I had a busy night in the hospital with many emergencies coming through the night. Though it was very tiring, I was able to stabilize all the patients. With a meager 3-4 hours of sleep, I felt dull the next morning. I had woken up slightly later than my usual time. Despite the busy night, I had to reach my clinic on time as I had a long list of appointments lined up. I quickly got ready, had my breakfast, listened to my brief news podcast and was all set to begin the day.
As I got into my car, my phone pinged. It was an alert from my Maps App. Due to an accident my usual route was heavily clogged with traffic. It suggested another way. It would take an extra 15 minutes, but it was still a better deal than getting stuck in a traffic jam. I took the alternate route suggested by the app. It was a smooth drive, and I arrived 15 minutes later than usual. My assistant informed me about the day’s schedule. It was going to be a busy day so, without wasting any time I began my routine.
I finished my rounds. I had a brief counselling session with two of my sick patients’ relatives, and then it was time for OPD. One by one, I attended to the patients and got into a nice rhythm. When I was one hour into the OPD, my phone pinged with another alert. It was the due date for my credit card payment. My week had been so busy that I had completely forgotten about it. My calendar app was connected to my email and it automatically picked up this due date from there. It took me just 10 mins to make the payment and thus save the penalty. I resumed my OPD thereafter, and in another two hours I was near the end of my schedule. It had been a tiring day after the similarly tiring night.
As I finished with my last patient I leaned back into my chair and closed my eyes. I concentrated on my breathing and took deep breaths for a few minutes. This short session of meditation is always very relaxing. I thought about the remaining work for the day and made a quick plan. After the evening round, I had to go to the gym. Though it was a hectic day, I didn’t want to miss it. I finished my round and looked at my smartwatch; it had a notification, ‘seems like you had very less sleep at night and then a stressful day; how about a light recovery jog today?’ I just smiled. The watch tracked my sleep and a slightly elevated heart rate throughout the day.
As I was wrapping up my day, I was thinking about the events that had happened since morning. The Maps suggesting me a better route, the credit card payment due date alert from my Calendar app and the suggestion of a light workout for that day from my smartwatch! How helpful these technological automations have been for me. I know how these gadgets invade our privacy sometimes but I can never deny how useful these automations have been in our day-to-day lives. My chain of thoughts was broken by a knock on the door. My wife had sent a flask with my favourite coffee – a strong one with added chocolate!
As I took my first sip, it felt relaxing and rejuvenating. I picked up my phone, called my wife to enquire about the coffee. I had not asked her to send it. It seemed that she had talked to the reception staff and learnt how busy the day had been. So she had sent my favourite coffee just to make me feel good. I was delighted. Wasn’t this automation in human relationships too? Wasn’t this experience more gratifying and soothing than my experience of technological automations? Yes, it definitely was! I remembered how when I craved for my favourite ‘sev sabji’ in my mind, my mom made it the same day, how my roommate always cooled my bournvita because I liked it that way, how my girlfriend had sent me a beautiful picture just to cheer me up…so many such instances. People who loved and cared for me had taken efforts to make me feel good even without my asking for it. All this was emotional automation, and it had always felt just great. It had made the bonds stronger.
Have you ever done such a thing for anyone? I would suggest you try it once. Send someone a gift without occasion, go and meet a distant friend without any reason, hug your mom when you see her feeling low…do things without cause or without being asked to…it feels very special!
