The Saga Continues

Yes, it’s been a while since I last updated my little space on the Internet. Not that I dint have enough time, events or issues to discuss or that I couldn't put the thoughts to words, neither was I going through existential crisis [none that was major], I went through a crisis of a different kind- "technology crisis". Yes, shocking as it may seem.

The prelude to this starts two Diwalis ago when my folks had a sudden upsurge of affection and decided to buy me a laptop. I like to believe that the huge sale at the “House of Laptops” had nothing to do with their decision. Nevertheless, the elderly of the house, living in the constant delusion that their daughter being in the Computer Science field knows everything about any device which has a “restart”, thought it best if the choice of the laptop were left to her. And she being me, armed with knowledge worth exactly 46 marks in Computer Organization and knowing how many zeros came in a ten thousand, decided to go for a moderately prized slender black classy Compaq V3000 laptop.

That is how Lappy came into my life and the love story began-an arranged marriage if you may, but it was love at first sight! We saw each other, our eyes met, [in this case, the monitor, mike and my eyes through the spectacles], Lappy baby easily adjusted into my life, slowly displacing the age old desktop, CDs, Books, Diaries, Cell Phone, College, Classes, and giving new life to Minesweeper, Scrabble, to the limit that to me social interaction meant my Lappy, coffee and me. 

She would sing, and I would listen, she would play movies and I would watch, she would run every program just as I wanted. The desktop was customized, the start up and shut down music were George Harrison or RD Burman depending on our mood.

There was something between us, like magic, as though I knew where to touch her to make the audio clear or when she would get over heated [literally], I just knew what to do, and she knew the same. Ah! We both soaked in the early pangs of love.

And then it started, about 6 months into our relationship is when we experienced strain. She stopped singing; all of a sudden. This was the first sign that Lappy had a problem, but I turned a blind eye to it. A couple of days at the service centre and the internal speakers were changed.

Everything seemed fine, when one fine day, she turned moody and started shutting down automatically. It was like she wanted something more. She did not anymore care that I had a practical exam the next day. A few more days at the service station and the batteries were changed. Then the hard disk replaced.

Lucky for me, there was a one year warranty. So I had a fresh battery, a new hard disk and speakers. One would call it foolish to extend the warranty when almost all the parts were fresh. Nothing could go wrong now. Nothing did.

At least for while! Exactly a month after the warranty expired, Lappy refused to display, and to make matters worse, in a fit of emotion, I split a mug of filter coffee on the keyboard.

Total Damage: Over 20K.

Doomed, if that’s the word you are looking for. It was officially the end of life as I knew it. Being depressed is one thing, being helpless is another... Being both together is what kills. Days slowed down. Nights seemed longer. People seemed strange. I felt like a loner in this big world. The final call was near. I managed about 3 months without her, but no more!

There was only one way to save Lappy and me-get the warranty extended so that it would cover all the repairs at a nominal cost. Now the deal with this warranty extension is that the laptop has to be in “working condition” to get it, clearly mine was not.

But I was not going to give up this easy, after all “pyar kia toh nibhana padega”, as a famous song goes. So a friend who had the same problem with his laptop as me with mine… we went to the service station and with a whole lot of cock and bull stories and strategies [details some other time] which involved my committed friend to shamelessly flirt with the lady at the counter, and us going up and down the HP showroom about 10 times and finally, about 3 hours later we had the extended warranty certificate in our hands; I had tears in my eyes.

Thus after about five months Lappy came back to life! Slowly regaining the power she had, she took charge of my life. Oh how I hate it! And how i love her! She had the battery replaced, the IC changed, the Mother board replaced, the Speakers replaced [for the second time], key pad and touch pad changed, a new graphics card installed and is she is due for a hard disk replacement.

So ahead of her shutting down for the third time before I finish this post, I would like to say, for the benefit of the handful of people who read this… Lappy and me are now back in action, albeit I’m a little older and wiser but Lappy is newer and as still as stupid as she ever was!