Addiction

I really don’t quite remember when and where it all started. I must have been around nine or ten. Initially, it was all new and tough to take in but as the days progressed, I found my feet and got into the groove. It was my classmates in school who introduced me to this world. I would call them friends as they showed me the way to lifelong happiness and contentment. My friends were the outcasts of the school; always left alone and neglected by all, except by the group to which they belonged. This group was always known to bunk classes and supposedly hole up in their secret hideouts doing things they were known for - lost in a world of their own and having lost consciousness of everything and everyone around them.

As luck may have it, curious and intrigued by their way of life, I befriended them and entered their world. I realized they were a happy lot and nothing in the world could make them sad. I hoped to make just a quick entry and exit, but life had other plans. It was as if I was engulfed by this world. One went to two; two became four and the series continued. The more I tried to pull out, the more I got pulled in. Constant fighting at home and bad academic grades made my new found world attractive. In this world, there were no compulsions and no obligations. I was always the super-hero slaying beasts, demons and villains alike. Here, everything was perfect and reality was left far behind.

Soon, my association with the ‘cult’ group was known to all. Stories of my borrowing, begging and at times even stealing money to satisfy my addiction started doing the rounds. Summons were issued to my parents. Constant scolding from teachers and parents became the order of the day. My classmates maintained an arm’s length distance from me adding pain to my misery. But I couldn’t do anything. I just couldn’t resist the temptation. The intoxication was heavy and the addiction strong.

Time passed by and I finally graduated from school and college. As far as my grades were concerned, I had maintained the fantastic ‘just passed’, border-line passing percentage; a feat in its own right. The addiction was so heavy and prolonged that it took its toll on my health. At times, I would cry; at times jump around happily with a new sense of vigour; at times I would be dead silent and blank-faced. Total neglect of my food and health made matters worse. I had no social life and locked myself up paying no heed to the constant pleading of my near and dear ones. Relatives and family friends blamed my addiction for my condition and convinced my parents to get me married to bring me on the right track. Proposals though few, started coming in. A girl was soon chosen and a date decided.

The girl, beautiful and although modern, was the homely type. She always kept my parents happy which helped to reinforce their faith in her. I must confess that she was up to her task of changing me right away. She would cook my favourite dishes, spend quality time with me and make sure that I was always comfortable. I am not sure whether she did this out of love or out of obligation but she did it well and that too without anything in return. Over the years, despite her repeated attempts, nothing changed. I was still the same. She, probably out of frustration and despair gave up on the idea of changing me. There was dead silence between us. Once my parents left for their heavenly abode and with no one else to speak to, she made frequent visits to her parents place. Her visits, which were only for a few days initially, went on for months together as the years passed. However, in spite of her absence, she made sure I was well maintained. One day, she gave me the news that I was to be a father. Though happy, I was honestly least expecting it. Fatherhood meant having to sacrifice more things than one. Money had increased in value. My wife begged me to give up my addiction and welcome the new born. “All these years I have never asked for anything but this.” I guess I was obligated to grant her wish as I had promised my parents that I would always keep her happy and would fulfil her every desire.

I slowly and steadily gave up my addiction and got whole-heartedly involved in the upbringing of my child. I locked up all the things that had kept me company for all these years; guess I could never let them go forever. Before I could realize, my child had grown into a handsome school going boy scoring good grades and often reminding me of my younger days. However, he had one quality I wish he never had – the same old curiosity. In my absence, he entered the room that was forbidden and unlocked the chest he should never have. From there on, just like me, he too was lost forever in that ever so-beautiful world where there’s nothing that’s impossible and life is all so perfect; in that magnificent world of reading books.

To read more stories or purchase the book visit Amazon

Today's Buzz: Follow me on Twitter

There are really many surprising things in life. They can be from the sombre to the wackiest and wildest things. But there is something that has surprised me, still continues to do so and I guess will continue to do till I ever get to terms with the situation. And that is Twitter.

Twitter is a social-networking website, a micro-blogging service. It’s a website where all you have and got to do is post updates. That’s all. All you have is 140 chars. That’s it. To be honest, on a given day, I don’t think even a thousand chars would be sufficient to explain my state. After all there are a lot of things I do and would like to share. Something like, I got late to work, my colleague cracked the same joke he did last week, my boss seems to be getting inspired from Hitler, a guy likes a girl but she likes someone totally different, my friend has just top scored amongst all of us (I’m not talking of any game) there are honestly so many things to share. So many things and all I have is just 140 chars. Something I would say is a Herculean task. But that is no deterrent for the thousands of people who tweet and tweet every sec, every minute, every day of their life. It’s got so many people addicted that even the President of the US and many other international and national celebrities have not been spared.

Twitter has actually proved one thing in a big way. That is that whatever you do and however you may feel it’s actually possible to evoke a reaction from someone somewhere. It’s so shocking to note that a simple tweet like “I have just woken” generated so many replies. The replies ranged from the common and good-old “Good Morning” to “What’s the matter, why so late”. Is it that the human craves so much for attention that no matter what, he would go on and on just to make sure that people keep hooked on to him and page him from time to time?
Twitter has got so many people buzzing (or rather I should say tweeting) that now it’s become impossible for people to just let go of it. It is also said that one of the primary reasons behind the split of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt was twitter. Brad Pitt seemed to be spending a lot more time on twitter than on wifey Jenny. Though twitter may have got quite a few number (that’s actually very large) of people in trouble (after all, all addictions do) it has also changed or rather transformed many peoples lives for the better. Twitter enables commoners like us to follow all the people we love, care, cherish and look upto. It gives us updates of all the happenings live. Twitter is used by so many people to reach out to thousands of followers. Whether it may be Barack Obama tweeting about health reforms or Shashi Tharoor explaining his state visit to countries like Uganda and Somalia which very few people have heard of; it does keep people in touch. Twitter is also used by so many corporate to keep in touch with their employees; non-profit organisations and NGO’s to organize fund-raisers.

Going by the popularity of twitter one thing can be surely said, that it is here to stay. If you feel that 140 chars are way too little then probably you may have not yet heard of the twitter lingo. You’ll be shocked on knowing how short your long long sentences can actually be. It is also heard that twitter users are now soon going to come out with all the bestsellers in twitter language. That I guess speaks a lot. Twitter is all about sharing, updating, posting, replying, following and being followed. The more the followers the more your reach. The more your reach, the more valuable you are (if you’re a link-builder then this may seem like a golden rule to you). But for us commoners it’s all about tweeting “Good Morning” and getting many greetings in return.

In case you may like to follow me on twitter then find me on http://twitter.com/neltondsouza