Look around and you will find cool dudes

The 13 year old woke up in the morning and instinctively reached out for her smartphone. Eyes closed she felt around for the phone. It was not there. Her mind raced – where had she left it? She could not remember. In panic she jumped out of bed. The phone lay on the ground. Smiling, she picked up the phone and the smile quickly disappeared. The glass panel was broken and the phone was not working.

“Mom”, she screamed, “What is going on in this house? Can’t I keep anything safe around here?” Her mom did not even respond. She stomped in to the kitchen and sat in a huff. “This is ridiculous. There is nothing safe anymore. The phone is broken.” Her mom reminded her calmly, “Please say, I broke my mobile.”

She approached her dad tentatively but with a smile and told him of the broken phone. He was busy on his laptop and, without even looking up, he replied dryly, “Leave it on the table. I will send it out for repairs. And, you are not getting a new one.”

It was evening and she was actually waiting for her dad to return. Her mom had a mischievous smile which actually irritated her. When dad came that evening he did not bring good news for her. “It will take another month to get back your phone. They have run out of stock of some parts.” Suddenly, a sinking feeling took over her. How could she manage without her phone? She turned around and asked her mom for her phone and got a prompt “no”. She did not have the courage to ask dad as she knew what the response would be. Her younger brother did not have a phone.

That evening, after months, the family was having dinner together at home. They had never sat at the dinner table together when at home in a long while. It seemed very odd for her. She looked around and, for the first time, saw the other three were chatting and laughing. She quickly got in to the conversation. It was amazing fun. Mom, her brother and she ganged up together against her dad. Being a sport, he just smiled it away and actually even had fun in the whole conversation. That night was not the same for her.

The next day she walked in to school and all her friends asked her as to why she was not on Messenger the previous night. She told them of the broken phone and the time she had with her family. When it came time to get back home in the evening the same sinking feeling took over her. She reached home and sunk in to the sofa set. She could hear lots of children playing outside. She peeped outside through the window. They were all playing. Was this not a game that she liked playing on her phone? She wished she had her phone. Her mom who came by called her and asked her to go down to play. Reluctantly, she followed her mom. She was shy to approach the other children. Her mom helped her get introduced to all the children in the ground. Within few minutes she was playing on the field. It was a completely new experience for her. Till now, she had played only in the confines of her home. Everything was on her mobile. For the first time, she was playing on the field. She was so engrossed that, at first, she did not hear her mom call out her name. Then, she looked around and gestured to her mom to wait for few more minutes. Those few minutes became an hour. This was absolute fun. When she got back home, she took a hot shower and came to the dining table. She was famished. That day was “get at her” day. Her dad joined in the fun and they all pulled her leg. She was such a sport that she could take as much as she could give. After dinner she completed homework, studied, spoke to her mom and her brother and was off to sleep.

One week went by and suddenly she was looking forward to playing on the field, eating dinner with everyone, spending the evenings with her dad, mom, brother and friends. This was so much fun. Yes, these guys were really nice people. There were so many nice people around.

Weeks went by and her dad came over that evening. He smiled and said, “Guess what I have got for you?” And, without adding another word, he pulled out the mobile phone. It was repaired. It looked lovely. But, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach.