Destructive Distillation

Transmission stops. Darkness falls. A single, dull source of light glows in the room. UPS shrieks. I sigh. Helplessly and begrudgingly I begin shutting down the computer and gasp for a breath of activity for what ensues is static, a dark empty space of blankness. I now begin to wonder what I should do. I walk out of my enclosure, a curtained and cordoned off area in a familial space called home.

There is darkness everywhere and I see that the sun has gone to rest after trying so hard in vain to permeate the thickened and conspiring clouds which have new found strength to bombard us with a harmless chemical and yet disrupt our lives and dampen our spirits. I look around to see who else is at home. Seems like no one except my dear grandma; my ever present companion at home. For we are two souls with so much in common on some days like this when we are stuck at home glued to our life support systems with little else to do; her’s being the television and mine the computer. I dash off a few smses to a few friends with the standard greeting: “hey wassup?”. A reply from some saying that they are busy and from others nothing.(at least as of now). I settle on the couch opposite the one with my grandma resting and inquire as to where everyone else is. With my database updated and mind blank I say “hey wassup?”. And she is like hmmmm. Er... wrong language. I go to system settings and in preferences change language settings to ‘domestic telugu’. Well now with modifications made I ask her about the well-being and whereabouts of my cousins and uncles.

The sole, puny candle illuminating the room is flickering violently and seems to be on it's death bed with all it's face almost completely melted and the wick of life almost burnt. The small talk has come to a slow halt and I guess it is time for a healthy successor to the candle. I run back to my room unconsciously relying on the fact that having lived here for so many years and after innumerable very late night ventures for water and food I would make my way back with ease. I find the candle at its designated URL, as no one else has the permission to edit the layout of this fort room. Suddenly something strikes me and I begin to look for something which could soothe my trepidations over boredom. The something isn’t in its place and I dont have its location in my RAM. So I grope in the dark and lo! I find something which can do something to find something. Let there be light I said (thanks to timex, not God) and I restart my search for something . All the usual suspects seem innocent and its time to access my hard disk. Aah! the something was used yesterday and was in something to carry it. I finally find the something and start swaying. My ipod has light too, a much brighter one and the timex can rest. In the bag I find some additional goodies and take them along.

With a wide grin I present my grandma the young and not so handsome candle, which she lights up and puts by the dying one on the third step of the nearest flight of stairs. I settle down on the first step and dig out the paper and pencil (the goodies) to write this tale. A thought suddenly strikes me and I am transported into a hall of time. I wonder about life pre-dating electricity and the lamp. A shiver goes down my spine imagining the primeval life and how I would have been a weakling and soon thrown into the recycle bin. Now, there is light anywhere I want; on my wrist, in my right pocket and my left. All I have to do is press a button or run my finger on a click wheel. I need not don a sonorous voice and say the words ‘Let there be light’ unless I yearn for some theatrics. Too deep and too far I say. Anyhow, my mind now is ruminating on what to write and I gaze at the darkness trying to ambush light on my grandma. I am again in the hall of time looking at time and place co-ordinates on the wall. Where would she fit in? What could she have been doing at my age? I ask her a series of questions about her family of which I knew little and the threads are laid bare. So after half an hour of inquisition, the database is again up to date and proper backrub of links created, which would have made Google proud, for there is completeness in indexing and a search in that aspect will yield the most appropriate results.

We now are frustrated with the absence of power as we both long to get back to our respective life support systems. I wait to jump into my lair and switch on the firewall. We curse the wily ‘power’ mongering freaks in our (colony’s) backyard, sitting in their well-lit offices and giving electric supply to the pan dabba outside their APSEB quarters. There is no electricity for a couple of miles all around except for points like these. Tired after the tirade we get back to our stations, she on the couch and me at the bottom of stairs. I do a few stretch exercises of both limb and mind and sit down to write what I intended to. And then the guy in the backyard says, “Let there be light” and I say “thank you, Almighty!” The solar eclipse of modern life ends and we get back to our lives.