I Exist Damn It! What If My FACEBOOK Page Does Not!!!

“Are you not on FACEBOOK! “

“Hmm! “ , Raj replied with a half a smile to cover up his discomfort.

“Really? “ , came the question his way…..

“Hmm”.. Raj maintained a status quo. Lately he adapted to appear calm, even though the question annoyed him.

“I can’t believe it!“ the fellow exclaimed, as though a punishable offence is committed.

“You have to “, he made the point clear & leaned back to rest and closed his eyes.

“Being so”cialized, these days, implies a FACEBOOK, that’s the bottom line.

       The journey was exhaustive being lengthy. And Raj was happy to find a fellow of his age to chitchat with. But the fellow’s over enthusiasm about knowing stuff Raj did not, kept Raj frustrating as they moved on.

    “Hey... Did you ever see anything like this” he stated after an unconcerned HI, showing yet another of those electronic gadgets from his bag, besides the N* Nokia, A* IPAD, F*T* watch and some more of those cozy thing he was adorned with. He had almost everything a person of his age is expected to have.

“That’s a present from my cousin: cool huuunhh!!” … “Ofcoures from US “he informed, as if he expected the question.

“But I can’t believe you are not of FB. Come-on half of the world is!”…and he continued

    FACEBOOK has this, FACEBOOK has that… it has what ORKUT or TAGGED do not have and what it has not, that ORKUT and TAGGED have….

And he made an attempt to invent putting his brain at work … once at least …

“You know what… There should be forum in FACEBOOK for people who are not on FACEBOOK… “

“In there people who are not on FACEBOOK can explain why they are not on FACEBOOK…. There must be reason rii’ght. …. Trust me half of the world is on FACEBOOK. There must be sooo”lid reason to be not on FACEBOOK..”

“if they were on FACEBOOK and they no longer are … then what made them to move out of FACEBOOK…… who the hell would want to move out of …. FACEBOOOK : the most happening thing around…….“ he continued not being bothered if he was listened to.

“You must talk to Mark Zuckerberg about this……!” Raj interrupted, rather aggressively after his tolerance reached to verge of breaking. After all he heard the name a 100 odd times…..

“I was saying who would want to move out of “FACEBOOK””, it was evident he was trying to prove there was no world if no FACEBOOK. What Raj wondered was if he paid attention to the his statement….

“By the way… who the hell is MARK Z… Zuc.. What’s that …. Dint catch you….” ….

“ it’s ZU’ KAR’ BERG” Raj replied with a notion of pride.” He is the one who created the FACEBOOK“he concluded.

“Ohh……! “He exclaimed and he turned to face the window. One could see a certain inconvenience in his attitude. Raj assumed he felt sorry for not being abreast of the man who made half the world stick to his invention……

“Who cares anyway….”, he broke the silence with the same enthu as before, ”So I was taking of a forum in FB…” he continued being least worried of the information that was provided.

Raj paid no attention to what was being said…. wondered how the meaning of acquaintance is being changed
from being physically aware of a person to virtual sense, in the e-world, where one is least certain of the identity people provide.

“Guess what I have 1400 friends out there in the FACEBOOK ! “.. he declared after a momentary silence ….”Four”teeeen hundred odd you see….” He concluded expecting Raj to be bewildered at his achievement.

“ohk”, Raj subdued his anguish. Replied merely to respect the protocol of conversation.

“and they span, all around the world… “ he continued, unconcerned, “500 from the US, can you believe it. ?” …..
“do have a bloody choice!”. Raj ruled out sarcastically.

“u don’t believe it right !!!”, he took the sarcasm to disbelief..

“God save him from my wrath, I am about to burst.” Raj told to himself. “I believe you my friend…..!”, he replied trying to sound normal all along.

He never cared to listen to the conformation and he continued,” how can you even think of believing, you never even sa”w the FACEBOOK! “

He struck the wrong note. Raj was out of mind at his last words.

“How many friends you said you have?”, Raj was angry, but tried sounding tranquil.

“What? .. “ he was surprised at the question .

“Friends! How many of them you have? “
“1400 plus “

“Give a count including your real life friends”

“Another 20 odd! “. He replied after a moment of thought.

“Good.. When did you last talk to any of you real life friends?”

“3 days ……. 4 .. a week back I guess “

“Now think well before you answer the next question …. Say you are in deep trouble, god forbid, and it’s a matter of life and death; give a count of people who will come to your rescue- !”
……………….
“Three or four may be! “, he was alarmed no doubt.

