Happy in the real world

I am an alien. I have very little to do with computers. When my computer-literate friends chat, I hear excited comments on Internet, websites, e-mail pals... When I try to get in a word edgeways to ask what all this means, some are scornful, clicking their tongues impatiently, others sigh and look heavenwards.

I am quickly forgotten as they animatedly crowd around a downloaded picture of Hrithik Roshan.

I move away unnoticed to the semi-deserted playground. Robust Reena hollers out an invitation to join her basketball team. But I refuse slumping dejectedly on the bench. The computer has robbed me of my friend, fun and games. Hopscotch lines were smudged. Harry Potter's adventures ran through my head. But Ragini's "how boring" to my "look, how interesting" left me feeling lonely and upset. There was no basketball in the evenings - Ragini had gravitated to the computer.

What was this computer anyway, I thought angrily. Some djinn awesomely knowledgeable where everything under the sun was available. Who needed this when the textbooks spilt themselves all over?

Who would want to make these tireless computers overshadow playtime, dreamtime, leisure and lolling?

I look up at the deep blue sky. Across a fluffy wisp of cloud glides an eagle. Could the cold computer capture its vastness or magic? The fragrance of the champak flower wafts across on a breeze. I think of Ragini locked in a closed room stuffy with the smell of heated cables.

Reena grabs my hand and pulls me on to the court. Can the computer give such a feeling of boy as when you send the ball through the hoop.

Suddenly, I feel light-hearted and happy. Even a little sorry for Ragini. Many worlds open to her at the click of a button but they close unannounced when the current blinks off.

Cold soulless worlds. I have just one world with its mysterious woods, winding paths throbbing with life and beauty. And I would not change it for anything. For it shares my heartbeats.

NIKHITA DEEPAK, VI C

KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA, IIT, Chennai

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