From Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact

If there is any work of fiction that has fascinated me, it has been for the imagination that goes into its making, which also perhaps happens to be the primary reason for its success . Writers have often gone beyond the realms of possibilities and challenged limitations of their days to put forth ideas that apparently seem nearly impossible in the age of its creation, but turn out to be indeed possible in time to come. One always wondered whether the ‘Pushpak Vimaan’, which transported Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, was one such idea and whether the great epic, Ramayana contained such kind of imagination of the creator of the great epic, that would one day became a common mode of transport for every Tom, Dick and Hari. Or whether the ‘Aakashwani’ that one heard about in the epics was really the writer’s imagination of the things that would make life simpler (and which turned out that science and technology advanced to make it a sci-fact some time later), when millions would to listen to All India Radio’s “Aakashwani” or to put it in perspective for today’s youngsters, Radio Jockeys on FM radio today? Or even the Station Master’s announcement of the train you rushed in for is arriving on altogether another platform just for the day?!

One has always been very choosy about picking books to read, often taking the decision after several recommendations and rave reviews. Not surprising then that one decided to read the Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie only after it was awarded the Booker of Bookers – the best in 25 years of Man Booker’s award. Apart from the feeling one gets when treating oneself to an amazing masterpiece of literature, which deals with a setting in history that an Indian would easily connect to, what really caught my attention was the science fiction content it offered. Sci-fi, could I be joking, one may wonder? Perhaps even Salman Rushdie did not intend to pour an ounce of it into this marvelous work of art that deserved such acclaim. Perhaps i was only imagining! But then if any book could make me imagine things, it had succeeded to do what so many institutions did not.
After all, don’t we believe that the need of the hour in educational reform is to have schools that teach children how to think and imagine better? It was in this part of the story, when the protagonist, Salim Sinai, begins to connect to all the other children born at the stroke of the midnight hour or thereabout and can hear their voices, experience their feelings, exchange their thoughts without the use of any technology whatsoever. In what the author calls it “midnight conferences”, several children who share amongst themselves the most wonderful of traits – of having been born at the same moment as the birth of a free India, wherever they are, whatever they do, connect instantly and talk about their hopes, their dreams, their anguish, their frustrations and more. Imagination has been the key ingredient for a success of a book. It has also been the main ingredient of sci-fi. This couldn’t have happened in the ‘60s or ‘70s and like all good sci-fi, which can become a reality some day, this too has almost become a reality now. With the advent of Social Networking websites like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter, all Salim Sinai would need to do is to form a Group on such sites - ‘All those born on 15th August 1947 at the stroke of midnight or thereabout!” Salim Sinai would not need that extraordinary telepathic nose anymore.

While my daughter always wishes she could do with an ‘invisibility cloak’ that the likes of Harry Potter and Hermione wear to move around unnoticed, as the magical kids do. So do I hope and pray that we can apparate as envisioned by JK Rowling, by using their magical powers for performing acts of ‘apparition’, wherein they transport themselves to distant places of their choice with a snap of the fingers! One always hopes that this wonderful imaginative means of transport reserved for magical folks soon becomes available to muggles (non-magical folks) like me, especially when one is caught in an agonizing traffic jam in the Maximum city of Mumbai and is a couple of hours behind on a scheduled important appointment.

No surprise then that a recent report talks about the possibility of an invisibility cloak due to technological breakthroughs make this a distinct possibility some time soon. It may also interest one and all to know about the recent tech breakthrough which will enable computers to read one's minds! So i can now make out what's going on in your mind when you type in those 'nice blogpost' comments -haha!

May be my wish to apparate at my own free will, too will be a reality soon?!
Expect me to pop up with my nonsanz somewhere near you soon!
Hey so you're hoping there's a way to block someone popping up with some anti-pop product fixed at your place? You can count on that to happen too!