It is 8.30 am – time for Ashit to leave for work and for me to0, well, do the first of the morning rituals. The Messenger, a harbinger of joy, resides in my computer and commands my ultimate faith. Never did I imagine that a piece of software, and one that was downloaded 'free', would become so indispensable. My life has been taken over by this Messenger. I dread the day when someone comes up with the theory that the Messenger is harmful to mankind. A typical day starts off with an Internet login. The prime motive is to get the Messenger running. In an instant, I get to know the status, as in online or offline, of the many dear ones spread across the world. And we all connect with each other in this one realm of existence – chatting. I randomly met my aunt online and she questioned me why I was online in the morning when I ought to be doing some productive household work! Needless to say where my priorities lie!
I also use this time to access my mails which take form of hideous advertisements, some random forwards from friends, information on services and products that are of no significance to me and so on. Almost everybody I know has a Messenger, sometimes more than just one. I use the Messenger and also the automatic yahoo messenger on my mail. Not yet used to the Google talk but guess that too would become a ritual.
Moving away from close ones can have its own cons and now that I have moved country, I have acquired a newfound quiescence. I have this Dell laptop, a wide screen which is the best part, considering I also use it as the Indian means of entertainment – from IBN news, Set Max, to all the Hindi Movies I get to watch through the various websites.
Having left college ages ago and then moving to another place, I have become habituated to losing friends and making new ones. But this time around, I was able to put it all back together, with just as much ease as unpacking my clothes. A computer and an Internet connection are all it took me to get my network in place. I was soon saying my ritualistic 'hi' and 'bye' to the same people who had constituted my existence. Email would, in a way, accomplish this feat. But it is no comparison to real-time chat.
