DIGITAL MISFORTUNES

Last Updated on October 17, 2021 by Sangita Ekka

Yeah!! Misfortunes, those inevitable hunters who keep an eye on you, follow silently and pounce right when you are at the peak level of your expectations. Foolproof plans (or we think so), hours of patience, a desperate attempt for something worthwhile and all it takes is just one moment for a total devastation. Am I exaggerating? May be!  But it’s true that they won’t miss to mess with you. They have somehow crept in the binary world, mocking us that we see in our LCDs, hear through our speakers without any idea of backlash; except if some of us want to chip something.

Just a month back, I was appearing my semester papers and some fool who wanted me and some more poor creatures like me to appear the final paper eight rainy days after the previous exam, had left us with no choice but to stay in our temporary homes we call hostels and do nothing except for logins and logouts. Time is never a matter of concern unless we are left with a day or two; and for the love of this fact I and my friend grabbed our laptops and cell phones.

Semester times; it was not by chance that we had got our LAN disconnected! No worries! We can manage with slower connection.And then the regular story…Mozilla/Chrome and www.facebook.com! No matter whatever the job is; for some chatters like us, it’s always necessary to flash small green lights adjacent to our names (which ultimately turn into half-moons) and then wait for the beepers! Well, after few seconds the blue-white page appeared, demanding the email and password. I typed “s” and clicked one from options below and then for password-“********”. “Not Sangita?” Oops! Wrong password! I typed again carefully…”********”. “Not Sangita?” Wtf! Yes dumbass, I am Sangita! Not some Ali Baba who’ll chant “KHUL JA SIM SIM”! Now show me my notifications!

Third, fourth, fifth attempt! It was still asking me the same question! Forgot password?? No way!! Either Zuckerberg had developed FB to show this for calling his creation a dumbass or it was me who was carefully typing wrong passwords!Either of the thoughts now seemed dwarfing before my third terrible hunch. Praying it to be some sort of error I asked my friend to login. Email, password and zap! Her account flashed like a lightning and struck me! There goes my account! I couldn’t help imagining a loony sharing obnoxious status messages, posting vulgar wall posts and worse, people LIKEing them!

At this point of time, I was bit pale, bit numb and in very bits, afraid! Is my Yahoo safe or that’s gone too? Without further delay I checked my Yahoo account and was relived it was not taken. What with FB? Should try the links or should try tomorrow? I was lost in thinking all this and my friend snapped the laptop. She kept on typing and her face was getting paler with each hit on the Enter! Yes! History repeats, and it had managed to repeat in such a short interval! Now it was Gmail showing no signs to open up! That’s duality!

Since that day I’ve have been awakened by alarms set to 2am (chose to sleep at 1:30) from two different cell-phones, washed pen-drives, repaired LCDs after guarantee period(both phone and laptop), switched from one out of service ATM to another in the same city with different banks! A working one rejected my card for unknown reasons on the same day! Had been missing Alladin episodes initially due to power cuts and then Disney channel-cut! Noticing dual numbers on my cell, laptop and watches more frequently! Even my remote battery failed right that time when mom entered room and my idiot box was telecasting something, she believes is post marital! (Had no intentions to watch)

Gone are the days of peel slips and bird mucks. Now the virtual reality is prone to misfortunes. Imagine yourself at a remote place on the planet, desperately trying to phone your friend and when you connect, you’re told you’re online! Or think of your two year old cousin who loves you so much that the kiddo decides to wet-clean your laptop gifting you a damaged mother board! That’s expensive! And it is worst when you are dying to talk with a dear one; your connection starts flickering and by the time you re connect your sweetheart has signed off! Sounds too much right?? These are real incidents happened to the real people! You can avert but can’t avoid! So keep hoping that you are not chosen for the misfortune’s bull’s-eye! And by any chance if you are, then just relax its temporary…

Originally posted on Blogger on Aug 17, 2011.