The phone glowed and then vibrated. Well, they both should have happened simultaneously, but the phone's a bit slow now - with what it being almost 1/5th my age. So no qualms there. I digress even before I start. Well.. coming back. The phone showed 1 new message. There. That smile automatically came up on my lips. I picked up my cell. Unlocked and clicked view. Now it takes about 4-5 seconds for the sms to open up - remember how I told a while ago the phone was slow, yes? - and I was just anxious, with the smile on my face.
Anticlimax. Buy NA Plot near Karjat. Contact Mr. Anil. So, Mr. Anil - your account has been credited with a lot of curses from me. And to balance, I've taken away a good share of your goodwill and equity. I looked at the clock. It was 4:40 PM. So if I started now ... 10 mins to get ready ... 25 mins to walk to Nahur and get a ticket. Surely there will be a train at around 520, and I can reach in the next 30 mins. So 6 I can reach in any case at the latest. So I just picked up my phone, and started to compose an sms.
"What time does your party start".
"730 types .........dinner hai...."
Pat came her reply. Quick calculations ... 7:30 - 6 = 1.5 hours is what I've got if I can make it quick. But then again, was it worth making her take all the trouble and having her club back to back programs. She will get tired even before the party. So had to give it a second thought. And just then the door opened, and mother dearest entered. She was back from her singing lessons .. yeah she's an enthu I know, very good for her. I do like socializing, but have never been so good at it. You know, communication has never been my forte. I mean, I can chat up a random person, but to sustain the communication - nah, that art is beyond me. I think what would help here is a cours.... err... but i digress. Yet again.
Where was I ? Oh yes. Mom was back. Dad got up after his afternoon nap. And even before I could lay my proposal for the evening, I was booked.
"Apun ko abhi ye kaam karne ka hai" .. that's my mom when she wants me to do some work with her.
I blanked out. Maa kasam. Kya kaam aa raha hai. And I'm usually not one to say no .. you know I'm the achha bachha that everyone talks about in a family. Still thought, theek hai .. jo bhi ho, can finish it in the next 20 odd minutes and i'll still have an hour of meeting time. Sounds good that.
That was when it all broke loose. I was called in front of the computer. Dad was on the comp, and trying to do something .. don't know what. He asked me how do I type a letter in the computer.
This time I really blanked out. How do I answer this question? I mean, yes, I can say use MS Word to type. But if somebody asks such a question, almost surely doesn't know how to use Word. Now granted, it is no rocket science to use MS Word. But then leave it to my dad, to make lighting a matchstick a rocket science. I could easily anticipate the next 3 questions that would follow when I say "Use MS Word". And I also knew equally well that there would be 3 more questions before the 3 that I anticipated. These came up
1. What can I do in Word
2. Where do I find Word
3. How do I start Word - single click or double click.
I gave some oral instructions on how to locate and start Word. All this while I had been thinking it would have been some small text/letter that he needed to type out. But when I saw what MS Word was about to get, I shrank back. There lay a bundle of pages - some 20 odd pages. And by the look of it, I'm sure they required some kind of formatting, paging, header, footer etc. Itihaas gawah hai - I am not the best when it comes to teaching parents to use the computer. Add to it if the student is my dad, then to fir ho gaya.
I started making some plans to excuse myself somehow. Some 20 odd mins later, my dad called out, and asked me how to save. Save was done. Barrage of questions followed on the Save feature. The Save As feature. The Auto-recovery feature. The Open feature. I don't think I've ever had so much trouble explaining the Save, Save As features. Like Ever. Hair would have been ripped out had I been alone. I did some estimations, and figured out that if this went on like this, then surely I'd lose my calm and peace. So, I volunteered to do the typing. 20 odd pages - that's fine. It shouldn't take long. I type fast.
Mistake. As if to prove me right, there was a loud crack and the weather became stormy and all set to rain. The weather became more and more beautiful, and I got engrossed more and more into the typing. Type - type - type - type - type. My whole estimation went haywire. What I had thought of finishing up in 20-30 mins, ended up taking 2 hours of my evening time. Here I was ... on a beautiful saturday evening ... one for which I could've killed to be with my beloved ... but was instead, sitting at home, typing away to glory. half hour became an hour, hour became two. And I finally finished. Yay ! at last. Little did I know, abhi to kaam aadha hi hua hai. Proof reading baki hai
Dad sat by my side and started reading out whatever I'd typed. Few mistakes here and there. Few sentences to be edited. Some grammatical mistakes - obviously not mine (I hate grammatical mistakes). Few sentences to be revised and redrafted. Couldn't leave in between. The one time in the whole of my lifetime with phone, that I didn't sit with my phone beside me. All in all, an hour and 30 mins more spent. Got up and it was 910. 3 hours 40 mins away from the phone. I didn't know what I felt. Was it anger? Was it frustration ? Was it hopelessness ? Or was it just plain simple sorrow for an evening lost.
I didn't know yet. Because I hadn't checked my phone yet. 10 missed calls. 4 unread messages. I guess I felt all of the above for the next half hour, including a lot of disappointment. It didn't help when I learnt that my beloved was not in a mood after all. And she's not one who is ever in 'not a mood'. Felt ever so responsible. 50 lashes ? 100 lashes ? There has to be some measure of punishment for letting people down. I haven't figured that out yet. And tomorrow morning doesn't look so bright either.
