The Dangling Conversation

'I got my first computer when I was in fifth standard. Guess the size of the hard disk.'

'Wait.....(thinks)...10GB?'

'Wow, good guess. it was 9GB. I used to game on that.'

'But dude, in your fifth standard, there weren't any big games. People just used to play Road Rash, Lion King, Alladin, Bio Menace, Zool and Art of Fighting.'

'Wow, nice recollection. But I played on that comp till I was in 8th. Mafia came out then. 3 CDs. 4.6 or so GB. I had to empty half my hard disk for that. I still remember, I removed Grand Theft Auto: Vice City! Anyway, how did you guess that well?'

'Arre, there is this rule which says that technology improves by two times every eighteen months.'

'Ok....so one and a half years ago it should be half as good, and three years ago it should be one-fourth as good.'

'And i had a 40GB hard disk in my ninth standard. So...'

'So in our sixth standard it should be 10GB.'

'And nine is quite close to that. And I can't imagine the size going down any more than that!'

'Wow, you calculated that very fast. Say, weren't we just discussing the computers and home-theatre systems we will buy once we get our jobs. That will be around 5-6 years from now.'

'My hard disk is 320GB right now. So in six years it will become four times, around 1Tb.'

'Yeah, no wait it is six years. In three years it is four times so in six years it is sixteen times. Which is around 4Tb.'

'Damn, that will be the norm then. Actually my 320GB disk is small for this year.'

'So 4Tb will be less than average then. Our good comps will have 8-9Tb.'

'Wow, even if games become as big as 20GB, we can keep 250 or so.'

'Why will we need that many games? I play a game and delete it. Everyone does that.'

'No! I used to keep so many games after beating them to play the good parts again. No One Lives Forever.'

'Was it a classic game?'

'No. First Person Shooter. 2001 or so. Kate Archer, an awesome she-Bond if there ever was one. You now, there are awesome torture scenes where you can use what weapon Archer should use and then the camera tilts and you can see the shadows of Archer and the poor bastard.'

'Haha, nice. What other games did you not delete?'

'Warcraft 3. Serious Sam- never removed it. Age of Empires 2. Age of Mythology. Even Road Rash, Dave, Skyroads and Fatal Racing! These games would always take half of my 9GB disk. That's why I had to delete Vice City.'

'Nice. Lots of memories.'

'So coming back to our discussion on 9Tb disk. I just thought of something. When I buy the computer after my paycheck with its 9Tb hard disk, I will remember the 9GB one in my first comp.'

'Haha, very nice!'

'And I will be in awe of the fact that I have something a thousand times more advanced, literally. Technology has gone this far in less than half my life span. I have so many wonders to see ahead.'

'True, true!'

'And I will marvel at the intelligence of humans, who have made so much progress so fast! All that talk of humans destroying themselves, I think the world and humanity will be all right.'

'The kids are alright, huh?'

'Haha, indeed. Let's hear that song. The Who!'

The Quintessential Poem

This was my entry for a creative writing contest in Galaxy, an intra-college cultural festival. The task was to write a poem such that the first letters of the lines spelt out QUINTESSENTIAL POEM. Also, no line could have more than 6 words. There was no restriction on style or meter.

Quickly he dashed under the branches,

Under verdant bushes and grasses tall,

In rapid pursuit the law's arm.

Never having taken the fall

The killer absconded without fear.

Every virgin would tremble and say

'Slippery Sam is near!'

Slippery Sam murders night and day

Each virgin corpse he takes away.

Ninety has he butchered till date.

They preyed and preyed for revenge:

'Isis, please doom his fate!'

At last Sam kidnapped Penelope,

Laughing, thrust the dagger inside her.

Penelope, Isis's biggest devotee, was unscratched.

'Oh, you heathen mangy cur!

Every virgin's prayer answered,' she said.

'Monsieur, you are already dead.'