“Where are they from? The FACEBOOOOK ? “

“No, they are my school mates and a couple of them my neighbors.”

“When is the last time you had a talk with any of these people whom you can count your life on?”

He was silent. It has been ages one can sense.

“And you claim to have 1400 odd friends. I don’t say it’s not a worth to have a chain of contacts. Or a page in the social network. But that’s not life. FACEBOOK cannot be life. “

He turned pale; Raj knew he would dislike the whole conversation. But he pulled the string harder, and pay the price he must.

“Its people around us who count. They are the real ones. They deserve our time. That is what I feel” ……

“ I have 20 odd friends, I meet every one once in 2 days, I talk to them , their families, we party we share …. We live… We exist! “

“My FACEBOOK page doesn’t exist, but I do……..!

Now…………Ask yourself! “
…
…
…
“Dude, What you do?”, Raj broke the silence, which lasted for a while now.

“Sorry sir “”,

“I said what you do for a living? “.

“I work at the reception, for a continental hotel! And what about you sir? “

Raj smiled and said,
“Well…….
…………. ……I program…………..
……………………….for the FACEBOOK”……………………………………………….”

               And silence is what followed as the plane soared, piercing its way past the ambush of clouds and the sun, after traversing half the world, continued its journey down the western horizon……

The Bicycle

         The T-Wave that struck the city recently left no part of the social life untouched. Auto’s, the only mode of transport back and forth to office, went on strike, the other day. Some way I managed to reach office. Going back was now the challenge I had to face.

            I set out. Walked past the main gate, and was aghast to see not a single vehicle to take a ride on. Couple of calls I made to enquire the cause for the horrific state. Waited for a while and seeing no light of hope, I let me legs do the job.

            People of the same profession are sympathetic to their fellow mates, and to exploit a lift under such circumstances is easy. But that hour in the day saw not many coming off their duties and there was not much movement on the road. The few, who came, were already booked with fellow riders and I was left with no option but to walk my way back to the junction from where I could manage to get a city bus.

            I walked… though the junction looked to be at farther end of the world cause of the tiredness clouding the body and soul, I walked. And after a few steps I heard a bell ring of a bicycle. Surprised I was, for, on this path I walked, a bicycle was least expected.

            I turned to see who that gentle man was, that dared move around on a bicycle. The surprised was levitated as I found that the rider was a little boy, of 10 or 12. He could barely touch both the pedals at a time. And he made a herculean effort to ride the bicycle over the elevated road.

            A boy, of 10 or 12. With curly untidy hair. The dress he wore was on the verge of being torn. Most part of it was dirty, little that was neat, had cloth patches used to cover up the torn part .the feet had cracks, evidently because of the chemicals the cement has. Paint like white shade covered all of the visible skin and most part of his dress. A boy of 10 or 12.

            A ray of hope, I realized, on a path which saw no vehicle for 15 minutes. But with the attire I possessed, would I take a ride? , pondering thus,

“Could you give a ride?” I requested the boy who kept pedaling as he moved past me. He stared at me as though I made an unpardonable crime by intervening into his world of joyousness he made out of the bicycling.

He stopped after couple of steps. Possibly for the innocent face I put up, or at the attire I wore.

“Sit”, the boy commanded.

“You sit, I’ll ride”, I insisted as I caught hold of the handle.

“Nop, I will ride!” the boy never left the handle go out of his grip.

“No, you will not be able to! let me ride”, I replied at the innocence of the boy. ”you are just a little kid”, I tried bullying.

And he handed his vehicle to me. We set off, once I made him sit on cross bar…..

“Where do you work?” I questioned out of curiosity.

“Back at the construction “, he replied, “my mother, father, and uncle work “, he continued, mostly, enthusiastically.

“No school?” I asked. I could see his face turn to an expression we call frown.

“T-Band – !”, he said.

“Hmm…. Where are you going then? “,

“To get a cigarette packet!” the boy replied, “to the junction!”

“You smoke? “, I teased.

“Noooooooo… for my father, mother. Uncle and their friend!” he smiled as he replied.

“Don’t they know it’s harmful” I questioned to see what he would say. He nodded as an answer and smiled.

