Going hi-tech

Thatha was nonplussed. "It has been sent?" he asked, in utter disbelief.
Vikram nodded. "Yes, really, he has recieved it and even replied," he said.
"Baghya, inga vandhu paaren, the letter I typed to send Krishna has been sent and he has replied also!" thatha cried with delight to patti.
Patti came and looked.
"Ada, aamaam!" she cried with surprise, and started reading the e-mail her second son Krishna had sent from the U.S. with her own, slow, speed.

Vikram smiled. His grandparents could not believe the speed of e-mail nor understand how it happens. He had tried many a time to explain to them, and finally realised that it was just the communication they needed and not how it works.
"Ah," cried thatha, "technology is improving at a great speed. Thank God I'm alive to see all these developments!" He went back to his room.

Vikram had just finished his class XII and was waiting for his results. Thatha had been a great support to him during his final exams, with his encouraging talk and more so with his prayers. Without his prayers, thought Vikram, I surely wouldn't have cracked that horrible Chemistry paper.

Thatha came back with another letter the next day.
"Dei Vikrama, please send it through that special mail da... It's very important, Krishna has to read this."
Vikram devotedly sent the mail and also read out the reply as soon as he got it.

Soon his grandparents were beginning to get doubts about e-mail.
"Dei Vikram, Subbu was saying her son in England wants to contact your father. She asked me for some e-mail address. I gave her our house address saying if she sent the mail to this address, you will be able to read it and tell me. But she was saying it's not possible..I did not know..." He gave a worried and bewildered look.
Vikram laughed. "Illa thatha, adhu mudiyadhu. Give her this address and she will know," and gave him his father's e-mail address.
Thatha took the paper with the e-mail id and stared at it. "Oh, ivalo vishayam irukko... this old mind will not understand all this da,"he said.

Vikram then went on to check his mail.
His heart started thumping loudly as he saw a mail from University of Toronto.
With his fingers shivering, he opened it.
Reading it, his heart leapt with joy. He had secured admission in the university, a long time dream of his.

Vikram left a month later. Life there was very different, but he learnt to enjoy it too. Meeting different people from different countries and cultures, was exciting for him.

He called home just about once a week. He knew he could not expect more correspondence from his extremely busy parents. He did not miss them. But he missed his thatha and patti. He had become very used to their presence in the two months he was entirely at home after his final exams. He missed the poojai mani that would ring everyday from 8 30 in the morning for two hours, when his grandparents were offering their prayers. He missed that little piece of fig his patti would give him everyday after she did the neivethiyam near the tulsi chedi.

It was a pleasant shock when he opened his mailbox one day. It had a mail from "Subramaniam, F/O Ramakrishnan" He opened it, amused. Could it be thatha?
Well, it was.

"Dei Vikrama," it read.
"I learnt how to send this e-mail from Ahswin, our next door kutti paiyan. How much he knows! I am so glad I can mail you with this service.
Patti and I are fine. Both of us miss you very much. Nobody is here to type our mails to Krishnan (though I have learnt to slowly look and type, I am not able to do it as fast as you) and to eat the figs after the neivethiyam. But we understand this education is important to you. Our blessings are always with you. Amma and appa are fine.
I have added you on Yahoo! messenger. I have also attached a photo of Muppathamman somebody sent. Put it on your desktop.
Thatha."

Vikram was stunned.
Mail, messenger, attachment....he couldn't believe it. And thatha had learnt it all in hardly a month!
True to his thatha's wishes, he put the Muppathamman photo as his desktop for some days. He removed it two days later when his thatha sent another picture of a sunrise taken from his room's balcony with his own digital camera.

Gosh, this is going too hi-tech, Vikram thought.