Surreal World

Received by email from my cousin here.. Kalps, (Honeywell) Bangalore

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Toys, in their different forms of engineering, colors and designs are the source of my interest of late!

From hot wheels to squeaky dolls, from game boys to Barbie girls, from flying UFOs to the down-to-earth spinning tops, the mechanisms and their creativity do not cease to amaze me.

So, this time when I had been to visit my cousin who had come from Australia, I was all geared up to relate to her little girl. A cute little one, who talks only in English, yet can understand every word of my Tamil.

She was not that interested in talking to me this time as she had another little girl for company. And there was something else too, with which she was very busy with. From time to time, she checked on a little dial that was tied along a colorful wire. I was getting curious as to what it could be and mentally guessed that it could be a small video game.

But when the other girl was checking on it too, my curiosity started eating me up. What could be on the dial that the girls checked often, without spending more than a minute every time they visited that contraption that lay placidly on the hall sofa? Logic started reasoning with my guess, that if it were a video game, then the kids would be holding it in their palms and not part away from it, till the time they win or lose the game. So what could it be?!

"What is that?” popped out my question to the little girls. “TamaGotchi" was something they seem to convey to me. It sounded Greek and Latin to me and I started wondering if Australia was moving towards their native language just like the numerous Indian city names are being renamed in their native tongues.

"It’s a virtual pet" answered my cousin's husband to my confused and querying brows.
"What’s that!!!" repeated a shocked me. "A virutal pet? How could it be?”
The kid answered to that now, "She is sleeping" and showed me the "she", who was a little "zzz" in the middle of oval shaped dial.

What is sleeping and where? asked me, who could not fathom where the kid is pointing to. Mustn’t the pet have a body? eyes? ears? a tongue to wag? or a pretty whisker that can tickle? or a fin to shake? or a pretty beak that can poke and nibble?

No! It needn’t! was what I understood from my cousin. This is a virtual pet that is being programmed along with the oval contraption. It would be born, it would cry for milk, (you should press a button to feed it milk), it would want to pee (another button to change the nappy), it would sleep (make it cozy - a button again, but I could see only a max of 3 buttons on the dial!). So all you need is to name the pet, feed it, change its dirty underwear and rock it to sleep. If you dare to ignore its hunger pangs, your pet would shrivel and die. And beware of the pet's early demise, as your kid might go into a depression as what is happening with the kids in many of the developed countries who are addicted to this toy. The last feature was a punch on my senses! If you are sure of your pet's sex, you can connect across a network and satisfy the sexual urges of your pet by finding it a suitable groom or a bride!
Gosh! It was becoming too virtual (weird?) to the human in me!

How could you have a pet only on a dial? How could you feed with the press of the buttons? How can you change nappies without the traditional wipes and Johnson’s powder? How can you mate without the traditional touch? How can you cry without a running nose?

Maybe I am getting old? Maybe I am not able to replace the old with the new? Maybe I am unable to free myself from the known?

But I know that no virtual touch can replace the traditional cozy cuddles and hugs to your cute poodle, no simulated feeling can replace the love that you feel towards a wiggling fish in your pond, no programmed behavior can replace the unpredictability of your cute little cat!

Mess is what makes life a wonderful art... to live, cuddle, love, play and cry. Real tears, real teeth, real touch, real growls and real hungry howls... reality bites but I do have a problem with the virtual highs!…

A virtually true!,
Kalps