The Summer nights

Friday night: The air conditioner in her bedroom was set to 22° C, but the clock approaching midnight was giving Nikitha an eerie sensation. She wiped the drop of sweat off her brow and was waiting for a repeat of the last two nights.

Wednesday 11th:

Her bedroom on the first floor was in the corner of the huge house, and she was alone. Her parents slept on the ground floor. There was a big hall - a living room outside her bedroom that opened to a balcony on the rear. A huge mango tree outside covered most of the balcony. She spent most of the monsoon season under the tree with the living room door left open. Summer, however, was different. The summer holidays were scorching and the nights were no less tormenting, but the AC had its effect and she felt comfortable.
After a sumptuous dinner and chatting with her friends online for over an hour, Nikitha slipped into her bed to watch her favourite thriller series 'Sherlock' on Netflix. It was almost midnight and she felt she heard someone knocking on the rear door. She got out of bed, walked to the end of the living room and opened the back door to see the source of the knocking. She switched on the lights around the house and peeped out, there was no one.
The first floor had no way up from the ground except the internal stairs. The walls were high and it was impossible for someone to scale them and reach the rear door and knock. She went back to her bedroom and opened the front door to the small balcony facing the road and saw the gates were locked. The street was washed in lights from the pole across the house and not a soul was outside.
She looked below - her red car was gleaming in the street light, the stray dogs which usually barked at the slightest of intrusion from strangers were sleeping too.
She closed the door and went back to her laptop. The episode was thrilling and soon she forgot the knocking on the door. An hour later she shut the laptop, put her mobile phone on silent and dozed off.

Thursday 12th: 

Nikitha woke up early and opened the eastern balcony door to view the sunrise, the mango tree swaying in the breeze. She looked up at the high unreachable mangoes and noticed they were still a few weeks away from ripening. As the day progressed, she decided to stay home all day and finish a few of her college summer assignments and catch a nap in the afternoon.
As she showered late and got into comfortable cotton clothes for the day, her mother called out for lunch in the afternoon. Nikitha remembered the previous night's knock on the door but did not want to tell her mother about it. After lunch, she slept for a couple of hours and later called up her friend to meet up in the evening.
Nikitha returned home past 8 pm and decided to finish two episodes of Sherlock. After completing the first episode of season two, she took a break and had dinner with her parents. It was 10.30 pm as she returned to her bedroom. Over the next half hour, she was giggling over funny text messages with her friends on chat. And soon, The Hounds of Baskerville beckoned her, and she got involved in the thriller. Halfway through the episode, she was startled by the knock on the door. There were three continuous knocks and then it stopped. She paused the viewing and sat up straining her ears. It started again, the knocking on the door. This time it was louder, and distinctly human.
Already affected by the goings on in the web series, she felt a chill run down her spine. Nikitha garnered all her courage and walked to the end of the living room and stood near the door. There was silence as she slowly opened the latch of the door and peeped out into the dark. She switched on the balcony light and stepped out. There was no one and nothing that could have caused the knock on the door. Perplexed she stood near the door for a few minutes as the mild breeze dried the sweat on her face.
She smiled, wondering if it was the effect of the thriller she was watching that made her conjure the noises in her mind. She shut the door and walked back to her room. Just as she was about to sit on her bed, the knocking began again. And this time, they did not seem to be human. It was louder and relentless, almost like a pounding on the door. Terrified now, she closed her eyes and ears tight and prayed for it to go away. The noise subsided. She switched off her laptop and jumped into bed. It took her a few minutes to realise the knocking had stopped completely. Wearily, she slipped into a deep sleep.

Friday the 13th:

