Smartwatch - An Essay

          It was my anniversary. My friend from the USA , Mr C was on a business trip to India. During our meeting this time he presented me with a smart watch. Or rather I asked him to get me one.( It was much cheaper in the USA).

           Gentleman that he is he did not accept any payment and told me that it was an anniversary gift. A part of me was happy that I had been given an expensive gift and another part was feeling bad about the fact that I had asked him to get me a smart wat111ch. Maybe subconsciously I knew that he would not accept any cash from me. Be that as it may I was thrilled with the watch. It was sleek and looked great on my wrist. The moment it was powered it started glowing and my nightmare started officially. It got personal when it asked me my age,weight and other vital statistics. I humoured it by entering the requisite  details.

          C and I went back a long way.We were classmates from 5th Grade. We used to travel by the same bus to school and would sit on the same desk. In those days we would interact even outside the school and it was not unknown for us to visit each others' homes on a regular basis. We knew each others' parents quite well. Whatever mischief was attributed to us during the course of this interaction, encompassed both the school and home.

           Our paths got defined when he opted for the engineering stream and I opted for the Army. While he aimed for higher things in life, my aim of opting for the Army was, that one did not have to study in the Army and it was all one big physical thing.Of course it was a huge misconception.C's brains got him a seat in the premier institution of India. After drifting through a few jobs in India and abroad he finally decided to settle in the USA. The nature of my job precluded the possibility of my going abroad. Internet in the nineties brought us together and with the dawn of the new century we established physical contact. He got married, I got married, we spawned one child and two children respectively. Sporadic contact in the recent years finally fructified in his presenting me with a smart watch.

          The day after, I proudly wore the watch and displayed it to all  and sundry. A flick of the wrist and it told me all I needed to know about myself. The rate at which my heart was beating, the number of steps that I walked till the moment of my seeing the display, the date, the time and a slew of information which was programmed into it. At first it was very novel. I was very careful as to how I used  it. I wiped it clean every time I took it off. and  put it in the case that came along with it. Inevitable comparison with other people who possessed such a device was always happening.... Maybe - just maybe- the thought  that I should have asked for a costlier model with more features flitted through my mind....

          The watch slowly took over my life. .Fittingly I named it Mr C. Every time the blue tooth was on I was connected to Mr C. In this manner I reduced the distance of oceans and continents separating us  to a mere few feet....
         
           If  I did not carry out ant activity for fifty minutes then it reminded me about the fact and suggested a few different exercises to merely prove that I had not become inanimate. I indulged in its reminders and did a few stretches - and when people looked at me oddly then I explained to them about this gadget. At the end of the week it gave me my weekly report - and if I did not exceed the previous week's target then it expressed its disapproval on my indolence. Apart from my wife's nagging I think that the watch was the only one from whom I accepted criticism meekly. And then again when I did well it complimented meI gratefully accepted its compliments. I was like a pet who received who liked receiving a pat on its head.

          The need to please the watch became an obsession. Just like in school when Mr C and I were teenagers with raging hormones - our need to impress girls. We would go to any length to do so. Writing letters (fraught with danger - that is where we learnt - never to leave documentary evidence - something which served us well in later life) studying hard to get good marks - which we thought would impress girls. And of course doing stupid things ... (Only in hindsight - but stupid nonetheless)
We had our good moments with girls at school..

          Pleasing  someone or the other throughout our life is something we all do. Our parents, Siblings, Relatives, Teachers, Neighbours , Friends, Bosses, wife/ves children and so on and so forth. So I did not see anything wrong in extending this desire to please inanimate objects also. The need to be approved was foremost in my mind. and a pre-programmed object goading me on did not seem wrong. So much so, that in one of the weeks I drove myself to ground for this approval.
Extreme Fatigue - the doctor ruled - and advised me a week's rest in the Hospital. All my belongings - including the phone and the smart watch were taken away from me forcibly. I instructed my wife the about the charging schedule and the dos and don'ts with regard to the watch and bid it a silent farewell. The withdrawal was slow and painful but I got over it . Attachments always give us grief - I realised....

          The rest of the week flew by and I came out of the Hospital a new man. The need to get back to a active routine became pressing when I found my tummy falling over my belt.
The watch was lying invitingly on my table fully charged.  Unconsciously my hands went to the watch and I absently strapped it on my wrist. A reassuring vibration and a congratulatory message for going active again got me on the path to fitness... till my next breakdown...