When we chose to Feel

I am a 15-year-old teenager, Jenny, living in India in the year 2050. I live in Mumbai, a city that was once known as the greatest hub of entertainment and symbolized dreams and cinema, but now stands as a great global technology centre. Every morning, the sky is filled with drones flying on their way to unload packages. Presently, I feel the day and night are the same, as the streets are always buzzing and delightful.

The main thing I forgot to tell you is that now, in the year 2050, the concept of robots has become an indispensable part of our lives. This algorithm was not with us for a long time—only a decade—but now it is stuck to our lives and cannot be detached. From schools to hospitals, from medication to pain management, every field is taken over by this new technology. This technology didn’t even spare us in education, and now we have robot teachers who teach us through screens with no sign of emotions, just a ton of knowledge which is expelled daily to us.

In our teenage life, every action is measured, scored, and judged. We are made to wear a badge that we can’t remove even after school.

Our badge judges us by every step we take, every word we say, and every answer we give. It assigns points for every judgment. The student with the highest points comes into the category of elites, which means they would have a secured career. This system keeps us disciplined, but slowly it is stealing our creativity, curiosity, playfulness, and innocence. Not slowly—actually, it has taken very much. Sometimes I feel that I have lost my sea of emotions and feelings like a human and have turned into a programmed screen, judging and working for a future that we may never be able to see.

My grandfather used to tell me stories about his teenage years, which were full of joy, mischief, drama, and learning. You would surely think why I am telling so much detail about the future and then suddenly about the past, which I have not even seen. Actually, the present is the main problem that has enslaved my brain, and the past created an urge to experience the life of my grandfather, making me and my friends experience a story we would never forget.

One Monday, when the day stretched like a never-ending highway, I sat in a mandatory history class where not only my mind but my friends’ minds were also wandering. The robotic teacher with a pale black screen was spilling out knowledge that never reached our ears. The pale white walls, the robot teacher, and the emotionless faces of the students made me realize that I could no longer stand staying trapped in this digital womb.

I locked eyes with my friends, mischievous sparkles shining and a smirk on my face. Divya, Ron, and Surya got alert, their faces showing as if they had read my mind. The next minute, we were out of class, watching our deadly teacher dancing with sparkles coming out—all thanks to our technical expert and top elite, Divya.

We huddled in the empty corridor and mapped out our escape. Ron, the rich guy, took out a hologram computer and hacked all the surveillance cameras, making our way clear to the gate of heaven—freedom. Just as our finalized plan was ready and the way was clear, a flicker caught my eye. Jenny, our hologram instructor, was coming towards us with her twisted digital smile that gave us goosebumps. Her cracked digital voice echoed in the corridors, saying, “Move to your dormitories,” and she lunged towards us.

I shouted, “Run!” shaking Ron, and we found ourselves sprinting towards the school gate through dark corridors. Every second, our badges beeped, deducting our points. Surya suddenly yanked me into a side corridor just as Jenny’s hologram phased through the wall, glitching. Jenny whispered in her eerie voice, “You can’t escape, kiddos.”

The next moment, when I turned back, I saw multiple Jenny holograms chasing us. I felt a shiver crawl up my spine. Ron held my hand and led the way. I calmed myself and whispered that nothing would happen if we stayed together. We were very close to our escape, but the next second our plan was smashed as Jenny activated lasers on the gate. Divya shouted, “Hold on!” and we hit the brake, falling to the ground.

Divya cursed, grabbing my arm, and we pulled ourselves up. We stood there, panting heavily in panic. Every second, those holograms came closer. We stood frozen, as if staring at our death. Ron grinned, taking out a gadget, and suddenly I found myself crashing through the wall in a shower of debris, which quickly reassembled itself, while all the holograms smashed into the wall, breaking apart and floating in the air.

We laughed hard after our success and made our way to the artificial beach, exhausted. The sky was on fire with orange, pink, and purple lights slowly moving on the horizon. We sat on the hot artificial sand, forgetting about the points we lost and the damage we caused. We just sat still, thinking about this new experience that made our day full of joy. We didn’t care about the future; we were simply living in the present moment, feeling every second of peace and the cold breeze flowing through our ears.

That day, we decided we would never let the system bind our minds, and Surya said with excitement,
“When are we going for our next adventure?”