I acquired my first email address when I was 14 years old. It took a lot of effort, and a lot of people's help. Just when you thought the registration process was complete, the sluggish computer in the only cyber café in Gangtok, Sikkim, would refuse to co-operate. If it wasn't the machine, it was the internet connectivity. The line went dead if it rained too hard. Things, of course, have changed.
I first read the shortlisted entries of Himal's short story competition at JFK airport in New York, the connection between the theme of the competition – communication technology penetrating deeper into our lives – and the equipment on which I was reading the stories – my internet-enabled smartphone – not escaping me. That was quite a distance travelled from the days when even spam mail triggered excitement.
The six-hour plane journey to London gave me enough time to reflect on the stories. So, what do these entries – the best two among them rendered in this edition of Himal – tell us?
Yes, technology has brought unimaginable change. No, we aren't necessarily happier than we were when our indirect exchanges were limited to letters and phone calls. The world has become smaller. Southasians of my grandparents' age are familiarising themselves with the likes of Skype and Facebook. That doesn't mean we are closer to our family than we were 20 years ago, but it probably does mean I will look at you with a mixture of awe, envy and surprise if you claim not to have a Facebook account.