Majhot, Himachal Pradesh, India, 9 September 2016, 9:00 pm:

The way I spent my evening would have been a regular one in the city but had a different flavor out here in the village.

Soon after giving me the Tulsi tea earlier in the evening, Uncle asked me if I can troubleshoot the AntiVirus in his laptop. At first I was surprised, and amazed, that he has a laptop here in the village. I had seen smartphones around the village but a laptop was different. Uncle told me that he uses the laptop for SAGES and BMC (Biodiversity Management Committee) work.

Anyway, so here I was – I had left my laptop behind so that I could spend more time experiencing and enjoying village life. And I had been handed this task, in a village, of all places I could have imagined, troubleshooting laptops.

I have spent the past 5 hours troubleshooting, uninstalling, reinstalling and updating the AntiVirus in the laptop. And the speed of the laptop was matching that of the village – slow, take your time.

I’m running the full system scan now and then will shut the laptop – off power and off my mind.

For me, this was the last thing I wanted to do out here. Uncle however, might have been patiently waiting for someone to sort the issue out. He normally goes to the Lakkar Bazaar market in Shimla to get the laptop work done. But off late, he travels to Shimla only when required. So my coming here and solving the issue has saved him a trip to Shimla as well as other associated hassles, technical, financial and personal.