Even before I make my first cup of coffee I have to switch it on. Switch the Wifi Modem on. The emails, the facebook notifications and the Viber messages would start pinging away in unison. Various ring tones would fill the silence. I usually take my phone to the kitchen lest all the pings and tings and ting tongs and the beeps wake up the household, especially Senthil. For him the first thing I should read with my coffee is The Hindu. And for me the first thing I read even before my coffee are the Viber messages.
Now, what were my sisters talking about while I was asleep? Shweta is an insomniac and she wakes up in the middle of the night to join the banter with her Periamma and Chithi. Well, today the discussion is about how wheat is bad for hypo thyroid people. Indu had banned wheat from the household for amma and Sanks. And amma refused to eat dosai and wolfed down the methi parathas which I had made last night. J So Indu was Mad!
Now tell me how to make arisi upma? Quick! That’s Indu.
I feel sick again 😥 That’s Shweta
Going for shopping to Santhosh, Yay! That’s Amma
Left office. Keep coffee ready! That’s You Know Who J
OMG! OMG! I am late. Gotta rush to pick up Prash..! That’s Sanks
The standard topics on Viber will usually be about the Boston winter and we keep getting pictures and videos of the snow and Timmy all cuddled up trying to keep warm and of course of Prashanth and Nandita sledding or making snowmen. Or about Food. Or about Republicans and Democrats. Or whether its AAP, Modi or Rahul…Or about some nasty Croc!
Sometimes some juicy gossip too. Guess what happened yesterday…? Then silence. After much cajoling, Reethika is getting married to an African American. Or about andha naalu peir. Or about Nagu! Well lots about Nags.
We crib, we praise, we discuss, we annoy, we tease! And what wonderful stickers to enhance our emotions.
Distance and Time do not matter anymore. You have a thought. You instantly say it aloud on Viber. And an instant response also comes through.
What was life before a smart phone and Viber? Life did exist. But at its own slow pace. Thoughts came but never got shared. Opinions never were expressed on time and trivia pictures were never taken to be shared with an audience across the world. Boring? Yes.
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