            My muscles were stressed at the effort I put up. It was ages that I rode a cycle. Ages it has been that I even touched one. Or well... the truth is that the body has accustomed itself for a stress free life. It’s the mind that is stressed out in the kind of work I do. The body, it’s at resting state most of the times. And for a sudden motion from stand still, after effects are deemed to follow.

“What work u do..?” I asked him breaking the silence which lasted for a while.

“I carry brinks to the top and empty cement trays to bottom”, he replied. “And I water the walls when all bricks are over!”

“And what are you paid.”

“My father knows it!” he said. ”he buys me a rubber ball and couple of chocolates now and then.”

“He promised that he will buy a dress this Sunday. But there was no work for two days. So he doesn’t have money now.”

            There was no work for two days. I remembered the T-Band and yet another national band called by the opposition condemning the price hike.

“We dint even had breakfast today”, the boy interrupted my flow of thoughts.

“Mother said, we have to save some grains for couple of days, there could be more bands soon.” the boy concluded.

            Save the daily wages the family gets, they seem not to have any regular source of income. And the price hike and agitations add to their misery.

We neared the junction and my thoughts were filled with vacuum as I peddled.

There was misery, suffering all around.  Question was “who is responsible?”

“wanna eat something ?” , I asked the boy out of concern. Long days work it must have been.

“May be a cup of tea? “, I re-questioned after he nodded.

            He took the control of the cycle back as soon as I got down. And before I could even make an attempt to offer him something, gone he was………. 

The Seat By The Window!

