When I was a little teenage school kid, I made a habit that I enjoyed. Immediately after coming from school I used to have lunch and then go to terrace with that day’s newspaper. Then for about half an hour I would read the sports section. First only cricket related news, but then other sports as well. Over time, I started reading the front page and then eventually the occasional editorials as well. Initially it was only the Hindi edition (Hindustan) but then Hindustan started a Combo offer on their English and Hindi editions where it was cheaper the buy both papers then each paper individually. So, ‘naturally’ I subscribed to both and started reading both English and Hindi Newspaper. Sometimes, I used to also subscribe to the Weekly Employment Newspaper (because hey that was the fad at that time). There were other menial tasks as well life like completing homework, playing cricket and going to tuitions. So, it became difficult to complete my quota of daily read. So, then I started ‘collecting’ articles and useful bits from newspaper “to be read later”. I bought a big paper register and started pasting them like a collage. Overtime the Paper register grew and blew out of proportion. Then I bought another register, this time one for Hindi and other of English. I was no more a ‘reader’, but a hoarder of news and articles. Stuff that might be useful to be ‘just in case’. Needless to say those those registers rarely got read and eventually went to dustbin.

Years later when broadband internet and digital news and articles happened, I repeated the cycle digitally. Bookmarks and RSS readers and Read it Later apps, just the whole hoopla in a brand new shape. It just became a full time job to manage this content rather than to read it and extract something useful out of it. I have so many time just dumped my ‘digital collage register’ only to find it filled again after a few weeks. Even right now, I have a very elaborate system of consuming online digital content, with dozens of tools tried and discarded. I will bore you with the details probably some other time.

Right now, let me pivot and ask a question. Have you noticed the amount of consumption you are doing currently? Whether it be in food, clothes, electronics or digital media ( Youtube, Instagram, FB, News Portal and yes including reading blogs like this ). I will specifically focus on digital content.

Just like over-nutrition is not good for your physical health, the sheer amount of digital media consumption happening nowadays isn’t good for our mental health. There is far more digital content out there to spend our life surfing, pruning and cataloguing , let alone even watch it. As I elaborated at the start I myself have been guilty of hoarding content like mad many times. FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. And so no content is enough to satisfy us as we intrinsically know there is something ‘better’ worth watching, listening or reading then what we are consuming currently.

The Tik-Tok like short videos provide us with instant dopamine hits with virtually no mental efforts exerted. It’s like a junkie getting his daily dose but wanting a more and more potent shot to satisfy his urges. No wonder Brain Rot was the Word of the Year in 2024.

We just have become a consumerist society which the ‘Markets’ are sitting to take advantage of and scam us of not just our money but our precious time as well. We are virtually getting ‘sold’ like slaves with no sense of control on ourselves.

Consumption is not inherently bad, but currently it has almost become a full time job. If you don’t believe me then just start tracking your time spend on digital devices. It’s scary! I like to think we must produce at least as much as we consume throughout the day. I wrote a blog post on this theme a few years ago. I still maintain creativity or Producing something useful is the essence of life. The world will be a far better place if each of us becomes a Producer daily even for a little while.

And no I am not trying to preach anything to anybody. I am also in this journey trying to improve myself somewhere either ahead or just behind you. The Reboot is an attempt to restart those creative juices and I would surely urge you to start exploring your own avenues to express yourself. ‘Life’ will happen as it always does and we will fall behind, but consumption and escapism can never ben an answer to hardships of life. Only Action and Production can be the Savior. At least that’s what I like to believe.