Brewing Silent Memories of Togetherness

“I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it, it has a quality and a dimension all it’s won”!!!

-          Chaim Potok

This is the Smart Age. People seem to be using all kinds of gadgets and flashing it across one and another. These devices have become a style statement for some and for a few it is even associated with their snob appeals. We definitely need to use these smart devices. Right from fancy phones, notebooks, kindles to I pod’s or tablets, they are all over the place. Everything is happening ONLINE and it indeed is becoming one of the most popular hangouts of this modern world. So with everything smart, is this world becoming more silent too… Does silence really exist or it doesn’t? Well, here is one such smart and silent story for all you people out there….READ ON to find out if silence is indeed the new Mantra or not??

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock…..The clock ticked away at it’s own pace and here was I wide awake with sleep seeming far away. Faster the ticking, wider the awake I seemed. Each night it was the same story and the story of my life it had become. The reason was obvious… MY NEW SMART PHONE. This was my latest possession and I just could not seem to put it away even at night. Blame it on the technology!!! This new phone and its awesome applications were like a halo around and the bright light inside never could be turned off. Each night I would discover something new and in the process would never realize when it was day time already and it just continued throughout the day. With this new phone, which was smart, began a new, exciting chapter to this book of my life. Little did I know then that silence could be so powerful because with me around that word was obsolete and redundant.

FLASHBACK

Trrrrrrr…..Trrrrrrrr……It’s Time to Get Up…..… It’s Time to Get Up …….The alarm sang so loudly, that I woke up with a jolt. I looked at the alarm and groaned loud. It was still 6:00 A.M and I detested getting up early. I just wasn’t a morning person, but the problem was that everyone around me was exactly the opposite. I silently cursed under my breath and turned off my alarm and sat up on my bed. To add to my existing misery, my phone started singing loud and Clean Bandit’s RATHER BE came alive. I pulled out my phone from underneath the pillow to see my best friend calling me. With her loud voice she informed me that she would be at my place in exactly fifteen minutes. She sang out excitedly that we were going for a jog. I got up to get ready, cursing my luck mentally to think of what a great way to start my summer holidays. I mean, really… A jog early morning on the first day of my term holidays. GREAT!!! I got ready and stepped out to see my friend who had just arrived at the gate. We greeted each other and she practically squeezed me to death, plugged in our ear phones and started our jog.

After an exhausting hour, we came back and sat down. She left to be back in sometime since we were going out shopping and both of us had decided that we would buy new and smart phones. Both of us were gizmos and we were adding yet another gadget to our collection – Smart Phone. We had already decided on which model we would be buying.

My friend arrived and we both left home in a real excited state. We were just not able to control our excitement. We stepped into the store in the mall and picked up our phones within a few minutes. I decided on a pink cover to my phone and my friend picked up a red and black combination. In a few minutes we left the store. So exhausted were we with excitement that we decided to grab a bite and then head home. Head home to unravel our box of delight.  We reached open and both of us opened our boxes. Immediately we set to forth to the biggest task of downloading and installing apps, which had already been pre-decided. First app in both our lists was whatsapp. After that we downloaded and installed it, we started with others which included a lot of games as well. It was already dinner time; neither she nor I had realized the time fly by. We decided that we would start whastapping from tonight after dinner.

I quickly had my dinner (literally gobbled the food in the most ugly fashion) and entered my safe haven and locked it. By the time I unlocked my phone; my bestie had sent a text and was already online on whatsapp. We both started with our usual random texts and I was thoroughly enjoying this app. We landed up chatting the entire night, formed our whatsapp group, learnt to click selfies. Selfies- The most in thing and we had to master this technique. I landed up spending the entire night clicking selfies, uploading them as my profile pictures. To my utter shock I realized I had changed a couple of pictures also by morning.

Each day went by exploring this amazing gadget. The more I dived; I realized there was more depth to it. A whole new world had opened up in front of me and I was taking it all in with the widest smile. The days seemed to whiz past in a flash as I became engrossed a little more with each passing day. I checked my mails, played games, read books, whastapped, facebook, hangouts and what not. My best friend and I just could not get enough of this gadget and it slowly became a part and parcel of our lives. Little did we know that this would become inseparable.

A few days had gone by and I was almost perfect with my phone. One night post dinner I was on my bed, reading a book, when I saw my phone flashing. Opened it to see an unknown text on whatsapp, which said, “Wassup Ms.Selfie”? Over rated indeed. I ignored the message and continued reading the book. My phone continued to flash and I continued to ignore. Even after almost an hour, the messages from this unknown number continued to bug me. I got fed up and sent a text, “Don’t bug Mr.Whatsapp”!! But this text from me seemed no effect on him and he continued to text. I put my phone in silent mode and slept. When I woke up in the morning, there were a dozen texts from Mr.Whatsapp. How jobless could anyone get to keep texting with no response? My deathly glare smiley also landed up having a calming effect on him. He just continued to text me. He was a constant companion whether you liked him or not. Be it jokes, quotes, videos, pictures or texts, he would send me something or the other throughout the day and I guess night. I let this continue for a few more days.

One fine day I decided enough was enough, and I was going to stop this menace. I called him up, all set to give him a good piece of my mind. All I got in return was David Guetta’s Titanium in return. He didn’t answer my call. Me the stubborn one continued to call and I think he the more stubborn one refused to answer my phone. After a few more attempts in vain, I stopped. In less than a few seconds, I got a smiley from Mr.Whatsapp. This infuriated me even more. Seething with rage I whastapped, “What is your darned problem”? Can’t you for once answer my phone? All he sent was a winking smiley. I tried calling him again, but futile. I decided I wouldn’t think about it so much, but curiosity got the better of me. I found this strange. A guy texts but never picks up a call. With this inquisitiveness I decided I will be less hostile and try and get him to at least reason out.

