IN TOUCH

On February 26th a poll appeared in one of the leading dailies across the country.
Which of the following technologies has changed your life the most?
Internet, Mobile telephony, Cable television. Internet ousted the other two by furlongs.
I sat upon the couch pondering upon the reason for the outcome being so prejudiced.
After all mobile telephony is not diminutive. Signals traversing the circumference of the globe at incomprehensible speed are equally competent to the information superhighway. Even reclining back and watching channels like HBO, CNBC isn’t something bad either.
As I was tilting the scales both ways the phone buzzed. I reached out.
“Hello”
“Hi Andy, this is Keith”
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When one fine day you wake up feeling down and weary of all the things going around you and wish that there was someone to talk to, to listen to your woes , you do feel the vacuum.
This was the similar kind of day for Andrew Morrison. Andy worked as a proof reader for Bloomsbury Publications which meant that he was one of the thirty people in the world to take a first glance at the Harry Potter series even before it hit the racks.
The season for the fourth book release was looming ahead. The manuscripts cluttered his desk and he pored over them earnestly.
“Hey Andy! The boss wanna talk to you”
He looked up glancing over his half rimmed.
“I’ll be there”
He walked to the cabin at the end of the corridor and rapped on the door.
“Mr. Gregor, you wanted to meet me?”
“Yes Andrew, come in”
Half n hour later when he came out his face said it all. Downsizing had taken its toll.
He had worked efficiently for the past three years but maybe not efficiently enough. He was among the four to be struck off the list.
Andy was a loner. Living alone on the east coast with parents four time zones away.
Returning home after work had always been an ordeal for him. But today his shoes weighed heavier than usual.
He plopped down on the couch and reminiscences floated past him. A jilted lover but a good son. A faithful buddy but a short stint. A not so bad human being but a not so good proof reader.
A sudden draft invaded the vacuum. It had been eleven years since Andy and Keith Martin had parted ways. They had know each other since junior school, living only two blocks away Keith was a steady companion and an intimate pal. Andy and Keith’s father worked in the same investment banking firm. Get-togethers on thanks-giving and Christmas bonded them.
Andy was a reticent person but confided very easily to Keith. It came naturally to him as they gradually gelled. They stood by each other through thick and thin. Academics, girls, heartbreaks, partying and baseball were few things in life that they lived together.
After high school Andy’s father switched jobs and had to move over to Oregon.
Oregon and Oklahoma are miles apart.


Andy still remembered looking back at Keith through the rear window as the tires burned rubber on the road.
Where could he be now?? Eleven years had passed. He could be anywhere.
He reached for the phone. He dialed the all-state directory inquiry service and asked for Mr. Weber Martin, Richland, Oklahoma. No results. Probably an unlisted number.
What now, he wondered?
Andy called up home.
“Hi dad! How are things at home?”
He decided to shelve the firing news for now.
“How’s Ma doin?”
“Dad, you remember Mr. Martin of Richland?”
“Ya the same one. Do you know where he lives now?”
“Well that’s bad”
“No there is no urgency. Just curious to know where Keith has landed up”
After hanging up Andy sat back and stared at the dead end. He was growing desperate now. His mind was clouding up. He needed to vent out his feeling and suddenly there was no one on earth except for Keith to whom he could speak to, he realized. This was not good.
Andy cleared his mind and raced to his cupboard. He pulled out his contact card catalogue.
He knew a real estate agent in Oklahoma, whom he called to enquire whether a particular house had been sold off. No luck.
Still seeking he called up the obituary archive. Eleven years can bring disasters but none had struck it seemed.
Keith martin was still out there somewhere.
Andy was stuck. He was welling up on the inside. He could not divulge it to his parents. At least not now. They were passing through a lean patch.
The room had grown dark. Andy walked over to the wall and switched on the lights. The bathed room comforted him a bit. Getting a job is easy it seemed, retaining it gets on the nerves.
He had find another job now. Another headache. He flicked on the power switch and turned on his computer.
Internet seemed to be the global database of “all”. An unfathomable pool of resources and information. Job was one of its offerings.
As he surfed. Andy accidentally hit upon a site- Orkut. An online community. He had heard of them but had never treaded into one. He opened an account and there he was.
He browsed through the enormous options it provided. As the friend finder page opened up he stared blankly at it.
With baited breath he typed in K-E-I-T-H M-A-R-T-I-N and there goes. Five results and he hit it spot on. His eyes were still the same. Wet as they had looked eleven years ago through the rear window.
He called up Keith later that day. What a big load lifted off his head. He spoke his heart out. The gap had been bridged.
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Days passed and the past years vaporized. It is 26th February today and I’ am reading the newspaper. The reason for the poll results became evident. The phone rang.