A New World

By Arunanshu Chatterjee

Picture this.

It is 1940. On a chilly morning in Berlin, Adolf Hitler wakes from a deep slumber. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he picks up his smartphone from the bedside table. He begins tweeting about his plans for the day. He will make Germany the most powerful country in the world. He messages his officers and orders them to seize as many Jews as they can. In Amsterdam, a Jewish family in hiding receives a tip-off about Hitler’s plans via email from a sympathizer. They flee before the Nazis arrive and Anne Frank does not die.

Picture this.

In a grand courtroom in Delhi, Emperor Akbar lounges on a cushion throne and scrolls through his Facebook feed. Birbal makes a rather witty pun and Tansen sings even more melodiously. Impressed and appreciative, Akbar does not give them a precious diamond necklace each, but showcases their talent on his Instagram feed. Tens of thousands of viewers marvel at the genius of Birbal’s brain and the beauty of Tansen’s voice. Akbar argues the terms of treaties over emails and Zoom meetings, edits them on Google Documents and sends them over. His work is much easier with the technology and yet the grand king is always worried about cyber-attacks.

Picture this.

It is a sunny morning in Madurai. Thirumalai Nayak’s architect has just sent him a blueprint of the proposed expansion and repair of the Meenakshi temple on WhatsApp. It is a rough draft of what will one day become one of the tallest and most beautiful temples. Nayak ponders over the blueprint and sends it back with approval. Millions of pictures are taken of its pristine glory before years of pollution could do any harm on it. Today, in the digital world, people can glimpse the temple in all its glory.

Picture this.

It is tea time. The weather in London is wonderful. The sunlight streams in through the window and glances off the shining white teacups. A group of women, who until now have only knitted and sewn stockings and dresses, realize that there is more to life than this. They deserve more. They start a page on Facebook, call themselves “The Suffragettes” and document their struggles as they fight to get the right to vote. Women from all over the world send in their support and suggestions. When the British Parliament finally decides to grant women the right to elect their own representatives, women all over the world erupt in victory. They see the light at the end of what seemed a never-ending tunnel.

Picture this.

Gandhi uses his smartphone to livestream the Dandi March. On an April morning in 1913, the whole of India watches as he marches for freedom, as he lifts salt from the sea to defy the British. Thousands join the freedom struggle. Hartals and protests gain a new league of participation. However, many of Gandhi’s followers complain about being too much online and point out to him that placing too much information online could put the freedom movement at risk. True to the words, a conspirator let loose the movements whereabouts and the armed British reached Dandi to curb the movement. The enlarged group of freedom fighters and the British clash ina fight for the country’s future.

Picture this.

Mother Teresa sets up a donation portal online for the dying millions in Kolkata. Help pours in from across the world. Thousands donate to the charity via UPI. She can now order medicines and supplies online. The collective love of the world helps to heal the poor and the downtrodden. Mother Teresa smiles a beatific smile, knowing that God has once again helped her.

If there has been a digital world all those years ago, history might have been totally different. Whether it would change for the better, or for worse would obviously depend on us. As we visualize all the above scenarios, we begin to comprehend the power of the digital world. This brave new world with all its far reaches is available to us today. And as with all good things, our use of the digital world should be judicious. It is no surprise that there are a large number of cybercrimes being reported from every corner of the world. At the same time, there are hundreds of lives being saved and people being connected by the digital world. 

It is 2025, and the world is a dangerous place. For the future, technology and the digital world might just hold the power to make or break. And it is up to us and how we use that power for the betterment of all.

By Arunanshu Chatterjee