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By Vijay K Thadani *

Each time I use my mobile phone to know the balance in my account, video conference with an overseas customer or watch young children comfortably click their way into the cyber realm, I am struck by the manner in which technology has encompassed our lives. It gave me a good feeling to read recently that hardly a handful of students went to see their Class XII and Class X results at School this year. Most had already checked them on the 'Net, or used the SMS facility on their cell phones to access them!

Clearly, we are living in a digital bubble. Our world is an all-connected one, where devices, more than people, "talk" to each other and co-exist happily in digital offices and digital homes.

Vijay K Thadani

Surviving and thriving within this high-tech environment is both a pleasure and a pain. It's a pleasure if you are acquainted with technology and know how to harness its power in your daily life. It's a pain if you are a mere observer, watching the techno-world from a safe distance. And frankly, there's no place today for observers, the people who do not have a feel for IT tools, the technologically-challenged. They're likely to feel alienated, like fish out of water.

I have witnessed the debilitating confusion of a person confronted with an error message on the computer, watched a student struggle with a project that needed to be backed by data and seen the helplessness of a grandfather who couldn't open the e-card his grandson sent from the USA. Believe me, it's a sorry sight!

IT's not something you can allow to happen around you and hope you can live without. Not only can we not live without IT, we need to study it, know it, learn it. This is an imperative for young people as well as the generations beyond them. While students need computers as a knowledge resource and to create well-packaged assignments, parents need computers to keep in step with their kids.

No longer can a mother afford to say, "Oh, I don't know how to use a computer." Saying this implies that she doesn't understand the language of her children, cannot communicate with them or participate in their learning process. Earlier, when someone studied Economics, it was certainly not necessary for his/her parents to know the subject. IT however, is a different ball game. It demands that we know and requires us to use it.

In a professional situation, IT is what helps you to keep ahead and remain better than the next guy. No matter what your job, or who you are, you can be sure that you will encounter IT in your workplace. I can recall clearly my meeting with a young man who came to NIIT with what he considered a monumental problem. He did not know how to create presentations in PowerPoint and was petrified his boss would soon stumble upon this inadequacy. His embarrassment, shame and desperation to plug this capability gap, made me realize just how important IT knowledge had become for personal and professional growth.

I've always considered Sajjan Singh, the peon at my office, to be a cut above the rest-better than his peers. That's because I can count on him to switch on my computer, access a relevant file, print it for me, shut down my machine and have my material ready for me I knew for instance, that I could depend on him to pull out specific files I needed, copy them on a floppy and send them across home, when I was down with a viral fever recently. Singh, who I now call the "man with the digital touch," has managed to rise above his work profile and create a more meaningful identity for himself. To me, it's a reflection of the power of computer knowledge and how it can help each one become more competitive within the spheres of our work.

After all, who doesn't have to write, calculate and communicate? Who doesn't have to access the Internet or search for vital information? Today's students in fact, are possibly the most prolific users of IT tools. The more computer savvy ones use the wonder machine to organize, prioritize and plan. I remember the time when we were in the US and my daughter Nihar was in Grade Four. The first thing she was taught at school was how to produce a diary using Outlook. Looking at her now, I find her different from her peer group in that she is able to create a calendar for herself, draw up checklists, organize and prioritize herself.

What about grandparents? I'd like to say, grandparents beware! Avoid eye contact with computers and you're done for. You will miss out on the joys of "instantly chatting" with your families that live in other lands, in other time zones. You will never feel the thrill of seeing the picture of your one-day old grandson, pink and hairless, staring at you over cyber space. Worse still, your grand daughter living with you will not be able to tell you about this fabulous song she downloaded from a popular Music Site. Apart from the generation gap, you will also find yourselves battling a gaping digital divide!

Even priests today acknowledge that IT's the new mantra they need to chant. When I met this seer from the South a few days ago, all he could talk about was how his 'Net savvy congregation seemed to know more about "tithis," than he did! To him, computer knowledge was the only way to understand and interpret digital horoscopes, perform e-havans and keep his globally distributed flock together!

Now you tell me, is there any other road ahead that doesn't take the IT route?

*Vijay K. Thadani is the CEO of NIIT