2060

It was a dark night. Not stormy, mind you, for the storms had somehow stopped more than 7 years ago. No one could really explain why. The answers published were apparently too vague. The International Weather DataBase would show you pictures of beautiful things called Clouds that once floated in the sky on their own. They did not, for a change, need those annoying jets passing along spraying white gas that induced showers.

Yasmin wished she could walk on the streets with her feet touching the ground under the shade of these clouds. But then, she didn't have time to think. She quickly wrapped her bags and got into her pod and joined the thousands of other pods moving along the road in unison. She was among the elite group of citizens with a Gold Card citizenship. She did not have to suffer travelling by the tubes like the Silver or Blue Card citizens. She had paid a heavy fee to get the licence for Manual Control, but it was worth it. It was a pleasure driving the pod at her own pace through an otherwise depressingly organised crowd steered on auto-pilot.

She took a diversion onto an empty highway and headed straight towards her ancestral home in Zone548-080. She needed to quickly pick up those documents before it was scheduled for demolition by the Urban Development Authority. The road was devoid of traffic or buildings and she was scared she might fall asleep, so she switched back to auto pilot and stared at the horizon.

She switched on the video monitor to Zaid's Connector. The camera on his Connector, tied permanently on his wrist, showed him lying on the couch watching the flatscreen. There was a message about easy slimming pills that were a big rage these times. Yasmin and Zaid acknowledged each other's presence with a quick nod and continued with what they were doing. Years ago, she had thought she's never see him again. But she did, almost every day. And it just wasn't the same anymore.

The first rays of the sunrise were visible now. She had never seen a sunrise before from such a clear viewpoint. She stopped the pod and looked outside. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Before she could even begin to smile, the alarm on her Connector started buzzing. She sighed as she began to raise her hand and point the camera towards the sunrise. It was important to capture the image and location details. The Connector had to be told every moment about her position. If not, Visage Inc., the manufacturers and owners of the Citizen Database would downgrade her profile making her an unconnected Blue Card citizen. Being Connected made all the difference. Hence she told herself that she should thank her luck for the privileges and be happy. But she wasn't.

The Connector Camera on her raised hand had blocked her view and she missed the actual point of the sunrise. And she doubted she would ever see one again.

Mirrors

After going through some of my older blog posts, I've come to realise how much they reflected me and my general state of mind in those times. I'm not talking about moods, but rather more macro phases of my life.

I've been funnier at more laid back phases with no plans in particular to attend to. Poetic in rainier seasons. Opinionated when frustrated and outrageous when ignored. This one is a confusing phase. And it's showing: I'm writing words that I don't know and not able to write what I want to.

Take a peek back into your own blog and try to identify your phase - let me know. Do your Facebook wall posts, Orkut scraps or Tweets in the past say what you haven't written about yourself?

Facebook

Update: I'm not sure I thought this topic through before I posted this one. I'll probably put in another one later. Ignore this one for now if you can.

"More than 500 million active users
50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
Average user has 130 friends
People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook." Source.

I haven't yet watched 'The Social Network'. Traveling extensively has cut down on my movie time although I have a prime pirated DVDRip file lying on my hard disk. I shall attend to it shortly. This post isn't about the movie though.

Facebook has faced severe criticism since it's inception for various reasons. The website in itself is an innocent networking platform. Meant for those who would like to keep in touch with old friends and possible acquaintances. But the potency comes from the freedom that it allows an individual user, as a medium to exhibit oneself to the voyeuristic pleasures of those who would dare to see.

This isn't about a true self too. It allows a person to create a virtual identity of himself or herself in a way he or she wants the world to see him. You sift through hundreds of photographs in your album and fish out the very best to be your display pics. Noone has seen the one in which your teeth look awkward when you laugh. It's not the way you want the world to see you.

People look at Facebook as a movie. Where you force fit yourself as the star. Either through liking music that is most "liked", even if you don't or by posting quotes as status messages even if you do not understand them. And you feel good by the number of likes or comments on the same.

There is a lot more I have to say on the topic and I shall in due time. I'm not saying I'll delete my profile, but I'd like to begin to use it just to keep in touch with friends. Not to scan through personal histories and feel better about my virtual self because of how better I APPEAR than them.