When we finally got chatting, all I would do is fight. I just wouldn’t chat politely. I tried asking him a gazillion times in between my fighting, the reason for his curious behavior. But Mr. Whatsapp was worst than a mule, I guess. Each night I had begun to chat with Mr.Whatsapp as well apart from my bestie. With each friendly conversation in progress, I realized this guy was funny as hell. His messages kept me in splits. After a few weeks knowing this guy, it made me ponder that I no longer thought of him as annoying and he was already slowly and steadily progressing the ladder of friendship. He always had stories to tell me and for once here was another human who chatted way more than what I do. I was aghast. I had finally begin to enjoy our conversations and actually looked forward to it. This continued for a few more days.

All of a sudden, one afternoon Mr. Whatsapp texted me and suggested we meet for coffee. Since, I knew a lot about him and found him to be a genuine friend; I found no harm in meeting him over coffee. My best friend seemed to suggest the same too and hence I agreed to it. I also had this urging curiosity which was gnawing me to know why he never answered my calls or called back ever. Even after these weeks of knowing each other, this mysterious habit remained enigmatic. We both decided we would meet on a Friday afternoon at the Art Gallery. Apparently we both liked Art and this gallery had the most splendid café which served awesome quick bites. I still had three days to go to meet him and I silently wanted this time to pass in a jiffy.

Finally it was Friday. Strangely, I had butterflies in my stomach since morning. We had finally managed to establish a good friendship and I was very excited to meeting him. I got dressed in the afternoon after spending a jittery morning. Had informed my best friend about the place where we were meeting as well. She and I always kept each other informed. She said she would look out for me in case I needed her. You never know sometimes when you need help and it’s always good to be safe than sorry.

The Art Gallery was a few minutes away from my home and I decided to take a walk. My bestie was walking with me as well since the library where she had decided to wait for me was near the Gallery. We reached in about twenty minutes, bid each other good bye and walked apart. When I stood in front of the gallery, I saw that I had reached earlier. Luckily, this gallery doesn’t close in the afternoons and it is not too crowded either. There were not too many people outside too making it easy for us to spot each other. This Gallery has a beautiful garden in front of its entrance. Crane benches adorn the landscape. These benches are my favorite and I have spent a lot of time sitting and reading books. A couple of minutes passed, I looked up to see a group of teens occupy the benches around. Then, I saw a tall and lean figure walking towards the gallery from across the road. Walking hurriedly, he entered and was scanning around the place looking for someone. I suddenly realized, I was looking at my whatsapp buddy. My excitement knew no bounds. Finally, I get to meet my buddy. The crane bench I was sitting on was covered by a low hanging branch, and anyone on it wasn’t spotted easily. I saw buddy walk towards the entrance and pull put his phone. I was hoping at least now he would call, but nope. My phone blinked indicating whatsapp message. My legs were so unsteady. I slowly got up, perspiration covering my forehead, palms sweating. Within seconds I steadied myself and started walking towards the entrance. (By now you’d have realized that I was Ms.Selfie for him and he was Mr.Whatsapp and the names just stuck.)

I went and stood in front of him. He gave me the most beautiful smile. So pleased was I with his smile that I smiled and asked, “Wassup Mr.Whatsapp”? And we both burst out laughing. He was way good looking compared to his pictures and had the most spectacular smile. I silently thanked god for this accidental/persistent friendship. He just stood calmly smiling at me while I was ogling at him. He still hadn’t uttered a word to my bewilderment. We walked in silently with smiles and went around looking at paintings. At the exit was the café. We went in and sat. It was the most peaceful café and my favorite. I seemed to do all the talking and he either smiled or nodded in an acknowledging manner. Now, I couldn’t wait longer. I pestered him to talk. After a few seconds of serenity, he pulled out a piece of paper. He sat looking at that sheet in his hand which was empty. But he didn’t write anything on it. He slowly looked up at me and he was sweating. Perspiration on his forehead and his palms were sweating. He was in the same state I was in a few minutes ago. He brought his hands up and slowly showed me in sign language that he cannot speak……………………………………………..I let this news sink into me and a few seconds later, I patted his hand with assurance, smiled the biggest smile and told him Ms.Selfie is so glad to have met Mr.Whatsapp!!!!!!! He looked at me and I could see he was smiling.

We both sat across the table in silence for a few minutes. We took out our cell phones and continued what we had done all these weeks… Whastapping but whtaspping with a difference now, we were doing it face to face.

(Well, I did message my bestie to head home since I could manage to get back home on my own now. There was nothing to worry meeting Mr.Whatsapp for the first time.)

BACK TO THE PRESENT

It has been almost over 3 months now since we first met each other. My best friend found this friendship between Mr.Whatsapp and I the most touching. Ever since the three of us have been hanging out and have become really close. We continue to whatsapp through the night, but from two we are three now. My best joined us too and we are on group chat now. The fun has just tripled as the sleepless nights continue………We are now the inseparable Trio- Yes my bestie has a name too, of course not Ms.Selfie’s Bestie, she is fondly called Ms.Safetie….So we all have our nick names. This whatsapp journey has tuned out to be one smart ride for one great lifetime friendship.

My smart phone indeed turned out to be smart.

On this note I would like to sign off with this beautiful quote that comes into my mind,

“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words”!!

-          Elbert Hubbard

Hope you have all enjoyed this silent yet smart journey with me. Until next time…….