India, June 26 -- "It's the d*** phone," say the detractors (read: parents). "Just go out," advise well-meaning friends, as if sunshine alone could reverse our digital dependence. But this isn't just about screens. It's about how we've redefined connection - quantified it, commodified it, and forgotten how to simply be with others. Some of us now have more followers than actual friends we'd call in a crisis (this writer included). And maybe that's the problem. Connection has become seamless, global, and on-demand-yet less human and distanced from communities.

Feeling lonely in a hyperconnected world? offline communities A person holding a cellphone and laptop (Photo Credit: Pexels) A 2021 Ipsos survey found that 43 per cent of urban Ind...