If only the key board had life

A stray dog had found his way to my house, not only he did not stay in the compound like other stray dogs, he made a direct entry into the veranda through front door as if it were his own.  From first day, he had certain princely manners – he just did not seem like another stray dogs.

I was never fond of a dog or of pets per se. But presence of this dog seemed innocuous to me. Nor did it give rise to any other complications I could object in its first few hours of stay in my veranda. All the dog demanded was a little bit of attention besides regular and modest meals. I made a small change in my routine, instead of working on computer and surfing internet at the end of the day, I started spending those 15-20 minutes at the end of the day with this new guest.  I would stroke it, nudge it and play with it just as young kids do with friends of their age. This routine continued and it worked quite well for both of us. Or at least it seemed to work well for both of us.

One particularly good thing it did to me was that it did not allow me to sit on my laptop after I come home in evening. Having worked whole day on computer, it was not probably most healthy thing to do again towards the end of the day. A lot of my friends had been suggesting spending time off-screen.  However, little did I have in terms of amenities and gadgets, so whenever I was not reading I would be on my computer fiddling with it, wasting time browsing social networks etc.

Dog also seemed to be enjoying our regular play time, gradually our friendship grew stronger, or so it seemed, at least to me. Before I could realize it became a routine for me to stroke the dog to sleep.  Seeing his rhythmic breathing was an amusing as well as satisfying end to a day.  

One day, upon my return in evening, I could not find the dog in the veranda.  I thought the dog must have gone out and would return to routine, as usual. A few hours passed but there was no trace of the dog. Just as his entry, his exit was also mysterious and sudden. To say the least, his absence did come across as an oddity, a break in well-scheduled routine to me.

After a few hours of thought, I finally assumed that just like other stray dogs, this one too would have gone off and there was nothing particularly unusual about it. I resumed to my erstwhile routine and opened up the laptop. In span of a few weeks, the keyboard of laptop had gathered some dust. I cleaned it and started off writing a review of a book I had just finished reading.

Feeling my hand’s movement on the key-board, I sub-consciously compared it with its movements while playing with dog. I contrasted these two experiences in my mind, old as my laptop was its key board was as familiar to me as the dog who had been my guest for a few weeks, if not more. Key board was also equally amenable to my touch – I realized. Some of the letters on it had been on verge of being erased due to frequent strokes I would have made on them over the years. Another strikingly brilliant feature of this keyboard was, it always responded to my touch with impeccable regularity, equal responsiveness and efficiency. The more I thought of key board, the more I realized how good and functionally effective it had been all these years.  I thought that its keys certainly, smoothened, worn out and loosened at times, but a careful fix always restored it to its regular efficiency.  My hands on it were no less than a play we had from several years, I might have been varying in precision, force and firmness but the key-board always adjusted itself accordingly like a more matured batsman in a great cricketing partnership!  Had this keyboard been in some piano instead of laptop, it would have made awesome music I thought.

After a while I realized, I still missed the dog, looking at my keyboard I realized it did not breathe like the dog. It had no rhythmic sound or movements that naturally happen with breathing of anything that has life. This was the only difference perhaps between the two touches; one had life the other one did not.

That night, however, I slept stroking key board of my laptop.