Episode 3-The Plastic

My mother had been dead for two years and there was never a single day when I hadn't cursed my unborn brother for for it. I broke my neighbors window one evening and he wouldn't leave a chance. He held my hand and took me to my father's lab. He started to blabber about the costs he had to incur for his window. My dad was busy with his work; he stopped for a moment and turned towards me. He gave me some money to pay the stupid fellow who left after I did so. My dad wouldn't let me sneak out, he called me back. “Just touch this sheet of plastic” he said handing me the sheet. It felt so thin. “What if we could substitute paper we use for plastic?  We should be able to tear the plastic like we can do to a paper” he said taking it into his hands again. I went back to my room and started to brush through my science text. I knew my dad was wrong because plastics are widely used for their great mechanical strength. Yes, my dad was wrong and I knew it, he could never be right. I asked him that night at our eat-together dinner. He said “yes, you are right but it will be a revelation in this age of global warming. Just think of all the trees you would be saving and this plastic can even be recycled.” I remained silent for the rest of the dinner. I was 15 and I thought I had the right to question him. I have fairly good results in my tenth class. My friends have gone to study in big cities like Bombay and Bangalore. I joined a school for my eleventh as my dad knew someone who had a friend in that school. There were many students but I was a loner in my class. My dad passed away after an year. People say he was hit by a scooter but no one knew the real reason. I thought he overworked himself to death. It was just I and uncle after that. We could pull through for a month with the money in the house after that I had to sell my mother’s jewelry for uncle’s medicine. It was my habit to give him his medicine every day. We ran out of money and I could not pay my school fees. I could not attend school anymore. I started to hoard money, the more we have the more we live. We had to pay off all the bills every month. I started to access dad and mom’s bank accounts. I shouldn't be getting any money but the woman at the bank was very kind. It’s all about money, everything needs money, and everybody needs money. I remember an incident a few months before dad’s death. My dad and I had an argument, he wouldn't’ give me money for a movie. That day i didn't want to give my uncle his medicine. I ran up to the beach. I could just stroll around, no rides, no drinks and no candy. I needed money for all this. That incident was enough inspiration for me to think of a way of way t. o make some money.I searched the whole house and found some of my mother’s savings but that was not going to keep us alive for long. I needed a permanent solution to this problem. I continued my search into the lab. I never knew the lab had so much to explore. Some machines were huge and it really felt great in the lab. I felt my dad got lured into the magnificence of that place. Money, money, money I was getting restless and wished dad had some secret savings. After half an hour of searching all i could find was a ten rupee note half submerged in water. I slowly lifted it as I saw its imprint on the plastic bucket placed beside it. It struck me, I can use my father’s research with plastic and make money and that means real plastic money. I needed pressing machines for the imprints and I have them in the lab. I was excited at first but it was not as easy as it appeared. The imprinted notes must look authentic. I rushed to my dad’s room and searched for his research papers. It took me some time but i did find them.I started work that night after a detailed reading through dad’s papers.

ROBOTS AND RELATIONSHIPS - An Article

I sit on a neatly vacuum cleaned couch in my living room and use a remote controller to switch on the television which in turn is connected to a concave shaped bowl that receives signals from a satellite. My living room is therefore technically sufficient and efficient. We do not notice is the role of technology in our lives though it’s omnipresent. That is because it has become an integral part of our life. We often hear people talking about phones and how their life would be without one.

If we think beyond we notice that the commotion and confusion of normal life is thoroughly reduced by technology. In the near future the “internet of things” or “IOT” will take care of our intent and enhance our communication with the things around us. Let’s add another dimension to this. The technology will help us do our work better but can it be our partner? Can your phone be your brother, or sister, or father or even your lover?

The growth of artificial intelligence will allow various devices to think for themselves. These devices will just be like any other person. They learn and grow intellectually and become better eventually. As time passes they will be able to feel our emotions and have some of their own. The problem starts when these devices start to feel. They are like thoughts without a head and feelings without a heart.  Further into the future, people may fill their hearts with these devices just like they fill their rooms. After all a device is a device. The innateness of a man is different from that of a device although artificially intelligent.

With the invention of “feeling things” there will be a new world altogether. A digital world will be born and “the digital civilizations” will start. Man’s past is a puzzle. The questions of the before and after can also be answered by the religious sciences. Science cannot answer everything but it is the basis for “feeling things”. Maybe life as we know didn’t start by some chemical reactions. Maybe man was dropped onto the earth by someone for some reason.As a man is to the devices, who is it to the man? We might have been the brain child of a far greater civilization who yet controls us with their extraordinary “force of things”. The floods might be their flush and the landslides their push.

