“It’s about time”, spoke
Shakuntala Devi with a loud voice from inside the kitchen.
“Yess. I am on it. One
button-click away”, replied Srinivas Rao energetically as his index finger
pressed the power button.
Shakuntala sprinted to the
living room as the machine came to life with the signature boot-up sound of
Windows.
“Connect it quickly”, told
Shakuntala as she sat down beside Srinivas and watched the blue screen that
showed the Welcome text.
Meanwhile Shakuntala turned
her eyes to the 2 clocks that were firmly fixed on the wall. One clock was
ticking at 6.10 AM and the other showed 8.40 PM.
A beautifully framed
photograph was present between the 2 clocks. Shakuntala heaved a sigh by
looking at her son, daughter-in-law and grandson in the photograph.
Krishna and Keerthi have been
married for 7 years and little Vaibhav is now 6 years old. In the last 7 years
they have come home thrice.
The train of her thoughts
derailed when Shakuntala heard the incoming call on the screen. Srinivas Rao
gently clicked on the green button.
Shakuntala and Srinivas both
were in high spirits to see the window loading slowly.
A square window popped up
with the visuals of 3 vague figures slowly turning into definite faces –
Krishna, Keerthi and Vaibhav in between.
“Hey grandpa and grandma !
what up. Gimme Five. ”, cheered Vaibhav slapping his right palm against the
camera.
“Hello – Hai Vaibhav”, both
the retired grandparents raised their hands giving high five.
“What’s new father? How is
your BP? Took the tablets?”, questioned Krishna.
“Hmmm. I’m taking tablets. My
blood pressure would be normal if you all are around us“, paused Srinivas Rao
with half-smile.
“I understand father. But our
project is going to be released in the near future and my calendar is mostly
packed up with meetings you know. I come home tired…...”, stopped Krishna as he
saw Shakuntala signaling Srinivas not to upset the mood.
“So Vaibhav what are you
doing this weekend?”, Shakuntala gently spoke looking at the camera.
“Well ! Dad is taking me to
skateboarding class. And we might go out for a movie. Right Dad?”, Vaibhav
answered enthusiastically as Krishna nodded.
“Aunty, Why don’t you both
come here for some time.”, suggested Keerthi.
“We’re fine here Keerthi.
Will plan some other time”, smiled Shakuntala gently rejecting the offer.
For some more time both the
groups talked about so many things like Vaibhav’ s education, new neighbors,
the weather, new recipes and what not.
Shakuntala and Srinivas
thoroughly enjoyed and smiled all along the conversation though signs of
monotony was felt on the other end of the camera.
“ Time for bed grandpa”,
Vaibhav interrupted.
“ Oh sorry child. Didn’t keep
track of the time. Good Night. ”, wished Srinivas.
“ Good day grandma and
grandpa. Take care”, greeted Vaibhav and disappeared with Keerthi.
“ So. What else Krishna?”,
asked Shakuntala.
“ Nothing ma. Take good care.
We will connect again tomorrow.”, answered Krishna.
“ Yes. WE WILL WAIT FOR
TOMORROW. Good Night Krishna. Take Care”, said Shakuntala as Srinivas nodded
his head.
Krishna gently closed the
Skype window and went back to his room with a tired look without having any
idea what’s happening on the other end.
There was a beep sound and
the window that was the reason for the smiles of Shakuntala and Srinivas
vanished away from their sight .
Srinivas Rao turned off the
computer joylessly. Again there appeared a blue screen. But this time saying Shutting
down.
In about 11 seconds the 15.6
inch blue screen went totally black. The reflection of 2 dispirited faces could
be seen on it.
One cannot know if the
reflection of the faces on the screen were really pale or if it was because of
the poor quality of the LCD.
-Ignore
any grammatical mistakes
Conceived and Written By
