Now I go to bed at 8.30,” I told my relative who had complained that my mobile phone was switched off when he video-called me the previous night at nine. I had announced earlier that my sleep time is nine, hoping that these calls of bonhomie would be over by that time. I thought they would keep in mind my advancing age.
My near and dear ones prefer video calls now. The caller would leisurely hand over the phone to everyone in the room, even hold it in front of their infants and pets, and exhort me to talk to them. Once the topics of conversation are exhausted, they even treat me to the scenery outside.
The callers are usually not in a hurry to wind up their calls. They are comfortable since the calls are free of charge; they prolong it till I doze off or pretend to do so. I therefore thought it was prudent to spread the news of my sleep time, hoping to finish my pre-bed rituals uninterrupted.
Fed up with these calls, I had wanted to explore ways to get some relief. The other day I ‘declined’ a call from my younger son, hoping that he would simply presume that the call did not come through, but the next moment he shot off an indignant message demanding to know why I had done so. When I later sought my elder son’s help, he advised me, with a twinkle in his eyes, to accept the call next time and then cry out that I can’t hear a thing. Since then I have received some more gems of suggestions and it is time I put them to test without letting my callers become any wiser.
I am thankful to the mobile phone for several reasons but I wish the idea of video calls had never entered the inventor’s brain.
Sivan Pillai
Email: pillaikss@yahoo.in