'Shift'ing pain

Some months back, it was that time of the year again.

The time when Ma proposes to learn to use the computer and the internet.

I call it the Role-Reversal carnival.
It's a subtle harbinger of the fun ( mostly) times ahead. Yes, it does gets shrieky and high pitched once in a while, but over time, I learn to behave and teach properly.

See, my deal is, there's a finite number of times I can go ahead and repeat the functions and give directions. Right?

Well, it isn't. I've learnt that finite doesn't exist when you're teaching someone something, that, for them, is as difficult as rotational dynamics was once, for you. You go through the book, learn the formulae, practice solved questions, try unsolved ones, but it's all useless next time when you pick up the book and it's all erased, like totally, and you have start afresh.
(Boy oh boy, the mere mention of that deaded subject can still bring tears to my eyes)

It so happened that I'd teach Ma her way around the computer and she'd learn to start it, go to MyDocuments, browse pictures, play Solitaire (!!) and shut it down. But something would come up that would disturb the daily practice and she'd be back to square one.
I understand that now, earlier I didn't and what followed was lectures on how I've tried so many times to make her understand this and that and crap..
It was during one of the lessons where she was stuck somewhere and asked me what to do next.

Me - Abhi bataya toh tha na, kinni baar yaar?? Yaad to karo aap.

Ma - Beta, nai aa raha na yaad.. soch rahi hun phir bhi.. bta de.. tu toh achcha bachcha hai..

Me - Ma, hadh ni ho gayi? Baar baar repeat karti rahun , aap toh try hi nai kar rahi ho? Kab tak phir se phir se bataun??

What she said next was one tight slap without any physical contact

Ma - Beta, tum log bhi bachpan mein pagal pane ke sawaal karte rehte thei baar baar.. hum logon ne kabhi bola ke kitni baar jawaab dein? Phir? Bata diya karo.. bhool jaatei hain..

That was an eye-opener big-mouth-closer for sure!

Since then, I try to be at my helpful best and I'm glad to say that she's been doing pretty well.. (well, she's almost there)

Her course content is something like this :

• CLICKS : double, single, left and right
• SCROLLING : The scroll button takes care of it ( thank God! )
• IDENTIFYING PAGE ELEMENTS : sign in, log out, cancel, ok, shut down, turn off, minimize, maximize, restore, close.
• APPLICATION PROGRAMS : She doesn't really need to learn to work on them, all she needs is to learn how to open various files and documents.
• KEYBOARD ( saved the worst for the last ) : Just cannot say enough. This device has given me some of the most emotionally diverse moments of my Role-Reversal carnival. It has done everything from making me bang my head on the closest object to making me laugh hysterically, all in a short span of time.

Dad's favourite key happens to be ESCAPE. Kuch bhi hua, escape dabado. Next in line is, CTRL+ALT+DEL. He's good enough with computers but when he's using my system he prefers to be extra careful to avoid the tamasha I create later if something, anything goes wrong. So, you have dad, pressing away escape to glory whenever any not-so-normal dialog box appears on screen.

Mom's favourite key would be Shift. She's B-A-D at typing. What can you expect with someone who's taken a pledge to use only her single hand to type? :/ It's such a treat to watch her type. The keyboard is a maze for her in which she gets lost all the time!

So this other day, Ma had come to know of the 'underscore' and I'd told her how to put that on screen. That very day, I had taught her a lot of other things reagrding her mailbox. Obviously, she was overwhelmed and very very confused.

Don't know how it happened, she mistyped something and forgot that the backscape existed , or maybe something else. All I remember is, she was stuck. Asked me to help her, but I'm me. I told her, if she was to learn, she has to figure it out herself this time. She kept pondering over her maze, she'd approach a key, look at me to see if my face gave any hint and then move on to the next. Thinking of it now, that sure was funny! :) Out of nowhere, when nothing was happening, she goes " Shift dabadun? "

And I burst out laughing! To her, it was the final resort. Shift was her saviour. Her wonder key. It was such an innocent question that I couldn't help but do her entire work that day!

It was while working that I thought how wonderful it'd be if I could press the Shift key and do away with the problems in life.

When nothing seems right, there're paths ahead but I don't know which one to take, there aren't many people to offer support and it's me on my own, when it's all hazy and when I'm down, days when I'm hardest hit..

batao.. Shift dabadun??