-TEJA SRINIVAS

THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

Hi, hope you like the story so far. I need comments from u guys that will help me do better. Here's a clue guys my profile picture complements the story very well. Let's hope the protagonist makes a lot of money in the near future. The story is about the power of strong will but one has to make the right use of it.Its an E-serial that will unfold slowly. Hold your breathe all the adrenaline junkies.

EPISODE 2

One evening I was playing cricket with my friends on the road. The ball went into the big boy’s territory and I was to get it back. “Can you give me the ball?” I asked one of them. They were four of them and they started to stare at me. Suddenly their sight shifted and it was a girl. One of them lifted a banana leaf of the road and said “go and give this to that girl and say “I love you”. “I love you” they said in chorus handing it over to me. I went to her and told “they wanted me to give this to you” trying to hand it over but she wouldn't accept. She just looks at me and moves on. “The big boys wouldn't give me my ball” I said. She just took the leaf and looked at me and threw it away. She stayed in the narrow street opposite the ice-cream shop where my mother bought me ice-cream. She didn't talk to no one but I could say she’s from the girl’s school; from her uniform, the one that my, mother worked for. I said “hi” when I met her at the grocery store the next day. She nodded and then looked at the man there and started to make signs. He didn't understand at the starting but seemed to get it after a guessing game. She never talked to anyone because she couldn't talk, not that she was a loner. Her name was Aria, I heard her mom call her. Further details about her were unknown.

Two years have passed and dad spent most of his time in the lab. He’s trying to sell the patents of his inventions. It was the time when my mother was expecting and my father had to take care of her. I was happy I was going to get a baby brother to play with but my happiness was short lived. There was no brother or mother. They have both died since it was a miscarriage that the doctors weren't able to explain. I cried till i could do it no more. My father seemed a little disappointed but he moved on because of his work in the lab. Nothing has changed; he didn't spend time with me even after what had happened. On the other hand I had to give my uncle his medicine. The doctor says he would be alright but it seemed lot more difficult by the day.

The Money That Smells Different

The Money That Smells Different

THIS IS ABOUT HOW GUY'S LIFE CHANGES WHEN HIS PARENTS DIE AND HE HAS TO TAKE CARE OF HIS MENTALLY ILL UNCLE.HE GETS A WHACKY IDEA THAT WILL  HIM MAKE MONEY GETS HIM INTO TROUBLE.IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A CRIME THRILLER, YOU MUST TAKE THIS ONE. THIS IS AN ONLINE SERIAL(NOT THE LONG KIND) THAT I WILL BE UPLOADING EVERY WEEK. HOLD YOUR BREATHE FOR THERE IS MORE TO COME.

EPISODE 1

We landed at the station, not the airport, didn't have enough MONEY. The trains were designed inretro fashion. Wonder why everything looks old and worn out. My family was young, the oldest being my uncle. He’s my dad’s elder brother, the rest are my dad, mom and I. The train should come and we leave for Goa. My dad had bought a house there; don’t know how he had managed that. We fell very short of MONEY till my mom found herself a job. She was a teacher and on the serious side, my dad had problems in the research center and couldn't keep up his job. He was a scientist, the serious and working kind. He spends a lot in the lab for some research. Neither my mom nor I ever understood what it was about but we hoped for better days. I felt unwelcome though Goa was beautiful and mom seemed excited but uncle just stared on. My uncle was mentally ill and had been like this since his wife and kids were killed within his reach in front of his eyes. I was said that they had met with an accident. Poor uncle, wonder what he would have been like had he been alright? Would he be like my father? Bet, he would be way better. I didn't hate my dad; it’s just that I don’t like him. He’s always in his lab just a little left beside our house. I met him only at our eat-together's. Mom said he had to work all day for our comfort but I knew mom earned more. My dad spoke fine whenever he’s at the eat-together's but I never understood the reason for him spending more time in the lab. I was always with my mom. She prepares breakfast, sends me to school, goes to one herself and takes me for a walk in the evening. We talked about school and life and everything else. She then comes back and prepares dinner for us and gives uncle his medicine. She made me do my homework and always told me that I should make a lot of friends. I had a few at school but I was not really the mixing type, after all my dad was like that.