360 degrees

I am just back from a long road trip and boy, do I miss the good old times. Though I come from a big family, it was just mom, dad, me, mobile and the laptop this time. Well, I can instantly rewind ten years back and almost contrast the road trips from then and now. Well, it wasn’t black and white back then but it sure was different. Mom and Dad were the constant elements, I was a klutzy teenager, the mobile was replaced by siblings; the laptop was compensated for by the good old word game.

Sadly now, the siblings have been scattered across the globe due to the villain called “life”. The mobile is a drug I can’t live without. And the laptop is just a measure to cut down on the boredom and silence which engulfs the monotonous trip.

Earlier it was all about packing the right stuff – hoarding on loads of junk that is, pillows for the comfortable car ride, fighting for the window seat – yes, we did that on the four wheel too, making up quirky words to beat your kin at the word game - I remember using the word kinesthetically, and screaming until your mom shouts crazy from the front seat – threats like “We will drop you off right here, right in the middle of the desert!”

And the best part was getting lost. It leads to an awkward silence, some nagging (I told you we should have taken a left) and a frantic map tracing.

Now, we have a GPS and I have all the back seat space to myself. I am using the mobile to message people about my whereabouts. And oh yes, I bought that mobile because it had a zillion megapixel camera which I can use to click nonsensical road photos – posing next to withered cactus, posing when the sunsets, posing with the scattered clouds high over head, some sand dunes which look picture pretty and many other pictures which I will never recall ten years later.

And the laptop to help me upload those pics instantly so that I feel proud in showing all my 500+ friends what a “wonderful” weekend I have just had!

Ending on a prayer for more road trips…Amen!