Being A Smartphone Is Not Easy

"Hey, fatso!" shouted a voice, " Get your fat bum off the bed. I pity that cot which carries your weight for nine hours. Wake up, or you will be late to school." Tarun woke up immediately blinking his eyes. No one spoke to him rudely. He scanned the room to see the source of snide remarks. There was no one in the room.

"Are you looking for me?" said his smartphone which was lying on the table." How can you talk? You are supposed to be inanimate," said Tarun. His smartphone replied," I am fed up with being treated as a mere object. I have feelings of my own. I am tired of entertaining you with the unbelievable stories of your friends on social media. There are vulgar videos which make me sick. Can't you give me a break? You enjoy your summer and weekend holidays. I have to work for twenty-four hours to keep you updated with information. Anyway, let's stop this chitchat. It's time to observe your daily routine."

Tarun put his phone back on the table. He went to perform his morning duties.

He donned his uniform and called out, " Mom, What's for breakfast?" His phone replied," 10 GB of the Internet is ready to be consumed. Would you like to have them at once?" Tarun was fuming. He retorted, " I think you are pretty rude. I will see you in the evening."

His phone chuckled before teasing him with another question," What do you mean by pretty rude? I am either pretty or rude. Why don't you decide before speaking?" Tarun snapped at him saying," Just shut up. I had enough of your nonsense. I will remove your battery if you don't stop insulting me." He came down to have his breakfast. His mother had prepared his favourite dish. He had stuffed potato parathas. He gobbled up his breakfast to catch the school bus.

He had scored zero in his class test. The teacher had punished him for talking in the class. His best friend Ashok punched him on the nose after a fight.

He wished to go home earlier than usual. God answered his prayers. He came home early due to a statewide strike. His mother Aditi was surprised to see him. She asked him," How did you come home so early? How was your day?" He replied in just two words," Strike. Boring." She shook her head in disgust. She said," I am sorry to say that you lack manners. I won't ask you anything in the future." Tarun turned a deaf ear and straightaway went to his room.

He flung his school bag carelessly on the floor. He changed his clothes and sat on his chair. He took out his smartphone and started playing games. His phone started passing sarcastic comments. It said," Here comes the boy who hardly touches his books. You have time to play with the phone, but no time for your mother. I am really surprised at you. You post your comments on The Facebook or WhatsApp. You don't seem to run short of words. Why are you so indifferent towards your mother? I am not going to function till you apologise to your mother." Tarun was scared of losing contacts with his friends. He immediately apologised to his mother. He hugged her and said," I promise you that henceforth I will answer you properly."

She smiled at him and ruffled his hair. He took to his heels before she could ask him anything. He picked up the mobile and started posting his status in the social media.

He joined his friend's group. He typed," Hey guys! What's up?" His friend Ashok replied," I know you are using WhatsApp. You have misspelled it. WhatsApp is a social media platform in case you don't know." Tarun wanted to bang his head against the wall. He texted back, " I never realized that you were a dunce beyond comparison. I wanted to know if there was any trending news." Riya joined their conversation. She added," Hi, Motu! Why don't you exercise to get rid of that excess fat? Don't get angry. I am concerned about your health." Tarun had a smile on his face. He felt happy that Riya expressed her concern. His smartphone put forth another question. It asked him," Why are you grinning like an idiot? I hope you have not lost your marbles. Is it your girlfriend Riya?

I am sure she needs to get her eye checked. I don't understand why she likes you." Tarun boiled with anger. He said," I warn you to be careful. I won't hear one more word from you." The phone gave him a fitting reply,"You can't live without me. Why do you keep on telling the world about your activities?" You posted your selfie last night while having dinner. You added a comment saying ' I am enjoying a delicious meal. The paneer is too tasty with yummy parathas.' Do you think your friends eat shit and cow dung for meals? You posted another picture while doing your homework. Your comment was rather silly. ' Got loads of homework to do.' Do you think you are the only person who has to study?

You are not doing any favour by completing your homework. Your previous picture was even horrible. You came out of the bathroom with just a towel around your waist.

