E mom dot com
E Mom dot Com A short story by Ravindra Torane
This is a story of a boy named Anko. He liveed in Mumbai, a
metro city in India. Anko was 12 year old . He never studied
well, he was computer crazy. All the time he sticked to the
computer,either playing computer games or serfing on net. He
never played any real ground game with his friends either. One
day he was serfing on the net going from one site toanother. His
mom was helplessly watching his aimless wandering on the info
high way. The info highway was full of temptations. There were
malls selling everything real and virtual. There were some chat
rooms where gangs of some netizens were talking rubbish. There
were cyber police too. But they were almost nonentities. Anko
visited all these places but lingered at nowhere. His mom had
asked her to study for seventeen times. But he did not pay heed
and continued. After some time he said, "Mama I am hungry"But
Mama did not respond. So he shouted "Mama give me something to
eat, I 'll study after eating." Yet his mama did not get up.
Usually she used to bring his favorite eatables to his work
station and feed him. But this was not happening today.He was
astonished. Was mama angry? But Mama was cool. Instead she said
" Don't ask me.You may get an e- mom on your Internet. She may
be better than me. Ask her to feed you. As you get friends you
may get a better mother there." Mom's coldness surprised Anko.
She used to fret and fume every time. But today she had no qualm
. He did not know what to say. He decided to find a mom on
Internet. Internet provides anything, he told himself. You can
get friends,you can get brides. So why not an e-mom? He typed
e-mom and asked the search engine to find her. Wow! there were
many moms. One mom was asking fir charity. Another one was eager
to impart vital information to girls only. A tearful mom was in
search of her drug addict son. Anko did not like any of these
moms. But he continued search by prefixing some words or letters
to the all synonyms of the word 'Mom' like mother, mummy, mama,
and other words in Indian languages like Maa, amma, aai, ammi,
maay etc. Soon his search yielded fruits. A website flashed a
mesage "Choose your desired Mom from one of the countries" Anko
clicked India in a reflex action. Presto!A beautiful face of a
young mom appeared on the computer screen. "Hi! my lad, how are
you?What do you want from me ? I have every thing - tasty
eatables,toys, clothes, books, game-CDs,cartoons.Just ask for it
and it will be available in minutes--Try my son, try! See my
miracles, see my magic". Her words were mesmerizing. Anko was
influenced by the spell of it. He went on clicking. There was a
long menu and Anko clicked on some of his favorite dishes like
Manchurian, potato wafers, fish fry and ice creams,etc. 'Let me
see what happens' he said to himself. "No Anko" His real mother
was saying something. But he was in no mood to listen. he was so
engrossed with thetalk of e- mom on the computer screen that he
forgot his real mother. "Type your name & address please"The e
mom requested Anko typed their home address as an obedient kid.
"Very well, now please wait for 15 to 20 minutes , and e mom
started telling some stories ,jokes, songs etc. Anko and his
real mom did not feel the time gap. Within few minutes their
door bell rang. A lady similar to the e-mom arrived with
packages of food Anko had clicked. Anko and his real mother were
shocked. "Hi you must be Anko. Here are your favorite dishes."
Appeatising Aroma of the food spread in the entire home. "But we
don't want it. Anko tried to say." "you have just ordered it, my
son I am the e- mom." "Please sign the receipt." She handed over
a receipt with a bill of heavy amount of costs, delivery
charges, tax and surcharge etc. "No we do not need it" Anko
protested "This is not fair. You have just ordered it on the
net. It was immediately sent to the nearest outlet and I was
asked to deliver it. I am in time. Our super market is aiming to
do business at the speed of thought as per the words of Mr. Bill
Gate" "But I thought it was all fun" Anko replied "No Fun,it is
business. Trust me our food is very tasty. You will definitely
like it and you will call me again and again. We will give you
concession on repeat orders. And if you do not like our dishes,
we will not charge at all .That is, e will adjust the amount in
your next purchases" e- Mom said with a smile. Now Anko realized
that the e-mom was actually a salesgirl from the super market.
Its branch was recently opened near Anko's home. "Your credit
card please" E mom asked Anko's real mom. I don't have it. Anko
's mom said "Oh No credit card?" The e-mom made a face as if she
is seeing eighth wonder in the world. "We never use it" Anko's
mom informed. "No problem Pay me by cash or cheque. I'll prefer
cash." " I don't think I have this much cash in the home Anko's
mom whispered. However the e mom's ears were sensitive enough to
register the murmur. She called her assistant " Bhai please come
in." A strong and stout man with beard and villain -like face
entered in. His shirt bore the words 'Recovery Agent'. "He is
'Bhai' our representative, he will come to collect the amount.
When should I send him?" e mom said. " Bhai please take a note
of this house and the persons " e mom told Bhai. "Our Bhai is a
serious guy. He can't even chuckle." E- mom admired his
qualities. "But I can make people weep" Bhai announced in his
thundering voice. " No, not now, Bhai See this Anko and his
mother are really good people. They won't force you to make
several rounds." With these words e- mom signaled their
departure. "Please wait" Anko's mother said in hurry. She went
in and took out the money she had saved for emergency and
cleared e- mom's bills. E-mom left the home with a big cash and
bigger smile. Later Anko tried the eatables but he could not
swallow any of them because the experince of the e-mom had
embittered his mouth. His mother tried to console him but it did
not help much.
************
Ravi Torne is a Playwriter and short story writer.He writes in
English and other languages.Specialist in Sci fi, humor,
children's Literature etc.Experince in writing scripts for radio
& films. He regularly writes articles on http://www.ITnauts.com.
email: ravi@itnauts.com You can use this article for free as
long as you keep the links intact.