Technology baffles me. And makes me laugh. And wonder. This happened some time back. I was checking out this beautiful wall clock on that online shopping site. It was not one of those pricey items. But I was not sure if it was the right wall clock for me. I needed more time to decide. And there was no hurry.
As often happens (plus, I am a forgetful girl), the clock was soon out of my mind. I was happily reading
the online version of a newspaper the next day, when suddenly I saw the same wall clock smiling at me
from the corner of my online paper. I did not pay much heed; I had almost decided not to buy it.
Next day, I log on to Facebook. This is something I do almost first thing in the morning. I am a Facebook addict. I was checking out my friends’ photos and going through the usual rush of emotions that Facebook inspires in its users.
”How thin she looks in red, omg!”
”Why does he have to be so whiny?”
”Awww, how cute is Mishu.”
You get the drift. I was busy merrily poking my flat nose in everyone’s business. And then it happened again. Yes, the same wall clock was smiling at me again. Yes, it was right there on my…MY Facebook wall; grinning at me like a little devil. I could almost see it waving at me with its invisible arms. Like it was saying, “Hey, take me home, I am yours.” My friends say I am a bit obstinate sometime. I refused to give in to the alluring smile of the clock. With a firm click of the mouse, I logged out of Facebook.
But other people and stuff can be as obstinate, as determined. I realized that when I was checking out this popular blog by a gossip queen. We girls need to know sometime what Shakti Kapoor had for
breakfast yesterday, you see. Yes, you have guessed it right. The same wall clock was right there at the
corner – waving at me again, with a grin as evil as possible.
Not that I am much of a God fearing girl, but I have grown up on Bollywood movies and I
remember Shah Rukh Khan telling us once that God has this habit of throwing hints at people at the right
time ( Yes, Dil To Paagal Hai). And I understand that now God is desperately trying to pass on a hint, a
message. God wants me to wake up to the chime of this wall clock every day. He wants me to time the
boiling of my vegetables to the turn of this clock’s hands. He wants me to start bellowing at my maid if this clock says it’s more than half past eight.
But I do not like being told what to do. So, I do not buy this clock. And that day, I remember walking on
my office floor with a strut; I have defied God after all. And am still alive. While strutting about, I start a chat with Madhu – the digital genius on the floor. And I tell her my episode of heroic victory over the Almighty.
And well, she laughed. And she told me. She told me about cookies. No, not the cookies her aunt
used to bake. This is a new kind of cookie – a digital cookie. And online stores use them to track what we
are checking out at their sites. Yes, and later they track us down and try luring us back! So much for my
victory against the almighty. I was just pitched against a cookie and I had barely managed to not give in to it!
I told you. technology baffles me. And makes me laugh. And wonder.
Jumi is a marketing and sales professional, lives in Mumbai, loves fiction and writes down her thoughts occasionally.