Salient Sunday - Digital Divide

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent.?It is the one most adaptable to change”.? this quote is mostly attributed to Charles Darwin. The heaviness of essence carried by this sentence weighed down on me while watching a regional language(Malayalam) movie called '#Home' in Amazon Prime.

The protagonist of the movie, namely Oliver Twist, is not someone who likes to adapt to change instinctively. Viewers get the first hint of this when his elder son remarks about the father losing out to competition in his business since he refused to change his video cassette business in accordance with the changing time and technology. There was simply no motivation for the father to change then. But when this nature of his started affecting the relationship with his tech savvy children, he sought help.

While the movie has its own dramatic aspects, what really strikes a chord in me is the digital divide and the feeling of being left out, faced by at least some members of our society. While there could be younger generation patient enough to bring this generation along, there could also be a group highly impatient. This is evident when, Anthony Oliver Twist, the elder son of Oliver Twist, easily getting irritated when his father asks him questions such as which phone is the best to buy or could he buy him a new phone. We see that the father notes down sequence of actions to be carried out in order to navigate and use his new phone. There is also a reference that no one can teach anyone to use social media these days, but instead one learn it all by themselves by exploring.

The closing of the digital divide could very well happen in our own homes. Next time, when an elderly ask you questions about the usage of his phone or any technology, just know that technology changes very fast, but people could freeze in time and in order to bring them along, patience and understanding is necessary and instead of being irritated, hold them by their hand and show them the magical world of technology. You will be rewarded with a child like innocence looking back at you as if you are his Hero.