Nikitha woke up late and the first thoughts were to get to the door. The sun had risen high into the sky, and it was bright and hot outside. There was no breeze and the temperature was quite high for the morning. She looked up at the clear sky and knew that the day was surely going to be a scorcher. She had already made plans to go for a movie and lunch at the Coffee Shop with her friends.
At the breakfast table, Nikitha told her mom about the sounds of the previous night. Her mom was calm and concealing her anguish- she patted on her daughter's back and said "stop watching late night shows on the laptop and sleep early, you will be alright". She smiled, but wondered- was her mother thinking she was hallucinating? In their 4 decades at that house, her parents had never heard of any burglary or even a thief intruding, it was one of the safest localities in the city. Could there be some supernatural beings at work? Ghost?! Hmmmmm… She stopped thinking of that.
The cute animation detective movie cooled her senses, as did the company of her chirpy friends. After a lunch of pasta and mojitos, she drove back home late afternoon in her car. She headed straight to her laptop and completed the unfinished Hounds of Baskerville mystery.
It was 5 in the evening as dark clouds formed in the sky, dust storms gathered and the summer evening became unusually pleasant with a drizzle. Two hours later, it turned into a thunderstorm. The rain started pounding and the street was filled with gushing water. After dinner, as Nikitha strolled into her bedroom balcony, the lightning persisted and with a loud bang the power went off, and after was finally restored after what seemed to be the entire night but was just an hour.

The air conditioner in her bedroom was set to 22° C, but the clock approaching midnight was giving Nikitha an eerie sensation. She wiped the drop of sweat off her brow and was waiting for a repeat of the last two nights.

A loud bang on the back door startled her. She screamed and ran down the stairs to her mom, and that night she slept in her parents’ bedroom.

Saturday 14th: 

The sun was back in the sky, shining and bright and the devastation of the previous night was seen all around the house. Tens of fallen mangoes, mostly broken, were picked up in buckets.

Nikitha and her mother went to the first-floor rear balcony and opened the door. There was a huge branch felled by the stormy winds of the night sprawled on the balcony.

The branch that swayed in the winds and knocked on the door, was lying on the floor, silent!

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When communication wasn’t instant but effective!

In the age of instant communication – the lack of response, acknowledgement and failure to reach out to people is quite simply distressing!

In the mid-1980s, when I was just out of school, summer holidays meant whiling time with friends playing cricket all day. One of the good things about those days was how everyone knew where anyone was, almost at all times. We could contact the entire team to inform the next day's match venue and opponent with ease. Well, I am speaking of days when there was no telephone - not even the good old land line.

The network was simple- inform one of the mates who connects to three-four others and the communication is done. Then as we got into college - there were the various 'Adda'. Typically the Irani cafe hangouts. Good Luck Cafe Safilguda or Akbar at Paradise or Sun Cafe in Tarnaka or many such addas across the twin cities- you knew exactly where to find the gang or one or two of the representatives. While these were there, there was no beating the simple staright go visit friend's home - scream out names from outside the gate rather than knock on the door, what better way to communicate than in person! I remember when a friend once called me to his home and I found a locked door, I just left a message scribbled on piece of paper that had lasting effect - the apologetic dost rushed home on seeing the note that read "I came, I saw, I vent!". Messages were innovative, crisp and clear, they were not instant but they were effective.

Among other modes of communication was the fixed messenger - the owner/manager of the Adda - the one who sits in the Cafe counter all day - passes on the message.

Then as we got into jobs in the early 1990s - there was the office phone - and the friendly telephone operator who always took a message from mates. Soon there were residential landline phones and messages, match schedules, movie plans, meeting spots were conveyed to whoever manned the phones at homes.

During the mid-1990s was launched a small device with a screen that carried scrolling text - it was called a Pager. Just like the mobile phone which came later, it would display text messages to a maximum of 150 characters. A revolution of sorts for most of us sales guys who could be reached with messages on the move. Messages ranged from come home early, contact boss, meet client, cricket match time, date, venue to lunch dinner, party plans.

I still remember one of messages to a friend who borrowed my bike helmet and didn't return it for a week. It read "I'm worried about my head and it's time I had it covered, you could help" - That evening my helmet reached home with a note – ‘You scared me’!

While mobiles phones made their presence in our lives in late-1990, they were expensive and calls were mostly incoming and then there was the 'Missed call' - an effective tool too!

While the Millennium brought much changes in the communication technology, the advent of social media across platforms and the internet data going economical - things turned on their head.

We are in the age of instant communication - where you reach any corner of the earth in matter of seconds, broadcast happenings, share opinion, contact multiple people at the push of a button - all instantaneously!

But then… wait…!

I started this piece of writing to rant about the abject lack of acknowledgement of the Millennial to messages – In the age of the ‘twin blue ticks’ we have the procrastinators with the abject disregard for accepted norms of communication - two-way communication.

