When Communication came to town

COMMUNICATION took a seat by the fireplace. She thought of her sisters, Freedom, Resilience, Cooperation, Enquiry, Adaptability, Thoughtfulness and Respect. Freedom had done good when she had come of age. She had rescued countless animals illegally poached and granted them Freedom.

Communication yawned. She thought of what sort of good deed she could do. She was given the least attention in her family, because she was the youngest, and had yet to prove her competency.

“Communication is nothing! What are you good for anyway? It’s just speaking, anyone can do that!” her sisters would laugh. Communication would laugh along, as if she agreed, but deep down, she knew she was going to prove them wrong, if it was the last thing she did.

Communication snapped her fingers and a brown leather suitcase appeared. She picked it up by its frail handle and made her way up to her room. During the night, she packed her bag. She was leaving; she was prepared to fulfill her destiny.

The next day, her parents were teary-eyed, but Communication knew they were crocodile tears. They had sent seven kids off; the eighth wouldn’t be much of a problem. Communication jovially skipped to the airport, deciding to board any plane her parents had booked for her.

Three days later, Communication strolled casually by the road in Minnesota, not knowing what to do. She thought she would just stumble into her so-called destiny. She walked till she was standing outside a high school. As she peered through the gate, she saw that the kids were what you would call “loners”. Each student had a three-foot zone around themselves. No one spoke to each other.

It wasn’t that they were shy or had speech disorder. It was that modern technology was

spoiling them all! Each child’s eyes were locked onto a screen. Be it an iPad or a phone, no one was speaking to each other. Communication was aghast. She looked at the school, and a message was ringing through her head – she had found her destiny.

Communication morphed into an English teacher. No one had noticed her – their eyes remained where they were.

The teachers had been discussing and trying to restore communication in the school for a long time. Banning screens was not an option as the school practically ran on it. They were helpless and hopeless, and would remain that way if Communication had not intervened.

Communication gave the teachers sparkles in their eyes, so the kids would make eye contact with them. She gave them the gift of inspiration, to inspire the fledglings under their wings. She showered them with endless amount of humour stirred with strictness – the per- fect recipe for a school full of life. She taught them how to plan an interesting lesson without lectures. But her last gift above all was to the kids. She blessed them with hearts filled with love and care.

As time passed, Communication observed the changes. Electronics were used only at the right time, for the right reason, while the eyes of the kids grew larger as their eagerness of learning began to grow. School had become a paradise for all to grow and learn.

Finally, with a heavy heart and tears in her eyes, Communication departed, knowing she had done her job well. –

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