Your selfie with the caption ' Feeling fresh after a bath' was ridiculous. Have you seen anyone getting tired after a bath? I thought that you would post your status as :

I am wearing a yellow T-shirt with blue jeans and a polka dot underwear. I am glad that you didn't go to such an extent. Tarun scorned in a fury. He shouted," I think you are a silly blabbering machine. You were created to entertain us. Look at yourself before passing comments. You have nothing to do except lie the whole day long. You wait for someone to plug in your charger. You are nothing without us." The smartphone said," It is not easy to be a smartphone. Why don't I turn you into a smartphone for a day?" Tarun laughed at it. " That's a good joke. Do you know magic? How will you do it?" " Just press any key," answered the smartphone. He pressed one and in his place lay a sleek model of latest i-phone.

His elder sister Minal happened to enter his room. She called out his name. There was no response from him. Her eyes fell on his bed. The i-phone ( Tarun) wanted to tell her about his transformation. She saw a sleek and shiny i-phone lying on the bed. She let out a shriek. " Mummy, please come here." Aditi came running towards his room. She had never expected to find an expensive phone. She asked Minal, " Has your brother resorted to stealing? Where has he gone? I will skin him alive I find him." Minal responded, " Wait for a minute, mummy. Dad had promised me to get an i-phone for my birthday. I am sure he must have given it to Tarun for safekeeping. That boy is so careless."

Minal took the phone to her room. She searched for a charger and found it within minutes. She plugged in the i-phone for charging. For the first time, Tarun ( now an i-phone ) felt an excruciating pain in his bottom. He felt sorry for the smartphone. Minal took him downstairs after the charging. She took a selfie with her parents at the dinner table. Tarun decided to have fun at the expense of his sister. She returned to her room after dinner. She logged on to her Facebook account and posted her selfie. She got an immediate response in the form of nasty comments. No one liked the photo.

She logged out of The Facebook and selected WhatsApp. She started chatting with her friends. It was not going the way she had expected. Her best friend Keerthi greeted her by saying,' Hi.' She wanted to say ' Hi' but ended up saying, " Get lost." Keerthi was furious. She said," Don't try to contact me in the future." She wanted to say sorry but typed, " Go to hell. I don't want to talk to a snob like you." She had her hands over her mouth. " What's wrong with this phone?" she wondered before moving on to another chat. Her friend Seema had uploaded a picture of a delicacy that she had prepared. She asked her," How does it look?" Minal wanted to say, " Wow. It looks yummy." Her fingers failed her again. She replied," What is the name of this dish? You should issue a statutory warning with it. It should read,' Eat this and die.' Why don't you join cooking classes?" Minal was on the verge of tears. She had lost one more friend. She decided to try chatting for the last time. She contacted Harsha. Fortunately, this time she greeted her friend properly. They had a normal conversation until she uploaded a karaoke. Harsha asked for her opinion. Minal had written great, but her message was quite different. She had written:

"You call that singing. I thought you were howling in pain. Why don't you distribute aspirin to your poor audience?"

Harsha called her names. She vowed never to speak to her. Minal was so angry that she picked up the phone to break it. " No. Please don't break me," shouted Tarun.

His parents and sister came rushing to his side. " What happened, beta?" asked Aditi giving him a glass of water. He told them that he had a nightmare.

They noticed a considerable change in his behaviour. He was more polite and well behaved. He stopped fighting with Minal. He concentrated in his studies and played outdoor games. He gave up his addiction for a smartphone. His parents were rather pleased with him. This nightmare turned out to be good for him.

Tarun stood first in his sixth grade. He urged his classmates to avoid mobile addiction. He turned his dream into a play that won the hearts of the audience. He staged this performance during the annual day celebration. His close friends Ashok and Riya cheered for him when he received the best student award. His family and friends were proud of him.

Epilogue:

I am not against the use of smartphones. We should not get addicted to it. We have to use them for the constructive and creative purpose. We do learn about many good things from YouTube and Google.

We should use smartphones but not at the cost of our family. The Momo and Blue whale games have claimed many innocent lives.

Let's protect our children from these deadly games.