An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” goes the popular saying. Maybe it needs to be clinically correlated, but nevertheless, the present world owes a lot to apple. In fact, humanity’s descent to planet earth is due to apple, if we take a cue from The Holy Bible. Was it not the command of God to Adam and Eve — the first human family — to not to eat the apple hanging on the tree in the Garden of EdenIJ It was the forbidden fruit. This diktat or command not to eat that apple was also the first law from God. God thus spake, “Thou shalt not eat the forbidden fruit.” Ironically, it was the first law that was broken, too. Well, why humans like to break the laws may also be traced to the Garden of Eden. Many views ranging from blaming  Satan to the gullibility of Eve, to even Adam’s propensity to please Eve, can be researched. But that can be the subject matter of a much deeper study. What we are now talking about is the influence of apple on human life. So, it was the forbidden fruit that paved way for man’s journey to this world. Or rather, for his fall from Grace or the Garden of Eden. And, then, there was this second apple, which, as the legend goes, Sir Isaac Newton saw falling down and wondered why it was not going up. That led to the discovery of gravitational laws, the reason why man tries to go up but is pulled down every time by the all-powerful gravitational force, thus condemned to be attached to the trappings of the mundane world. But, there is a third Apple that seems to be influencing humanity the most these days. The apple that was discovered, nay, invented by Steve Jobs. Apparently it may seem to make up for the colossal loss of paradise due to the eating of that apple in the Garden of Eden. In fact, this apple seems to influence human life in such a big way that humanity appears to be lost in the apple-driven world. From iPad to mobiles to the app-driven comforts, human beings seem to have gone crazy to the extent of becoming techno-maniacs. life on earth began due to the apple consumed in the heaven, but life on earth is now being run on apple. The day begins with apple as its users open their eyes to lay their hands on the device and then it continues to be a part of life till they close the eyes. And many even continue fiddling with the gadget without closing the eyes at all. What is not understandable, however, is the reason behind this addiction. Adam had a cogent one — he wanted to please Eve and risked losing the paradise. Well, there are many who risk their paradise for their Eves, but addiction to this techno-fruit is most intriguing. More so, because it might also be affecting, rather than just changing the basic human nature. It tends to drive him away from his social self, making him become asocial and sometimes even antisocial. Anxieties, depression, attention-related behavioral disorders, stress, insomnia and what not. In the process of helping connect, it often ends up causing disconnect as people glued to their mobile screens become unmindful of their milieu. This dose of apple everyday may, then, not keep the doctors away. It takes man through the journey of being a couch potato, a ‘mouse’ potato, and then a browse potato.

 Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com