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Iniyan's Birthday Gift

What can water do to you?

Shut down ATMs
Put down electricity
Jam traffic
Kill people
Raise prices
Destroy houses

                                           Moved at the spread of sea view at Besant Nagar beach on a full moon night, Iniyan fell into deep thoughts on the power of water. Not a few months back, he quarreled with his father, a Ph D scholar at IIT Madras and so nerdy that he had little time for his son than for his research on the Internet of Things(IoT). The quarrel started like a drop, trickled down into a rivulet, gained force as a flood and left them emotionally drained. This left Iniyan guiltier for on Dec 1 he lost his father to water.
                                             A nerd himself he was socially inept and couldn’t fit in anywhere. He had no friends except his Mac laptop and technology. Depressed with his father’s loss and the emptiness of his life he decided to go to water and ask her to take him too. And so he stood at the beach waiting to crawl into her arms. The clock struck 12.

[logs]
[Locating GPS of user ..]
 [Found location : Besant Nagar beach]
[Locating random spot for parking]
[Updating voice message with spot details]
[Ping Yamuna..]
[Communication established with Yamuna..]
[Sending GPS location to Yamuna..]
[Sending destination GPS location to Yamuna..]
[Sending start message..]
--
 [Initiating Voice Call module..]
[Sending voice message..]


 And his mobile rang.

"Should I take it ?"
"Does it matter now?"

His curious mind won and he took the call.

 “Many more happy returns of the day Iniya“

Shocked he took a second look at the caller id , it wasn’t his father’s but the voice was.

“Appa..”

“Wish you from my deepest of heart a long fulfilling life.I am sorry for the quarrel we had last time you were at home. I feel guilty that i spoiled your life lost in my own world. Today i want to make amends with you.  I have a smart gift for you .
 Get on the car waiting at KFC and let it drive itself. That is all I can tell you now . Birthday Bye”

It could not be his father , he did the final rituals himself right before his eyes. Unable to decide he just reacted to his father’s voice. He walked back , crossed the beach road and reached KFC . A reddish Ferrari look alike car was stealing the late night beach visitors’ attention not only for its look but that it drove itself to the place. On its hoods were written

“Happy Birthday Iniya, Get on the car . I have a better gift for you”

Could the better gift be better than this, he wondered, got in the car and hear the car say
“Happy birthday Iniyan,
I am Yamuna , you own me from today”

This was definitely out of the world for Iniyan but he could understand the technology behind it. This was just a recorded voice triggered as he sat on the driver’s seat he theorized.

The car drove itself honking to clear people on its way, took a right turn at Church road and then again a right turn at Ganga Sweets and drove through the restful road along Theosophical Society. After a few minutes of drive it stopped in front of Godhavari Apartments.

[logs]
[GPS location reached..]
[Initiate voice message..]

“Please take the key at the backseat and get into room 606 at sixth floor” Yamuna instructed.

On reaching the room , the door opened itself .Iniyan noticed a camera on its head.

“Hello Iniyan
Many many more happy returns of the day
This is Ganga, your Smart Room”
“Please let me introduce myself for 2 minutes 33 seconds”
“I am your birthday gift , your father’s brainchild , a product of his research on Internet of Things”
….
….
“Kindly let me demonstrate myself”

Iniyan’s mood elevated. He could understand this technology. He could see what was forthcoming .

[logs]
[Pinging Saraswati, Smart Coffee Machine..]
[Communication established..]
[Initiating question..]

“Would you like to have coffee or tea” Ganga asked
“A masala tea”  Iniyan said wondering if ‘masala’ would confuse Ganga.

[logs]
[Analysing voice response..]
[Searching internet..]
[Recipe found..]
[Downloading recipe..]

[Sending recipe to Saraswati..]
[Checking recipe items in coffee machine's catalog..]
[Items found..]
[Initiate coffee preparation..]

[Acknowledgement sent to Ganga..]

“Thank you Iniyan. You will get your masala tea in 7 minutes 21 seconds”
In 7 minutes 21 seconds a small mechanical device drove itself to the coffee machine, took the tea,rode back and kept it at the dining table.

Iniyan was excited.
                                                       
“Would you like to watch TV”
“Yes”
“What do you want to watch. Here are your options sorted by most viewed channel events right now”
“A. Chai with Sunny Leone on Channel Y”
“B.IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors”
…
…

“Play B”

The TV switched on itself and played the IPL match.
Everything in the room could communicate to each other. The room to the coffee machine to the TV to the washing machine to the microwave oven to the room cleaner to EVERY THING. And everything was connected to the internet cloud. It was more consoling to Iniyan that his father had recorded his own voice for all possible syllables in the English language and given it to Ganga.

Iniyan watched TV
Iniyan ordered biryani from Aasif Brothers.
Iniyan Skyped.
Iniyan cleaned the room.
Iniyan played songs in the room’s home theatre.
Iniyan checked his account balance.
Iniyan …

All these sitting on the sofa in the hall and talking to Ganga.

Iniyan felt like in heaven.
The day passed in a pinch of time filling Iniyan with his father’s memories and the delight of technology.
And the clock struck 12 ,
The room spoke in his father’s voice again

“Happy Birthday my son. Hope you enjoyed my gift. I love you”

At this Iniyan cried, tears came out like a drop, gathered into a rivulet and then gushed out like a flood.

He took a deep breath and made a vow that night

“I will not let this happen to anyone anymore”


A few few few years later…
December 1, 2040 @Saidapet

[logs]
[Receiving weather data from ChennaiWeatherApp..]
[Receiving rainfall data ..]
[Receiving water details from Chembarambakkam lake..]
[Receiving …. …lake]
[Analysing weather data..]
[Generating report..]
[Probability of Chembarambakkam dam break 93.67 percent …at time …..]
[Receiving mobile numbers from online registry ChennaiCitizens.com..]
[Receiving contact details from registered users at IWillHelpChennaiWhenItRains app..]
[Triggering sms..]


 “Amma there is a message from Chembarambakkam lake”
“Dai stop fooling around .Go and shut the windows. It is raining since morning no .Who will clean the house?”
“Ada Amma see here ”

“ There is a possibility of flooding in your area in another 1 hour 32 minutes.
Please go to any of the following locations near your area to avoid damage:
Teynampet, …
General Helpline no : …..
Available contacts near your area to help you :
Viddharth:934343433, M J Balaji 934349344
Stay safe J”

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