30/11/2070, Kolkata
Name: Ivaan
Class: VI
Dear Diary,
Hi. The earth has changed a lot since you last saw it. Life on earth is not the same any more.
His little hands were not used to writing much. So writing these words exhausted him and he decided to take a break.
Ivaan, a class VI student, today discovered this diary in which he was writing, on the floor of his school. His father earlier worked as a manager in a reputed company and he studied in one of the most decent private schools of the city. But with the fast advent of automation, like many other salaried persons, Ivaan’s father also lost his job to robots. And Ivaan had to shift from the private school to the archaic public school. He did not like the new school at all. They are all given outdated tablets to study from. The gaming room only has ancient PS4, which people have last played 50 years back and that too on sharing basis. And the students are so cheesy that they fight for ‘those’ also. So during the recess Ivaan was just strolling across the school building when he found this diary in the abandoned washroom of the school. At first he did not understand how it works. Only when he scanned an image of it and googled it he found this small device was called “Diary” which was used in ancient days to record discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period by writing in it.
But this diary almost empty. Almost because, only the first page was filled with an instruction dated 30/11/2017.
“Dear Reader, if you have discovered this diary, please write as vividly as possible about the situation and happenings of the current world in it. Thank you. ”
So as an obedient boy (and to kill boredom), Ivaan decided to pour down his thoughts in this diary. So he continued.
“Dear Diary,
Hi. The earth has changed a lot since you last saw it. Life here on earth is not the same anymore.
I have heard in your days, people could breathe unfiltered air, directly. Well we cannot even think of it. We have to carry our oxygen mask wherever we go. Unfiltered air will kill us immediately. Various agencies supply oxygen to the houses and the schools. The private ones are costly but are of better quality. Earlier we had a private connection but after Papa lost his job, we are taking government supply. But the poor quality is making us sick, very often.
I also read somewhere that kids during those days could play outside. But today we are totally prohibited to do so as outdoor games means either unfiltered air else extra supply of oxygen. Both are not possible. We are allowed only to play video games.
Another thing that is very expensive nowadays are drinking water. Pure drinking water is so rare this days that people gift them in the weddings. Mummy says things worsened after the Great War. The carbon content in the air increased hundred folds. All the rich millionaires started shifting to Mars. Today only the not so rich population is crowding the earth and is mostly governed by bosses and companies of Mars. Life in Mars is much relaxed. They also have sports and other entertainment. But on earth, all the games like cricket, football, basketball which were played in open air are banned now. Hope people had been more careful in your time, then we could have also played outside now
New robotics inventions are replacing the humans in jobs now. Everything is automated now. As food we mostly eat capsules. The delicacies are saved for special occasions and the riches. I have read in internet how kids in those days savored on delicious food items. I so want to visit those times.
Also diary, in today’s date paper exists rarely. Trees are too few in no to make the papers and the papers that are manufactured are too expensive for common people. We write everything in our mobiles or tablets. So all this writing has made me extremely tired.
Bye for today.”
As Ivaan was closing the diary he found a name scribbled on the last page. Rhea. Wondering who she may be, he went to sleep.
**********************
01/12/2017, Kolkata
Dear Diary
The time travelling diary came back after 72 hours. It was a good idea to place the diary in the school washroom. I knew some future student of my school would surely spot it and help me with all the details. When I invented this small time travelling diary, I knew it would be beneficial. But never guessed the future could be so bleak and grim. I guess now I have a lot in hand to do to combat the inevitable and save the future. All thanks to little Ivaan.
Sorry Ivaan, tomorrow you will not find this diary again. This is a special device I created which can travel through time and help us in getting a better future. Hope we can communicate again some other time through some other means.
Rhea.
