware of this whirlpool of information. The Internet user market is also a victim of sexism; it is still a male preserve, with just 143 million female users, or 30 percent of total users. The Internet has become like food which the urban India doesn’t just eat as a product of luxury but presently consumes as an eventually turned necessity in their life. On the other hand, rural India does not even have that for their survival. We all want a country with NO factors dividing us. However, this poor division of internet service between rural and urban India, which displays a board of no internet connection in the rural regions has taken away one more fundamental right from them. Apparently, our quest for technological development has led to the creation of one more category that divides the nation – access to internet. I believe none of us want additions to this list of indifferences because the existing ones already are too much to bear. One of the ways to curb this devil from overpowering us is through support. We want you to lend your support to those who are desperately in need of it; like the school kids, the students who lack the facilities but are supposed to give their entrance exams online, etc. and if you can’t find such people then look inside your home your parents need it the most, help them to use the gadgets and teach them to use it securely. This may prove to be your contribution to the reduction of cybercrimes. The other way is creating awareness. Try to make people aware of this situation. Use the luxury of internet you have to promote awareness among the people who are close to you. Remember not everyone is as privileged as you to have access to those packs of MegaBytes. Help people if you can and create awareness among those who can. One of the simplest ways you can do this is by sharing this blog with them. We hope this article has provided you with a task to cherish your philanthropy. Author Shruti Ramteke Co-author and editor Piyush Janbandhu If you like the Blog and find it informative do follow us on Instagram - @wonder_wis for each new update We promise you two blogs per week which won’t take more than 5 minutes of your day. Please comment below your thought and opinions on the topic. Every feedback is valuable to us, for its the only way to grow we believe. You can also mail us your takes and suggestions at wonderwisdom7@gmail.com Do follow our Blog and Share it with your friend and family, for our ultimate aim is to reach out to an array of new and random folks.