Bathroom Thoughts & Ideas

(Syed Hasnain Mumtaz Naqvi, Karachi)

A bathroom is known as a place where you take a bath & clean yourself. From toothbrushing to showering, it is your one-stop place to clean. Furthermore, they can act as a place where we can go and brainstorm. Although, They are not associated with the brainstorming of ideas & thoughts.

We might ask why bathrooms have become the place where thoughts & Ideas are born. We can say our digital presence & mental unavailability are the main culprits. Imagine an average teenager. He will have his phone beside him 24/7, listening to the new music albums released by their favourite artists, strolling through his Instagram feed and trying to reach a higher amount of snap scores. All of these fun activities can keep his mind occupied. Apps such as the Google search engine have become a gateway to a wide variety of knowledge available on the internet. But, he will rarely search the web to feed his curiosity as he is preoccupied being a keyboard warrior on the internet.

Whenever we hear the sound of a notification on our phone or feel our phones vibrating, we leap towards it and hope we receive the message we have been waiting for the last ten minutes. We spend most of our time on the internet waiting for hundreds of likes to suddenly appear on our social media posts and become viral personalities instantly.

Digital gadgets have diverted our attention from solving real-life problems such as hunger & climate crisis to being concerned about having millions of followers and views on Tiktok. To be clear, I am not against Digital gadgets as they have enabled us in many ways. But the way we are using them is concerning.

If we claim to say that the world has become a Global village, it is thanks to the digital gadgets that have allowed us to connect with people all across the globe. We use it to learn about different cultures and their values. And Have new experiences. Although, we are very knowledgeable about global affairs due to digital press and social media. But, we are disconnected. Disconnected with ourselves. Addiction to digital gadgets restricts us from reflecting on thoughts and brainstorming ideas.

The bathroom has become one of the places where we are connected to ourselves. And as we are away from screens, attention returns to real-life issues like completing homework or remembering the task assigned by your parents to do before they get home. But this reflection is short-lived as we are curious if we have yet become instant-viral as we hurry out of the bathroom.

Even if we spend less time in the bathroom without our digital gadgets they have become a place for us to think and ponder. And it's not just bathrooms, any other places which allow us to think about ourselves and our future in peace are valuable to us. They free us from the influence of technology. Self-reflection time can help us answer important questions about ourselves and our surroundings and improve our perception of life.

We can even brainstorm even in a park in the morning and appreciate the beauty of sunrise where we are not disturbed by notifications and can enjoy our Me Time.

Syed Hasnain Mumtaz Naqvi
About the Author: Syed Hasnain Mumtaz Naqvi Read More Articles by Syed Hasnain Mumtaz Naqvi: 2 Articles with 1207 views is a student from Cadet College Hasanabdal. He like to write about Environmental & Social Issues... View More