You accept me

Before meeting Bobby's parents, Sekhar took us to a rehabilitation center. This rehabilitation

center is different from those where therapies or treatments were provided for de-addiction from

drugs, alcohol, etc.

This rehabilitation center is for NEAR patients or those who are addicted to gadgets, Internet

and social networking platforms.We went inside. In the first ward, there were

four to five kids, maybe between eight to ten years. One kid was looking at me without any

expression. I smiled at him. He continued looking at me blankly.

I went near him, "Hi, I am Jai. How are you?"

He looked downwards, his thumb and fingers were moving while his pupils moved from left

to right.

"He is addicted to chatting, his pupils and finger movements indicate the same. Your 'Hi,

hello' reaches his mind as a text message.The only response his brain knows is to text

back and say 'Hi'. His parents always left him alone with a smartphone since he was three

years old. They wanted to tame his temper and mischief. They thought they were engaging him,

but they didn't know that they were impacting his health negatively. His motor abilities are

now limited." Sekhar explained. We moved on to the next ward. I saw a person

sitting on a wheel chair with two people who were trying to make him look around.

One trainer was giving him instructions. "Please look here, I am your friend. We need to talk and

plan for the next event."The patient was trying to turn around and

move his neck to the left but failing at it.

A woman beside him touched his forehead and

started crying. Her tears fell on his wrists and

his hands, but he did not react. We learnt that the woman crying was his wife.

The attendant who was taking care of that patient told us that he was in a LOSA (Lack of

Social Acceptance) shock. His social network friends had stopped showing interest in what he

shared on social media. He was shocked to see the sudden change. He was addicted to social

media and posted everything personal and private on social network.He has put himself in a situation where he could not eat, drink or even pass out body waste until he saw acceptance for what he had posted on

the social network. This was similar to being addicted to smoking or drinking. Where addicts

cannot answer to the call of nature until they have a cigarette or a drink.

We moved on to the next ward.

Sekhar pointed to a teenage boy and mentioned that he was undergoing extreme medication and therapy for

NEAR syndrome. I went near him. His eyes were expressionless

and surrounded by dark circles. The skin tone of his body did not match with his face. His

face is dry and lifeless. I touched his hands.They felt as though they were sticks. His back

was completely bent, he was not able to stand or sit straight.

For a moment, I felt this person is handicapped,but actually he is "artificially handicapped".

Overdependence on technology had made him turn lifeless.

The attendant for that person told us that he was undergoing extreme medication, and may

be declared brain dead in a few days.