Man in the Machine Age

          The modern age is called the machine age. For most of the important works of men are done now by machines. Man no longer writes letters but types them straight from a typewriter. He books a long-distance personal call over the telephone and talks directly. He does not walk to reach his friend or relative’s house. He simply drives a car. He travels by train or aero plane. Various operations are done by machines as if by magic. The TV screen brings the football or cricket ground right into our bedroom. Electronics and Telecommunications are helping most of the fields of industry. Computers are now being used very widely. Every shopkeeper is getting used to calculators.

So long as the machine is under man’s control it is good. But if man himself becomes mechanical and loses his finer qualities, it will be a tragedy. The question is whether man is still the master of the machine, or just a slave. Man is producing robots’ in factories. The robots are doing works of drudgery for him. But man himself is not a robot.

There is no doubt that the machines we make also influence our life-style. The car is now a typical mode of transport. The aero plane is still another. Two hundred years ago the train was unknown to man; today we are going to have space journeys. Formerly, students would write with pens and inkpots. Today ball point pens have replaced them. The TV has now become a daily habit, just as tea once became in our life. The machine has rendered life faster. But man should preserve his essential humanity — love, peace of mind, joy and sociable nature.

The Right use of Time

          Time is most valuable. The secret of success in human life is the straight use of time. Time and tide wait for none. If time is gone we cannot call it back. We are to leave a lot of things undone. It is a great loss to us. Our life is short. So during this limited period we have to build up our career. We must make the most use of every moment of our short life. If we waste the precious minutes of our life in idleness, we reduce hours of work available to us. Work will suffer. Success will be hard to achieve. Time lost is lost forever. We must ‘take time by the forelock’. We must do our work at the earliest opportunity. So we say, strike the rod while it is hot. For, a stitch in time saves nine. He who acts promptly prospers positively. Such a man never puts off for tomorrow what ought to be done today. The great rule of moral conduct is to respect time. A punctual man is respected by all. So all of us should do now what we can do later.