The one hour thought experiment...

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone"
-- French Philosopher Blaise Pascal

 I have been sick and bedridden for the last five days with the illness showing no signs of abating. 

My typical day goes like this.

1. Getup
2. Check Twitter, play wordle, do two lessons on Duolingo
3. Put the mobile down, watch TV
4. Close TV after binge watching for 2 hours.
5. Pick mobile, check Twitter, tweet on politics, retweet some random tweets, check Facebook, post my thoughts (usually nonsense), play spider solitare. Put the phone down in disgust
6. Pick the phone, check WA, my stock portfolio, read some random articles, watch multiple youtube videos. Put the phone down in disgust
7. Watch TV for another hour
8. Pick phone, check battery, keep it for charging
9. Try to sleep. See a dream. Wake up, pick the phone, google to check what the dream meant. Google says 'Dude go back to sleep'. Put the phone down in disgust. 

 After five days, one wakes up the reality. One is addicted to mobile phone.

That wasn't good. I should do something about it.

I decided to do an experiment. I will not touch any device - mobile, laptop, kindle, TV Remote, nothing, any book or pen for one hour. I will just lie down and try to be as 'thoughtless' as possible. I will observe my mind and my thoughts. If any outside thoughts interrupt my meditative flow, I will be aware of it, make a mental note of it to pursue later, gently push it aside and move back to my 'thoughtless' state. 

No input or output devices for the next hour. That is it. 

So it begins. 

I lie down and close my eyes preparatory to moving into a relaxed meditative state. Then I start coughing. 

I am worried. Why is this cough not subsiding even after 5 days? Should I do some checkup? Is it COVID variant? Doctor says it is allergic cough. What am I allergic to? How do I find out. Let me check webMD.com...

Wait.

What will I have for dinner? Gosh, I am famished. I will have bread toast and dry subzi. Not sandwich, though. Subzi should have that delicious aroma that will make you want to eat despite my illness. How do I get that flavor. Let me check tarladalal.com

Wait

I want my bread toasted golden brown. Our cook burns the edges and I don't like that. Let me search Google Images for 'White bread toasted to Golden Brown' and show it to her. Let me download the image now. It will take a minute.

Wait.

A couple of days ago, I dreamt that I was on Baby Gomati bus to Njaliakuzhi. Is it the right name? Let me check google.

Wait.

News is that Adani it taking over NDTV. Apparently he got hold of Ambani's 29 percent stake through backdoor. The strategy should be fascinating. I saw and article link on this subject on Twitter. Let me check this out. 

Wait.  

The Canon printer is not working. Let me raise a service request on Canon.com.

Wait

Adani's business is completely dependent on Modi. What will happen to him when Modi is gone? He will have to build bridges with many new leaders. That will be interesting. Let me post a Facebook post about that. 

Wait.

Why is my mind wandering too much? Let me check google to see how I can control my mind.

Wait.

There was a meditative technique propounded by Leo Babuata of  Zenhabits.com. You keep your eyes open and look at a distance and gradually start looking at the space in between till you gradually come closest to your face. 

I try that. 

Man, this is good. Why am I seeing two images of the same thing when I concentrate? I read that it is because both right and left eyes send the images to brain and brain syncs them and present you will one image. When you concentrate, you brake that sync process. 

Fascinating. What is the scientific term for the Sync process. Stereovision? Let me check google.

Wait. 

Have you noticed that the hindi letter for Ya as in Yaar and the English letter for y look the same? This is too much. I have been using both these language all these days and never saw this. 

Are there other similar letters? Let me google.

Wait. 

I want to listen to the song 'Karunasagara Kai Thozhunnen'. I want to listen to the part Matsya - Koorma - Varaha - Narasimha - Vamana. Let me see if it is available on Wynk app on my mobile. 

Wait

Lying on my bed, I listen to 'Never have I ever' playing on TV. Last I watched, Devi and Paxton had got into a big fight. Did he apologize and patchup? Let me check the episode on Netflix app on my mobile.

Wait

I think the dress that Maitrayee's wore for her interview with Fallon is Fabulous. I read that it has become a rage. Let me check Insta.

Wait.

Why do men have to always apologize? They are always wrong, that is why. Or, are they?  Let me check Quora to see if someone has asked that question. Answers will be interesting.

Wait.

Today the afternoon tea tasted better. Am I improving? 

Today I sent feedback to ITC Narmada. Hope they improve their performance.

We had Roti and Panneer Butter Masala in Peshwari restaurant of ITC Narmada. Like all other north Indian restaurant, they also give raw onion as complement accompaniment. Did you know that if you sprinkle a little chhat masala on the onion and then eat it with PBM, the flavour explodes inside your mouth. I have been eating this stuff for thirty years and I did not know this. 

How does this taste change paradigm shift happen with a sprinkle of Chhat masala? Let me check google. 

Wait

What are the other similar culinary secrets I did not know? Let me check google.

Wait

Chef Ranveer explains these well. Let me check his video of Panneer Butter Masala on Youtube. 

Wait

Why do I have this compulsive desire for instant answers? Let me check Google.

Wait

I look at wall clock. It is now one hour and fifteen minutes since I started this experiment. 

I never once touched the cell phone. I am not addicted to my phone.

Yeyyyy.....