I have never really felt the need to get a mobile phone, even when everyone around me was getting one. And it hasn’t really affected me negatively; it just means more focus on what I’m doing instead of checking my phone for messages, emails and updates all the time.

As an independent law researcher and scholar in jurisprudence, I like to stay with one idea, look at it in-depth, develop the thought. Sure, mobiles, especially smart phones, offer a space to discuss and deliberate, but they are reactive. I don’t see a point in participating in these debates, in terms of my work or otherwise. I watch all the people around me and at court, at meetings, always checking their gadgets. I don’t want to sound preachy, but I feel attention spans, which were low to begin with, have plummeted further since mobiles became ubiquitous.

Mobile phones also make it easy for people to be tracked. I have no desire to report my whereabouts to anyone else, and like to know that there’s no one trying to shadow me. While many say a phone is all about convenience, I feel convenience is about trade-offs, and every person decides what they want to gain or lose. I don’t see a need to be constantly connected with the rest of the world. Since I don’t have a boss or an employer to report to on an everyday basis, it does make it easier for me to stay ‘off the grid’.

I am told in case of an emergency, a mobile phone is indispensable. But we’ve all lived through emergencies before mobile phones were invented, so I’m willing to take that risk rather than ‘live on the edge’. My family is used to the fact that I don’t have a phone. My husband has asked — about thrice in a decade — if I should get one, but when I’ve said no, he has let me be.

I like to meet people in person, talk face to face and focus on what they are saying. For me, when it comes to any technology, the question is whether I will be using it or whether the technology will end up controlling me.

( As told to Sibi Arasu )