Thursday 3 April 2014

X-cuse Me Please

X-cuse me Please

There’s Always Music Somewhere
“It’s a beautiful piece of equipment,” she said, sure that I was going to like it, I had looked around all over for this equipment that would bring me the joy of my past, I was in Denver at a store that didn’t look out of the ordinary.  These streets looked familiar, it was like the by lanes of Navi Mumbai, and thoughts came streaming from those days of old, of breaking house windows and starting gang wars in Lokhandwala, we were kids, just breaking the rule to prove a point and then I had moved out of the scene.
Years later the news had come filtering in that now there were actual gangs in Lokhandwala holding people to ransom, that was the fate of a third world nation.  “I am happy to be here,” I said to the sales girl and got talking to her, she was from Tennessee and “damn, she looked familiar too,” something about this town, my mind snapped back at me.  It always did these days, especially when I sat on my “hiney” on that old armchair wondering and dreaming.  “Am I drifting,” it would ask me and get me out of my coffee induced reverie, “damn how I hated this feeling of nothingness,” it felt like I was a 100 years old with my legs on a stool and staring at the fire glowing deep and this warm, some would say “stupid” feeling inside me.
Suddenly she pointed out to a device lying invitingly on the glass rack all by itself, did I say her name was Chara, “Chara, it looks divine.”  She smiled finally, the tension of not knowing what the customer wanted out of the way, and walked me to the aisle where the device lay.

Logitech Squeeze Box Radio

She turned it ON; it was a small intuitive looking power on and the light flashed on a medium sized square panel of the black piece.  There was a huge dial in the front “for navigating the Menu,” said Chara, she was beginning to like the look in my eyes. 
I twisted the dials and got to a menu that said, “Internet Radio,” wondering what next, “press the damn dial,” my mind said again, and I did softly pressing the large dial, suddenly the world had opened up in front me, stations from all over, music, talk show, sports shows. “I am beginning to like this device,” said my mind, “Can you afford me,” the squeeze box seemed to be saying and just as I started to look around for a tag,
Chara pointed to the other specifications and my interest began to develop even further, I could even play repeats and to top it all it’s a wireless.
Chara was packed with energy and it all came out now, “Fantastic device, you are going to love this one, it will give you company through the night, especially the lonely ones and sir, I will pack in a battery at discounted price so you could go cordless on the grass lands.”  The pitch had me convinced, “damn, how did she know I loved the grasslands,” this time my mind was curious. “Don’t,” I told my mind, the deal was done.


“Squeezebox eh? This one was special and she knew it”