‘I’m perfect,’ said a guy. ‘I try to educate and
entertain kids at the same time.’
It was an ice-breaking ceremony in an app store. We were fifteen members in all: eight boys and seven girls. I didn’t care about anyone, except for a girl who was drop dead crazy gorgeous! I was so engrossed in her beauty that I didn’t even listen to her when she introduced herself. But finding out about a pretty girl is no big deal. I later found out somehow. She was Sally’s Wardrobe – some crazy girly app for girls.
Anyway, the boastful guy was really getting on my nerves. I had to make an impression on Sally. ‘Ha,’ I said. ‘I’m iStoryTree from TechTree IT Systems Pvt. Ltd. I don’t try to educate and entertain kids. I do.’
My sweetheart raised her eyebrows. Well, she was a girl, after all; and as you must already know, girls speak, hear and react with exclamation marks.
The boastful guy said, breaking my stream of thoughts, ‘I’m a wonderful storyteller. Kids love to listen to my stories.’ Before I could interrupt, he continued, ‘Kids can touch me and make the characters and other things come alive.’
‘You are not the only one, buddy. I do that, too. And many others do that.’
Sally didn’t seem to be impressed. It’s a big world out there, I thought. She must have seen a lot of guys like me.
I continued. ‘Mainly, I’m here to develop children’s cognitive skills in an easy way. With loads of mind-blowing illustrations at the turn of each page, I’m an artist of the highest quality. My eloquent narration, coupled with delightful animations and marvelous sound effects, immerses a child into my stories.’
Sally continued to ignore me. ‘I am really trying hard here, girl,’ I wanted to scream. But then I remembered the advice given to me by my makers at TechTree IT: “Easy does it.”
So I continued: ‘I teach finger-painting and pronunciation skills, too. And I have a superb vocabulary. All a child has to do is tap on the word, and voila! The meaning of the word and an example sentence come up.’
I looked around. Everyone’s eyes were on me – except for Sally’s. To my disgust, the boastful boy opened his mouth again. ‘You know what else I can do?’
‘Oh, please!’ I said. ‘I don’t care what you can or can’t do. I’m not in competition with ordinary folk like you.’
Having displayed my honest arrogance, I turned round to look at Sally. She was talking to some other girl, ignoring me completely. Girls, you see, have the capacity to turn all your plans upside down. Such unpredictable species, I say. Only one thing works with them: speaking the obvious.
‘Hi,’ I said, finally.
‘Hey,’ she said, looking surprised.
‘Beating about the bush is not really in my nature. So I’ll come to the point directly,’ I said.
She raised her eyebrows. Know what I mean?
I continued, taking a deep breath. ‘I’m in love with you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you,’ I blurted out.
‘What?’ she almost screamed.
‘I said I was in love with you. And that I wanted to spend the –,’
‘I heard you, I heard you. But why would I care?’
‘Because I am good-looking, efficient, and I can really look after a child well. I am also the number one paid app on iTunes Store.’
She looked me up and down, and said, ‘Really?’
‘Yes. I can play interactive games with them and teach a lot of other important things, too. I am a good storyteller –,’
‘I know, I know. I heard your resume.’
Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows. ‘You did?’ I asked.
A few girly apps giggled in their typical irritating fashion.
‘Yes, I heard it all, all right,’ said Sally. It was clear to me that she was hiding her smile. ‘What else?’ she asked.
‘Well, kids become lazy sometimes, you know. Real couch potatoes. Then I’ll make them dance with me. Guess what happens then. Magic colors magically start filling up the outlined artworks from the story. Guess what happens then. The child starts laughing. Know what happens then? Heaven!’
Sally laughed for the first time in my company. Boy, was I enthralled!
‘That sounds colorful,’ she said. ‘What else?’
‘Is there anyone in this world who can satisfy a girl’s demands? Yes, there is. Me. I said, accepting the challenge: ‘Hmmm. You have an awesome voice.’
‘Are you trying to flirt with me, Mr iStoryTree?’ she asked.
‘I’ve already told you. I never try. I always do,’ I said, winking.
The girls giggled again. Sally kept mum.
‘Jokes apart, what I meant was, you can record the story in your awesome voice and let the child listen to it. And if that is not sufficient, a child can listen to Jennie, my friend.’
‘Jennie? Who is she?’ she asked, furrowing her brows.
‘Oh, no. Please don’t misunderstand. She is just a friend. Nothing else.’ I paused for a few seconds and continued, ‘Imagine a kid who is finding it hard to pronounce English words. Jennie comes to help then. She is so good at using her expressions and hand-gestures, a child can easily learn elocution skills and learn to pronounce the words properly.’
She stood silently, contemplating on my proposal.
‘So what do you think? Would you like to go out with me sometime?’ I asked.
‘Maybe.’
‘Maybe is great. Why don’t you give me your number?’
‘No, you give me yours. I’ll call you.’
‘Fine by me,’ said I.
It’s 2012, after all. It’s only fair for a girl to ask a guy’s number. I gave her my contact ids:
Promotional video: iStoryTree
I am not going to tell you what happened next: for some things should remain hidden (for some time) in order to make them appear more delightful than they already are – like the stories that are about to come soon…!
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