“ is someone sitti……..” I felt I heard someone saying ……
    The voice damped out…….deep sleep gulped me…… why would I love to break such a heavenly Trans to answer a stupid question…….“is the seat occupied ! “……….. generally
& if it’s a man who is asking ……..particularly !!!
    I dint move a bit. The hand ki that I used to cover my eyes provided a blurred visual of people searching for places to seat themselves.
    I boarded the bus to the city at the start point and there were hardly 3 to 4 passengers. Although I sat by the window initially, but altered my place to the one next as the cold breeze of 6 in the morning, that was finding its way from the miniature gaps the windows left, was piercing the body like the sharp knives cutting through the soft skin, once the bus setoff.
    And eventually, I was carried to the heavenly worlds of dreamland where I wandered the beautiful landmasses the waterfalls, deserts and past the oceans and …… .
“ is that seat occupied ! “ the voice commanded , I could sense.
Crap!!!
    Such was the nap that an hour passed in a blink of an eye. I wondered when we traveled that 30km and reached the next major stop, which at other times is a hell lot to cover particularly on the dusty roads partially under repair most of the times.
“The seat…….” The man became restless. I could not gather why he insisted on enquiring me until I saw the baggage on the seat by the window.
    The Bag ……….. My Bag , I remember placing it there.
“I guess so…….!” I finally replied.
    That was the punishment I could give for disturbing ….. thrice…….
    The man moved onto the next vacant seat behind me…..
“ keep walking ……….!” I felt the joy restore, which I lost when he woke me out of the nap of utmost ecstasy.
    And I slid back the Handki over my eyes to prevent the ascending brightness, as the sun started to appear, from stealing off, that little drowsiness that was left behind.
And
“Is the seat occupied !!! “ …………. I heard someone utter…………..
“ Nop ………….. not at all “, I said as I moved the baggage to my lap and gave way to the person to the seat by the window, smiling all along !!!
    Of course it was a lady……… fairy?......... can say so………….. fair enough though ! if not fairy!
“Not every day one happens to acquire such a lively (lovely) co- traveler”
    Someone truly said………… “Every dog………….!” Ahh…..not an apt comparison I suppose.. yet
    Well…… she settled and no sooner she did, I observed that little of the drowsiness escaped off the eyes.
    The brain became alert. Chemical imbalance, I read it sometime back, out of extreme excitement possibly cause of high sensory activity which might involve vision as well, triggered by the proximity effects …… that’s a bit of information I suppose.
    And the handki moved to my pocket,…………….voluntarily
    And we set off again to cover rest of the 4 hours of journey.
………………………….
    The ring tone of a mobile woke me up……
    Not sure when I slipped to sleep.
“What the H….” , I held my words. After all it was her mobile.
    Never mind ….. I thought.
“….office ! …. No … won’t be going today! ,” I (over)heard followed by a chuckle…..
    The sweet voice sounded like a hundred violin’s playing “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine!” at the background.
    God has a way with the design of the female species, I thought.
    If the girl is cute, Then let the voice be sweet. – I smiled to myself at the thought, and felt proud of the discovery. Unfortunately I had no one to share it with.
    There is another side of it I realized. If the girl is cute, then let the boy hear her voice as sweet, irrespective of the modulation her throat brings about – and the smile faded…..
     Gaad izz great !
    And I decided to start a conversation. After all, not every day you get to make a friend.. girl to be specific.
    The call ended…. I made up a question in my mind “ which company you work for…. “ that sounded apt for the situation. Safe and diplomatic. All is well… I told my conscience. My heart raced. All of a sudden I could hear nothing but my heartbeat. It’s a stranger that I must start to talk. The words passed off the throat.  Reached the mouth I could feel…. And
“…….. “ , I felt I spoke, but the voice never came out ,I released. And she put the mobile back to her handbag, closed her eyes to rest.
“shit ! dumba** “ , my brain prompted the heart ! or the other way round as I leaned back out to mourn on my failure.
    Trust me; the words never came out of the mouth.
    Half the journey was already covered I realized.
    The time showed 8.30.
    Another call to her mobile and my fortune favored to listen to that sweet voice.
“ will reach by 11. Not sure if I will go to the office. ..” she replied…
    Fate, I assumed, gave a second change.
    The call ended….. I had the question at my disposal… “ which company you work for…. “
Ya .. that’s the question … apt one…. I practiced to myself a couple of time…. So as not to sound stupid…. My heart raced as I rehearsed…. I could hear nothing but the question and the heart beat intermittently.
“ which ………. !” ,
    Ah… ! she turned to face me…… for a moments glace and back she leaned and closed her eyes.
I clearly saw her this time, I was left dumbfound.
     She turned out to be prettier than I assumed she was, at the first time I saw her . Drowsy I was. And the proximity of a female species does make the mind go crazy. I had little more that a glance to decide on her features then.
    Little more than a glace I had, even now. But her face glowed cause of the sun rays that escaped the window on the other side, that hit her.
    Did she hear me? ..
    Did she not? . I pondered scolding myself all the way for being an introvert.
“nine onza nine…. nine twoza eighteen…. Nine threezaa twentyseven….”, a girl on the front seat was uttering.
    And we smiled. She smiled.
“so you work for a software firm….!”
    Bravo …. I asked just to find the glace to extend to a stare in amazement.
“Of course yes! “She replied. “About you?’
“hmm ... unfortunately!” I took my turn to reply and she burst into a laugh.
    God indeed has a way with pretty girls.
“which company? “, I questioned.
“Wipro …… And you! … Don’t tell me you are from Wipro As well!” she said in a teasing tone.
God ……… indeed.
“ha ... no no… it’s CG!” I replied with a smile following her.
and we kept talking……bout work…..bout qualification….. bout recession….. bout nativity and nothing at times.
     She amazed me in every possible way a girl is expected to. And she smiled at my silly answers. Exclaimed at the little truthful information I conveyed just to see her wondering.
    Time flew with Josephine in Flying Machine….. faster the clock changed.
   Why does happy time end so fast, god has a way with that too….. I had no choice.
And we neared….
    She explained a route to the office, which I pretended not to be aware of …. Just to hear her speak of course.
    And she did it in quite a detail that I felt like telling the truth that I knew the route….
    But ….. I never said so.
    Fortunately her residence was on the same route and we decided to board a city bus once we reached the city.
    We found couple of seats similar to the one we traveled to the city in.
    One by the window and the next one to it.
    I offered her the seat by the window…… the bus was completely occupied with that last two vacant seats being captured by us. Couple of people boarding behind us and were forced to stand.
“should I ask for her number? mail id? … “was the next question that constantly hit my thoughts after every pause we took of the conversation?
    And before I could push myself beyond that threshold to dare ask a contact, her destination was reached.
We shared a fairy well….
    And she got off the bus leaving a vacuum in my thoughts.
    The world suddenly went numb... Nothing really seemed real.
    I was doubtful if I was even travelling in a city …….. or was wandering in a desert of loneliness…
“Do you believe in destiny” my conscience questioned.
    If I do, then we would cross ways some time ……
“can you give way please!” …….
    I was dragged to reality before I finished my conversation with my conscience.
“Sure …..!”, I lifted my face just to find ………….
    And the pleasure restored, heartbeat raised, and unexplainable joyful inconvenience surrounded me as the bus took pace ………….
GAAD IZZZ GREAT !