Digressing a bit, I have seen unread emails pile up in thousands. I actually saw a colleague with 33,000 unread mails in his Yahoo Inbox. He said most of them were unsolicited marketing mails. Simply because he subscribed to mail lists and left the inbox untouched for many days. Well, one can never catch up on that, and you got there with bad habits. The easiest solution is to unsubscribe from lots of lists, disable email alerts from social media, set up filters, decide what email you care about and only read that. The remaining just delete them all! For the record – I never ever leave an unread email in my Inbox. I have an OCD for Zero Inbox.

Coming back to my rant! The instant communication through platforms like SMS or Messenger or the craze of the nation – Whatsapp is not really as instant as we think they are, these days.

Why do people not respond to messages, not all times it’s about money (not just soliciting, but failing to return too) - sometimes simple requests for help go unheeded.  Have you heard of Whatsapp with 5000 unread messages from about 40 odd contacts lying for months? I am appalled to hear of people with thousands (yes, tens of thousands in some cases) unattended notifications on their mobile screens. Why can’t we be frugal in maintaining zero unread notifications? Most of these are from Apps that have been installed for the heck of it, on the move. These apps are fighting for your time.

It appears these Apps are taking advantage of neurological weak spots. A lot of people don't seem to be able to even figure out how to slow down or stop the notifications to a more manageable level. Procrastination is not the solution.  

Just go to that message from the well-wisher  – Someone who took time to wish you on your special day, ignore it or acknowledge it, but don’t leave it unread. You never would want to be in a similar situation, some day!

Going Mobile while mobile with disdain

Mobile phone mania on the roads goes unchecked and there is no end in sight!

Today morning while waiting at the Habsiguda x roads signal, I heard a gentleman speaking loudly beside me, I assumed he was talking to his pillion, and turned to the side to see he was on his phone, giving instructions to a plumber about some leaking pipeline in his house. 

Guess, it’s summer and every drop of water saved helps! But was it necessary to engage in a conversation in the middle of the road while riding a two-wheeler? Even as the signals turned green, he continued to chatter with scant respect for the traffic rules or the morning rush of vehicles all around.

Talking or texting on a mobile phone while driving a vehicle is dangerous, but that doesn't stop most Hyderabadis from doing so. Every day I see dozens of two-wheeler and four wheeler drivers talking on phone while driving. While the car drivers use innovative ways to talk on speaker phone or Bluetooth enabled car loud speakers, it’s the two-wheeler drivers who are blatant in their abuse of the law.

Most riders drive with their head tilted precariously balancing the phones between their ear and the shoulder even as they manoeuvre their bike oblivious to the zig zag path they take, putting both themselves and the others on the road to danger. There are those who slide the mobile phone in their helmets, enough to block the ear from hearing anything other than their callers’ voices and the incessant honking on the roads falls on deaf ears. Then there are those who use handsfree earphones or Bluetooth devices to speak on phone or hear to loud music on the go.

What does the law say?

Section 177 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, prescribes a fine of between Rs 100 and Rs 300 for using mobile phone while driving. If such an action causes inconvenience or pose a hazard to road users, the fine is Rs. 1,000 and the compounding fee is Rs 500. In fact, the police have even started imposing a fine of Rs 2,000 for causing inconvenience or driving rashly while on phone, but the malady is unending.

The use of cell phones while driving is rampant and the accidents that are caused due to the distracted driving is also on the rise. But who cares? Looks like the world would end if the call is not taken or the drive is not completed in time without halting for two minutes to finish the conversation.

Though the penal provision for talking on the phone while driving is harsh, it has so far failed to work as a deterrent. This is perhaps due to the traffic police's poor prosecution record. Only a handful of motorists are challaned for the offence, while thousands go scot free every day.

A complaint on Twitter tagging the Hyderabad Traffic Police and the City police elicited no response from the law enforcement. Guess, they are feeling the summer heat and cooling themselves turning a blind eye to the happenings on the roads.

The obsession of mobile phones has increased in the past decade and the smart phones have only made the humans dumb. Senseless usage is perilous and strict measures taken up on a war footing by the police is the only way to end this ever growing mania!

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Pics Courtesy

Biker with white helmet - Clicked by me today (01.05.2019) at Habsiguda, Hyderabad.

Rest: Internet