There are a lot of dark clouds hovering on the horizon right now. But I am the optimist. I choose to find the silver lining. The Evening today has been lost, and most likely the morning tomorrow. But I do hope to redeem the evening tomorrow, and maybe some more ...
I hope ...
Anticlimax. Buy NA Plot near Karjat. Contact Mr. Anil. So, Mr. Anil - your account has been credited with a lot of curses from me. And to balance, I've taken away a good share of your goodwill and equity. I looked at the clock. It was 4:40 PM. So if I started now ... 10 mins to get ready ... 25 mins to walk to Nahur and get a ticket. Surely there will be a train at around 520, and I can reach in the next 30 mins. So 6 I can reach in any case at the latest. So I just picked up my phone, and started to compose an sms.
"What time does your party start".
"730 types .........dinner hai...."
Pat came her reply. Quick calculations ... 7:30 - 6 = 1.5 hours is what I've got if I can make it quick. But then again, was it worth making her take all the trouble and having her club back to back programs. She will get tired even before the party. So had to give it a second thought. And just then the door opened, and mother dearest entered. She was back from her singing lessons .. yeah she's an enthu I know, very good for her. I do like socializing, but have never been so good at it. You know, communication has never been my forte. I mean, I can chat up a random person, but to sustain the communication - nah, that art is beyond me. I think what would help here is a cours.... err... but i digress. Yet again.
Where was I ? Oh yes. Mom was back. Dad got up after his afternoon nap. And even before I could lay my proposal for the evening, I was booked.
"Apun ko abhi ye kaam karne ka hai" .. that's my mom when she wants me to do some work with her.
I blanked out. Maa kasam. Kya kaam aa raha hai. And I'm usually not one to say no .. you know I'm the achha bachha that everyone talks about in a family. Still thought, theek hai .. jo bhi ho, can finish it in the next 20 odd minutes and i'll still have an hour of meeting time. Sounds good that.
That was when it all broke loose. I was called in front of the computer. Dad was on the comp, and trying to do something .. don't know what. He asked me how do I type a letter in the computer.
This time I really blanked out. How do I answer this question? I mean, yes, I can say use MS Word to type. But if somebody asks such a question, almost surely doesn't know how to use Word. Now granted, it is no rocket science to use MS Word. But then leave it to my dad, to make lighting a matchstick a rocket science. I could easily anticipate the next 3 questions that would follow when I say "Use MS Word". And I also knew equally well that there would be 3 more questions before the 3 that I anticipated. These came up
1. What can I do in Word
2. Where do I find Word
3. How do I start Word - single click or double click.
I gave some oral instructions on how to locate and start Word. All this while I had been thinking it would have been some small text/letter that he needed to type out. But when I saw what MS Word was about to get, I shrank back. There lay a bundle of pages - some 20 odd pages. And by the look of it, I'm sure they required some kind of formatting, paging, header, footer etc. Itihaas gawah hai - I am not the best when it comes to teaching parents to use the computer. Add to it if the student is my dad, then to fir ho gaya.
I started making some plans to excuse myself somehow. Some 20 odd mins later, my dad called out, and asked me how to save. Save was done. Barrage of questions followed on the Save feature. The Save As feature. The Auto-recovery feature. The Open feature. I don't think I've ever had so much trouble explaining the Save, Save As features. Like Ever. Hair would have been ripped out had I been alone. I did some estimations, and figured out that if this went on like this, then surely I'd lose my calm and peace. So, I volunteered to do the typing. 20 odd pages - that's fine. It shouldn't take long. I type fast.
Mistake. As if to prove me right, there was a loud crack and the weather became stormy and all set to rain. The weather became more and more beautiful, and I got engrossed more and more into the typing. Type - type - type - type - type. My whole estimation went haywire. What I had thought of finishing up in 20-30 mins, ended up taking 2 hours of my evening time. Here I was ... on a beautiful saturday evening ... one for which I could've killed to be with my beloved ... but was instead, sitting at home, typing away to glory. half hour became an hour, hour became two. And I finally finished. Yay ! at last. Little did I know, abhi to kaam aadha hi hua hai. Proof reading baki hai
Dad sat by my side and started reading out whatever I'd typed. Few mistakes here and there. Few sentences to be edited. Some grammatical mistakes - obviously not mine (I hate grammatical mistakes). Few sentences to be revised and redrafted. Couldn't leave in between. The one time in the whole of my lifetime with phone, that I didn't sit with my phone beside me. All in all, an hour and 30 mins more spent. Got up and it was 910. 3 hours 40 mins away from the phone. I didn't know what I felt. Was it anger? Was it frustration ? Was it hopelessness ? Or was it just plain simple sorrow for an evening lost.
I didn't know yet. Because I hadn't checked my phone yet. 10 missed calls. 4 unread messages. I guess I felt all of the above for the next half hour, including a lot of disappointment. It didn't help when I learnt that my beloved was not in a mood after all. And she's not one who is ever in 'not a mood'. Felt ever so responsible. 50 lashes ? 100 lashes ? There has to be some measure of punishment for letting people down. I haven't figured that out yet. And tomorrow morning doesn't look so bright either.
There are a lot of dark clouds hovering on the horizon right now. But I am the optimist. I choose to find the silver lining. The Evening today has been lost, and most likely the morning tomorrow. But I do hope to redeem the evening tomorrow, and maybe some more ...
I hope ...
