Tale of a Wallpaper

It is all about wallpapers. No, I am not talking about the papers you plaster your rooms with.

And yes, I am talking about a desktop wallpaper.

Starting right from the "in-built" classic range of choices, to jaw-dropping pictures of my favourite bands, movie-stars & exotic locales; each one of them has been a tried and tested choice to give me that perfect dose of  welcome whenever I revive my laptop to sink into after a day of hard labour at work.

Few weeks back, I came across a photo of my school taken from where Angshuman's home (school mates would know) used to be. From where we so religiously used to sneak into the playground for a game of cricket every evening. It was a nice clear shot, and I wasted no time in downloading and making it my desktop wallpaper.

Now, there is a thing with wallpapers. Everytime, your browser hangs, or your media player crashes, you have to bear infinite seconds of  "staring into the wallpaper" before normalcy returns. And in the last few weeks, I have had to do that a lot.

At first, it was just a click of my school and the playground. Then, I began thinking- "There's no one about in the field. What if there was one of our football matches going on? With two iron pillars in the fencing on each side being the goal posts? With everyone doing nothing but just running and running after the ball? With some die-hard enthusiasts attempting beckham's free-kick, only to find it landing on the games' teacher's bums?"

Slowly, and amazingly, I found that each time I opened my wallpaper, wisps of life were breathing into it. I began to see us sharing tiffins sitting under the bokul tree. I saw us running helter-skelter after a stray ball hit a bee-hive in the water tank nearby. I began to hear our noises in the corridors, infinite little pockets of sound so not in harmony. I overheard the principal scolding a boy with skinny knees for dragging his feet and making that "ssssoosssooo" sound on the slippery floor.

Nostalgia was something different. This rather, was a routine. And a little game I got to play (each time my net connection gave me the finger). Each day was something different. Yesterday, we lost in that rumaal-ball catching game after tiffin. Today, a bee's poop stained my blazer. Tomorrow, we are going to practise on that on-existant stage for wednesday's drama.

Bewildering, but it was a sea of memories that that wallpaper of mine aroused in the last few days. I just hope the candle will burn more longer than ever this time around.

*(And those two lizards on the wall continue to fight over who gets to eat the bug)