"Sis, you must help me. This just needs to be done tonight. but I would be away for dinner at a friend's. Oh, please please, you just have to help me out with this"
I made a frantic phone call to my sister.
She was willing to help, of course, but "what is it actually?" she asked calmly.
"See, it's nothing. You just have to log in my Facebook profile, I ll give you my password. Then go to Cafe world and when my Pink Flower cafe opens, just click on one of the stoves where one particular recipe is cooking since yesterday. It takes one full day to cook. It would be ready at exactly 10.41pm. All you have to do is just click the stove when the recipe is ready so that it gets placed on my serving counter to be served to the customers...ok???" I was anxious.
"What????, Are you crazy?" my sister blurted out.
"Please please," I pleaded, almost anticipating her shocked reaction, "if you don't do it at exactly 10.41pm, the dish will go off after some time."
"So? it's only a game...I mean, come on..." my sister could not believe my anxiety over a virtual dish getting spoilt.
"NO no no, but I have spent cafe coins to make the dish. It will be a waste. I need to earn more coins to buy additional furniture in my cafe. Also, I need money to decorate it."
"Ufff...are you nuts? You are wasting your time." my sister concluded.
"Will you do it or no?" I asked.
"I may go out myself for dinner with in laws. In that case I won't be able to do the needful but other wise I ll do it on my laptop at home." now it was she who shocked me.
"What? You won't be at home? Oh no! what do I do now?" I was genuinely restless.
"Come off it, ok?" with a sisterly remark, she hung up.
I had to look for someone else to do this simple job for me. I thought of all my friends who could have helped me. I even thought of my mother but then I immediately brushed the thought off my mind because that would mean lot of training right from switching on my laptop, then the internet wifi, etc etc.
Then I remembered my friend from Pune who is also my cafe friend.
"Yes, she would understand me," with a ray of hope, I called my friend in Pune, explained to her my difficulty and told her authoritatively to do the job.
With a mild laughter, she apologized to me saying that her internet connection was not working at home.
But she definitely understood my feelings...she was a virtual cafe owner herself.
"Don't worry dear, your dish won't go off for a few hours because it took one day to cook. It will stay fresh till morning. so don't you worry. Serve it in the morning"
"Oh, that's great. I did not know this." I was joyous.
"and one more thing, if at all your dish goes off, your cafe neighbour can "unspoil" it." she added with a command.
Totally relieved from my anxiety, I thanked her for the most valuable information she provided.
As soon as I returned from dinner that night, I logged in my cafe world and served my dish.
"This is not a work of fiction. All the characters in the story are real and it will not be coincidental if they resemble many of you."
It's my story and whether you believe it or not, it's true.
I know this may sound foolish to many but I get immense joy from spending some time at my cafe. It gives me satisfaction of actually owning a cafe where I take all the decisions of earning and spending and buying and cooking. I feel happy when I see facebook friends visiting my cafe and having food and coffee.
I am sure, many of you are addicted to similar virtual games. If you are an object of ridicule for being a virtual reality addict thereby wasting some of your valuable time, just ignore it.
The time spent in reviving the mind, can not be time wasted.
As long as some activity gives you joy and it does not get out of your control, enjoy it.
Though at your own risk, I would like to say,"Welcome to the world of virtual reality!"
