Sometimes I’m alone in a room, and the first thing I do is pick up my phone. I don’t need it for anything. There is no message to answer and nothing I want to look up. I just open it and start scrolling.

A few minutes later, I’m still alone, but my attention is somewhere else. I’ve spent those minutes looking at a screen without really thinking about what I’m doing.

This made me think about two words that people often use as if they mean the same thing: loneliness and solitude.

Being alone is simply a fact. Nobody else is in the room. But what that time feels like can be very different. One quiet evening can feel peaceful. Another quiet evening, in the same room, can feel empty. And a person can feel lonely even when many people are around.

So I don’t think the difference is only about how many hours someone spends alone. To me, loneliness is the feeling of missing a connection we want but don’t have. It can bring sadness and frustration, and I don’t think it should be treated as something good. Solitude is different. It is time alone that we can enjoy, whether we spend it reading, thinking, or doing something else we like.

The best example from my own life is reading.

I have loved books since I was young. During my intermediate college years, I read many books by different writers. Reading was not just a way to pass the time. Those books changed how I think. They made my imagination stronger, and they gave me new ways to look at life.

I remember one time clearly. I was travelling from city to city, sitting for admission tests at different universities. Inside my bag, hidden among my study books, I was secretly carrying the second volume of Sunil Gangopadhyay’s novel Sei Somoy. I was going to take important exams, and I still could not leave the novel behind.

When I read, I imagine the people and places myself. Sometimes a character, an event, or even one sentence makes me think about my own life in a different way. I enjoy that very much. A film based on a story can be good too. But reading the story and imagining it in my own way gives me a different feeling.

When I read like that, I’m alone, but I don’t feel lonely. A good book can feel like company.

Today, I read much less than I used to. My life is busier now, and a lot of my free time goes into my online work. I still enjoy reading, and I miss it. I sometimes read PDF books on my phone, and I have listened to audiobooks too. When I visit my village home, I take a poetry book from my own library. I may read only one or two poems, but even that gives me a feeling I enjoy.

Having free time is also not the same as having a free mind. After a full day, I may have thirty minutes, but I’m not always ready to sit down with a book. So a person can still value something deeply, even when daily life leaves little room for it.

This brings me back to the phone.

I recently listened to a podcast about loneliness and solitude. One idea stayed with me: today, it can be difficult to spend time alone without reaching for a phone or another screen. Whenever a quiet moment comes, it is easy to fill it.

I don’t know how true or how strong this idea is. I haven’t checked any research, so I won’t call it a fact. It is only a personal observation. But I recognise the habit in myself. I know I sometimes scroll without any real reason, and I try to be more aware of that habit. But I’m not free from it either.

I also don’t think technology is the enemy. I use my phone to read, to listen, to learn, and to talk to people. For me, the question is not whether a device is in the room. It’s whether there is still some space left for my own thoughts, my memories, and my imagination. If every empty moment is filled right away, that space gets smaller. Over time, it may become harder to sit quietly. That is a possibility, not something I can prove.

I also want to be fair to the other side. Solitude isn’t always comfortable. Some people find quiet time hard, and some need more company than others. Some find meaning in conversation, in family, or in doing things together. Nobody has to enjoy being alone, or read books, in order to live well. And time alone doesn’t have to be useful. Sometimes doing something we simply enjoy is enough.

Loneliness is different. When it hurts, it hurts, and I don’t believe people should accept it because it might make them stronger.

So I think we need both. We need some time with ourselves, to read, to think, or just to rest without interruption. And we need other people, their company and their connection. The aim is not to be alone. It is a reasonable balance.

I don’t need to fill every quiet moment with something. Sometimes, a little time with a book is enough.