A Game Lost, A Lesson Learnt!

I have been using Computers, Laptops and other gadgetry since 1993. My usage of computer was limited for work and for some browsing purposes. I was never a computer gaming buff. Not that i don’t like the computer games, i remember having played Wolf 3D game for longer hours in my earlier years of computing.

My kid introduced me to this game, a driving simulation game called Euro Truck Simulator 2. A virtual prototype of truck one has to drive and complete missions and earn Euros. Initially, i played  it casually without much interest, but as level went on increasing the revenues of my virtual company grew.

Now, i ran a virtual transport company, I owed fleets of trucks and those trucks would earn me more revenue. I was a millionaire. Virtually that is. This game became very immersive for me and i found at least half an hour to complete at least one small mission. Travelling and roaming has always being my weak link, may be this game satiated that craving of mine. I have played this game in the odd hours of night after completing the work. And, believe it or not i feel relaxed after playing the game.

So, here i was a millionaire, minting Euros daily and would compete with my kid who taught me the game. I took pride in the fact that i had best trucks of Scania and other companies in my fleet. I had millions in my bank balance. Many of my readers might have concluded that I am a stupid. I say, we all are.

Back to my virtual empire, I returned home the other day, only to find that my laptop had crashed and it’s data was beyond recovery. No symptoms, no early warning. It died almost suddenly. Not that i had much data to lose, as i usually back up my work online. Suddenly, i grew cold though, i remembered, my game, its game data would have also lost and i did not bother to back it up. I switched on my new laptop which i had purchased just few days before and installed the same game again. Only to find that the entire progress i had made, the entire revenues, the levels, the fleet of truck, all was lost. I was again a “newbie”. From hero to zero in a dash.

While returning home today i was all alone with myself n that crowded Mumbai train pondered over the game and compared with the lives of ours. We too build big houses, we build properties, we build clout and big ego around us. Only to leave it abruptly one fine day. One has to again login to new device i.e. the new body to begin it all over again.

We must not make the mistake that i did in my online game, i did not back the game, to reap the rewards in my other laptop. Atleast, in our lives, let’s back up with good deeds so that we will not be caught off guarded and have to begin all over again.

Signing off for today.

Flight Downwards

Right from my childhood days, I was an animal lover, I loved pets and had tried my hand in tending all kinds of pet animals. I had a dog, whose accidental death some twenty five years ago, still makes me feel low. We had cats, tried to pet a tortoise, though unsuccessfully, had been maintaining an aquarium since 1995. Like a failed smoker, trying to quit his smoking habits, every time the fish die, i resolve to stop bringing new fishes and dispose off the tank, for the amount of time involved in maintaining the tank. I succeed in my effort, but only for few weeks and i end up buying new fishes again. The shopkeeper grinningly said last time that this was a hobby that you cannot leave halfway.

So last week when a pair of pigeons, made the empty flowerpot near my window, their home, I was not going to shoo them away. My wife and kid too did not have any objection for these unlawful trespassers  Their unique sound sometimes irritated though.

One fine morning my wife broke out the good news, she said that the new residents were going to be parents. The female dove had laid an egg. I did not react much though. My kid and wife were visibly happy though. As days passed by the mother would sit over the egg all round the day, the father would do the job of bringing in food for the mother. Sometimes, I would see, that mother fly away for food, water etc and the father would do the job of the mother. How, nature has taught these animals to tend for, to care for their loved ones!!  Sometimes, to make their job a bit easy, i would throw pieces of bread near the flower pot so that they could eat it. But as i would go to do the noble deed, the pigeon would try to bit my hand thinking that i was going to hurt her.

Then on one another morning, my wife again broke the good news that the pigeon had broke open the shell of the egg and a baby pigeon was born!! Wow how happy we all were to see the new entrant in our extended neighborhood   It was soft, it had hairs all over and in no way looked like a pigeon. It was very weak and was all the day through covered under the wings of dutiful parents.

The pigeon was now about 10-15 days old and was looking quite healthy. The mother would now leave it alone for sometime and go away in hunt of food, water. It would carry back some portion of it for the baby though. The pigeon now was trying to use its wings. It was trying to explore the big world outside the flowerpot. The small flowerpot, which was of no use to us, was its home, its birthplace.

That Wednesday, on 24th of October, it was a closed holiday for us, being a Dassehra, our festival of Shimolanghan, where, during olden ages, the farmers would sharpen their swords and join the armies and set out for expeditions, on this very day.  I had no expedition to carry, so i was laying on the bed, anyways it was just around 7.00 am in the morning, and almost in a haste, my wife ran from the kitchen and came to me and woke me up and told me to run down on the ground floor, the baby pigeon had fell down!!!  It tried to fly that day,  may be it was too much confident, may be it was too early for him to make such a daring attempt, the flight from second floor flower pot into the high skies only ended the poor soul crash landing into the hard concrete floor. I ran down, to help the poor bird, but, it was not such a good scene to witness, the bird was almost breathing its last breath by the time i reached, very hardly did it moved his neck, i sat down, tried to pick it up to see that its body was almost dead, and had no hopes of surviving. My wife was watching all the scene from the window.  I shook my head in pessimism, she understood, i walked back to my house, it was a very bad start to the festival that morning.  The parents of the dove were restless that day, at around 8.00 am both the pigeons almost entered my living room, it sat on the window grills and looked at me with hope, as if they were urging me to do something, they were perhaps hoping against the hope, but, by now, the little bird had already left them and flew miles and miles away from them, never to return back. I almost muttered to them, sorry guys, there is nothing much left to do. The birds flew away. Again went near that flowerpot.  That whole the both the pigeons made many strange sounds.  That morning we all were sad. I felt very bad, to say the least.

How may times, do we see dead birds, animals, lying on the streets, never did i feel that sort of closeness, that i felt with this little Bird. May be because, i witnessed its birth, a kind of unknown relation, a bonding had developed.  No,  I did not even ever touch it, fed it, but still it managed to become part of our family.  The next day,  I removed the flower pot from the place, so that the pigeons, may not repeat their earlier mistake again.

Four five days have passed, but, the incident has hurt me deeply, today, after grueling day’s chores, i returned from Pune and slept, but suddenly, I happened to remember the poor little bird and i almost lost my sleep, only to end up scribbling this piece of article.

RIP the unnamed little dove, god bless your soul.