clumsytales

[clumsytales]

A Turning Point

 "Papa, why have you been typing on your phone for so long? I need the phone to play games." said little Ishan in a mildly irritated tone. 

"I'm sending an office mail Ishu, wait for some time", said Anand. 

"Why don't you use voice typing, here, let me show you!", said Ishan excitingly, snatching the phone from his Papa. 

Holding the big touchscreen phone in his little hands, he held the voice typing button dexterously and started dictating. "I am Ishan. I am teaching Papa how to use phone smartly. "

Anand burst into laughter watching the brilliance of his little kid. 

Anand was in his mid-thirties and already a Senior Manager in a big tech company in Bangalore. His wife Amruta was a 'work-for-home' mom which was a full-time job itself except she never got any leaves. Little Ishan was a smart kid studying in Third grade. He recently started going to school after attending Online classes almost for two years. Anand's parents lived in their native village and used to visit once or twice a year. The city life never suited them well. 

The family of three had to start their day quite early. Waking up Ishan early in the morning was a challenge. Amruta prepared breakfast and packed tiffin for both Anand and Ishan, while it was Anand's duty to get Ishan ready and drop him to the school bus. Soon after, Anand used to leave for office in his car which was pretty nearby. Amruta used to be all by herself till afternoon till Ishan returns from school. After all household chores are over, smartphone and TV were her best friends. She actually enjoyed this little 'me-time' that she got. After returning from office in the evening, Anand would sit in front of TV watching the stock market news with a cup of tea in one hand while mobile phone in other. This routine of the family rarely changed. 

One day though this routine got deviated when Anand's car met with a minor accident while returning from office. There was a small dent and few scratches on the car. Anand decided to give the car to nearby service station for repair and head home walking instead. 

While walking down the street, something caught his attention. There was a makeshift toy shop on the footpath below a Pipal tree. Colorful, shiny wooden toys from Channapattna. Different kind of spinning toys, Chinese dolls, musical toys and a train set...

It reminded him of his childhood's wooden train set. 

A piece of art it was. Different types of wagons made of wood with vibrant shiny colors. The wagons were connected together with rounded magnets on the end so that train could turn freely on the curved track. The train was pulled by a motorized metal colored locomotive which would whistle periodically. He recollected how happy he was when his father brought this train set. He had hugged his father tightly and thanked him profusely. Anand wouldn't let anyone touch his special toy and took great care of it. His father would set up the train set for him, carefully joining the tracks together and launching the wagons on the tracks. Once the train would start moving, Anand would also run along the train whistling happily. It was one of the fondest memories of his childhood and he always cherished this time spent with his father.  He could not remember though what happened to this train after he moved to different city for college. 

And alas! Here it was now, a similar train set. Anand beamed with joy. Without a second thought, he bought it. He had no doubt that Ishan would love it as well. Anand got it packed carefully, wrapped in a gift paper and set straight to home. He was eager to present this wonderful toy to Ishan. He was hoping to have great time with Ishan playing this train as he had with his father once.

"At least something good came out of today's misfortune", Anand thought to himself. 

When he reached home, he started looking for his beloved Ishu, hiding the present behind his back. Ishan was in his room playing mobile games as usual. 

"Look Ishu, what I brought for you!", said Anand happily. 

"Is it what I think it is Papa?", Ishan asked giggling and jumped off the bed hurriedly to open the gift. 

Ishan tore the gift paper to see what is inside and his face fell. 

"Do you not like it, Ishu?", asked Anand confusingly. 

"It is nice Papa, but I thought you got me the iPad Pro that I wanted.", Ishan confessed. 

And then it hit Anand... Their lives revolved around gadgets. He could not remember when the last time was that he played with his son or had a hearty conversation with his wife. Little Ishan already had spectacles due to excess screentime. Due to lockdown, homes became office cubicles and school, mere videos. Catching up with the latest new, fear of missing out on something kept them hooked to the social media. Mindlessly scrolling through the Youtube shorts became a habit. They all had got so engulfed in technology that they forgot the meaning of companionship.  Anand was disheartened but he was awakened now. 

Anand held the cup of tea in one hand again, but this time, in his other hand, he held the hand of Amruta instead and asked her "How was your day?", with a gentle smile on his face.