Do you have the time?

I remember my childhood days when my elder brother went to study engineering at a college situated 400 km from our home. All of seventeen, it was his first departure from home for a long period, or for that matter it was for the first time we were sending off a family member. Everyone was feeling upset.

It was a great moment of celebration for all of us when we received my brother's college printed inland letter seven days later in which he had informed us about his safe arrival, hostel accommodation and all his first day experiences. I felt jealous of my brother to learn that they would watch movies in the college auditorium five days a week!

So 7 days is what it took for us to know the whereabouts of our dear one, and we didn't complain. Compare that to today. We lose our temper and throw tantrums if our computer takes wee bit longer to boot or our mail does not reach instantly. We want everything to be done instantaneously.

In deference to our wishes we have many products in the market that promise us instant nirvana. Thus we have instant coffee, 2-minutes noodle, 1-minute manager and so on. We want everything to be seamless and real time, be it the cricket score or our facebook status update. Everything should be 'on the go' and 'as it happens'. The news should be 'breaking news' only.

Every creation, I am told, has a critical period for development, in which it will develop certain skills or characteristics. This critical period can not be advanced. A child can acquire language skills during this critical period and not before. Tempering with this important phase of life will bring doom.

This leads me to the questions that keep cropping up in my mind.

Are we making the best use of our time that we save by using these quick-fix solutions?

In our hurry to reach our destination, are we missing out on the beauty of our path?

In our obsession with haste, are we not tempering with some natural laws?