‘Hello buddy!!’ The voice comes out following a disagreement with the larynx.
Bell was sitting quietly at the left most corner of the wooden bench. He was deep into his thoughts… deep enough not to look back to the source of the sound but not deep enough to remain unmoved being hit by an unmodulated wave at roughly 340 m/s. ‘Hello’… The very word he escaped from, or so did he think. Sigh! He doesn’t bother replying, never did.
‘Ahoy dude you with me?’
Same voice, better modulation…but Bell can’t believe it…’Ahoy’. What difference a word can make! Swiftly he turns and asks the voice-owner
‘Who are you?’ completely forgetting the formal protocol of self introduction.
‘I’m Net.’, hardly taken aback by the awkward reaction, Net sits beside him seemingly happy to have triggered a reply of any form and shape. Giving a simple tap on his shoulder Net smiles
‘Engineer eh?’ and winks. It’s a great feeling to think that you've deciphered anarchy and deserve a ‘How did you know?’
The gleaming eyes are refracting confidence, a trait Bell always appreciates. He takes a deep breath in search of the stronger analytical frame of mind he more often than not makes use of.
‘Ah! Well yes…you might say so.’ He replies after a prolonged delay.
Net has been precise about the number of teeth on display at a time, nothing less nothing more.
‘Well don’t worry dude, even I’m an engineer. It is not like we’ve committed a crime being one. I hate the notion of engineers being stereotypical calculator pressing frustrated sociopaths…’ Bell smiles, both perplexed and uninterested. How stupid of him to think of a possible impersonation by the guy he is running from.
Net doesn't like the non responsive body language. He could have spoken to so many other people in this time frame. But again here is the challenge. It is never an easy task to reach out to everyone, and this hard nut is a terrific reminder of reality. He needs help and Ned will provide.
"You seem to be the shy type mate, you can’t spend all the time with yourself, you need to be everywhere, you can’t miss anything…birthday…meeting…celebration for someone’s happiness…consolation for someone’s sorrow…you’ll need to interact day in day out…you can’t let a single person forget that you exist.” Net stops to catch his breath without compromising his composure. It is perhaps easier to dial his ex girlfriend and analyze what went wrong.
“That is roughly what I’ve tried to achieve my whole life…to have friends and families stay connected all the time.” Bell realizes that emotion has started flirting with his voice making it heavier.
“Haha funny; seems you have some sense of humor in you… You mean phone, right?…do you think your phone will save you…NO…you think your friends will…WRONG AGAIN…it is the number of new people you greet and talk to what matters…not the friends you already have…count them for granted...just add the smiles dude.” Net whispers the last words into Bell’s ear sensing the warmth oozing out of the sub zero sink.
‘My phone!! God how does he know everything’… Bell has a bad feeling about this guy.
‘Who are you?’ he asks again...Clouds of doubt returning with reinforcement.
‘Net!! I told you na…remembering names is the most critical part in this institution’ he takes a second
“dude with eyes like those I can clearly see you aiming a 4 point but let me reiterate, you also need to learn to say hello to people if you want to make use of your institutional experience.’
Enough is enough. Now Bell knows for sure.
‘Thomas I’ve had enough! I will not say hello no matter how hard you try to convince me! And shouting ‘ahoy’ to get my attention is so unlike you…could you please leave me alone…it has been hundreds of years and yet no respite from you.’ Bell storms away.
Poor Net! The smile is no longer there. However artificial, it is strong enough to withhold difficult storms and Net has worked hard to keep it in shape…Thomas!!...hundreds of years…!!...ahoy…!! There is a reason for his smile to wither away. This is crazy stuff.
They say: Alexander Graham Bell, researcher, scientist, engineer, inventor, professor and God knows what more…invented the telephone to bring millions of people together creating a first of a kind dimension in human networking, but he felt his job was not done. He was looking for an ‘a-word-to-say-it-all’ and rooted for ‘Ahoy’. At the same point of time someone else was also in search of a responsive word. And that person came up with the word the world never asks ‘which language’…Hello…and It is said Mr. A G Bell was not all together happy with this coinage and the person who coined it…and had an argument over the implementation of ‘Hello’ with him…Mr. Thomas Alva Edison.
Now the story above features the ghost of Mr. A G Bell in disguise or whatever your imagination wants him to be.
POOR NET CAN’T FORGET…
‘This guy must be a diversity student. Someone from the social sector maybe’ Net utters inaudibly, his eyes looking for the next unknown face. What was the value of talking to such a weird person? Waste of time, waste of effort. But he can’t afford to rest his tongue. Even though he is hit by a glitch and is a little hesitant now but he can clearly hear the command of his motivated inner self. ‘NET WORK’.
Moral of the story if it has one: However essential and integral part of your life it might become, be cautious of the bell you are about to ring while networking.
“To ask the value of speech is like asking the value of life." :Alexander Graham Bell.
Arani Roy, Class of 2015
