Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Leisure/Downtime, Vikram Singh, Bangalore, India, 12/21/08
Leisure/Downtime, Vikram Singh, Bangalore, India.
December 21, 2008
Family Background
Vikram Singh (14) lives in Bangalore with his parents and younger brother Suraj (11). Vikram is a ninth grader at Bangalore’s National Public School. His father is an officer with the Indian Police Service and he lives in an exclusive neighborhood where senior police officers have their residences. National Public School, is a school which most parents in Bangalore aspire to get their children admitted, he says.
At 14, Vikram is an avid technology and media user. “Technology is anything that makes my life easier” says Vikram. Technology is not only a facilitator for comfort and education it is central to his concept of fun and leisure. For Vikram, leisure is the time when he is allowed to do whatever he wants. This usually varies from 2 hours on a week day to 4 hours on a weekend. Vikram likes to have fun after he is done studying. He likes to watch comedy shows. Vikram’s selection of leisure activities revolves around technology- driven games and technology facilitated friendships and relations.
Domain
Gaming
Vikram started playing games when he was in first grade. Vikram has taken part in gaming competitions. He recounts the ‘Burn Out Paradise’ competition. Vikram competed against 35 players and won the competition. Vikram “loves games.” He passionately talks about a game called the ‘Counter Strike’. “This is a game in which you are provided with a scenario where they give you couple of missions- you are a counter-terrorist. You have to kill an enemy with a shot-gun and you have to kill a terrorist by yourself.” He plays this with other kids and by himself. “When it comes to guns, in Counter Strike they use guns that actually exist.” Vikram believes that most kids will prefer using the real guns in Counter Strike as against Halo, which uses plasma gun that one cannot actually find in real life. This game is more real unlike other games wherein the fantasy factor is exaggerated. “While you are shooting, the remote vibrates and the vibration coincides with the gun on the screen. So the experience is real.”
Vikram feels he is part of a “gaming community”- a group of people who love to play games. “We have random names every time so that we cannot be tracked down. In our community we play action games most of the time. We never use our real names”, he says. When he plays online, Vikram uses the name- The Killer.
Friends and Fun
Vikram has fun with friends. He likes to spend his leisure time with a select group of friends. On occasions like birthdays, he and his friends go out, hangout in a fast food joint or order pizzas. He keeps in touch with his friends over phone and the internet.
Computer
A lot of Vikram’s leisure time is spent on the computer. “Parents prefer watching movies on TV” he says, but he watches them on the computer. Computer is the nodal media for communication, entertainment and education in his life. He uses software like Photo Impressions to communicate through the webcam and click pictures. He chats frequently and has a blog profile.
Online Community
Vikram is active on social networking sites like the Facebook. He uses Facebook every evening for 2 hours. He chats and sees what each person is doing. He takes a look at polls on different topics.
Relaxation
“I play games like Counter Strike… if I am angry at someone it helps me remove my anger. It is basically the psychological reason why some games are created.” He has a media center on which he watches movies. He plays Play-station at a friend’s place. He plays some outdoor games with kids in the neighborhood like Hide and Seek. “It sounds weird but I like climbing trees” says Vikram.
Future
Vikram hopes to acquire the Omnia. He describes it as: “the super phone- its affordable-the whole phone is based on touch screen technology”. “It is an improvement over the iphone” says Vikram.
Changing notion of Leisure
Vikram’s concept of fun has changed in 5 years - earlier watching TV or playing field games were prominent. Now multimedia technology has played a really important role in changing the concept of fun. Contrasting the preferences of his brother he says, “when I was in sixth grade, I used to spend most of my leisure time playing downstairs and he now spends his leisure time in front of a monitor.”
Upshot
Vikram provides an insight into how the conception of fun is interwoven with constantly changing forms and adaptations of technology. It provides the platform for relation-building, entertainment, aspiration and competition, the main ingredients in the actualization of fun.