Guwahati, Oct. 9 -- A few days ago, on one of Guwahati's busy roads, I ran into a friend I had studied with thirty years ago. He had gone on to earn an MCA, a handsome salary and all the comforts that come with it. What struck me was not his success but his state of mind.

"I gradually became like a machine," he told me. "Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye. Nobody has time to talk anymore. I went back to the village, fed up with city life, but it was the same there. Everyone was staring at a mobile phone."

This was a man who had been the life of our college days, known for his wit. As we parted, he managed a faint smile and offered one more thought. "Day and night, second after second, our heads are under assault from Facebook, I...