It was early 1990s. The small
town of Changanacherry in Kerala woke up to an incredible news! We’re going to
have an exhibition in our little town. So what’s the big deal about
exhibitions? Has there never been exhibitions before? Of course there were many
and people loved to be a part of these. So what’s different this time? What was
getting exhibited made all the difference now. It was something the town only
started hearing off late. An exhibition of a curious invention called
‘computers’ that is meant to change the world!
Getting ready to step into my
teenage years, I was obviously super excited with the prospect of seeing this
magical thing. All of us in the town counted the days to the exhibition and
awaited in anticipation. Finally the day came and people flocked in large
numbers to see the machine nick named as the game changer of the world.
We got into the building
where the exhibition was conducted. I remember standing in a long queue and
waiting for my turn to be near a computer. Soon enough, we stepped into an air
conditioned hall, which itself was a luxury in my town. There they were! A few
boxes, some in square shape and others rectangular. Got to know later that they
were known as monitor and CPU.
There was a glass partition
between the viewers and the magical boxes. There was no way of touching a
computer. The exhibition literally allowed you only to have a glimpse of
future! There were two or three computers, each one of them displaying some or
other images. One of the computers attracted a huge crowd, especially kids. The
organizers of the exhibition were having a tough time to control the crowd.
It was finally my turn to be
in front of the most happening of the computers. There in front of me stood a small
square box where certain pictures could be seen in black and white. Some of the
images from the book One Thousand and One Arabian Nights appeared to come alive
in front of me. Shortly enough came a writing on the screen, it read ‘Prince of
Persia’. I was seeing a computer game for the first time ever in my life!
He was the simplest of the
Prince I ever imagined! Pictured in a dungeon wearing a white jump suit trying
to reach a level where an imprisoned princess awaits him to be saved. It was to
be the most exciting game I’ve ever played in my life. Needless to say the
exhibition was a grand success!
Little did I know that
day, in a couple of decades I’ll literally end up in Middle East with my job in
the land of Royals next to erstwhile Persia!
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