For a specific reason, I made a promise to my wife not to use my smartphone (and laptop) over the weekend that had just passed. In short, I was off the grid for close to 48 hours.
Having led a net-centric lifestyle for the better half of my existence, I faced acute hysteria and a whole bunch of inconveniences. Call it the Smartphone Deprivation Disorder.
For a start, I lost track of time when I was out of the house, since my phone doubles up as a watch. I couldn't tell whether the next bus is arriving in two minutes or twelve. And I was blind as a mole at Toa Payoh Central trying to navigate my way to the Courts department store.
It felt as if my social identity was exiled to hermitism. I had to forego my daily ritual of Facebook surfing. ......