Things and such...

I got a new cellphone once. As a gift. I was very excited. It had all the features I needed and it was the first brand new phone I had ever used. True to my roots, I didn't even take off the plastic coating it had on its screen for the first few weeks. I took great care of it. I made sure all my keys and coins and pens and everything went in one pcket and the phone went in another. All this because it was new.

Then, a few weeks after I had got the phone, I was in a hurry to get somewhere. I quickly put my keys in my right pocket and rushed. I didn't realize the phone was in the same pocket. Later on, I saw some scratches on its surface. It didn't feel good. "But" I told myself, "its only the surface. As long as the phone works well, the scratches shouldn't matter".

A few weeks later, I was talking to someone while fidgeting with the phone. The phone fell out of my hand, on to the floor. It picked up some more scratches. And I felt bad. But less than the first time. The newness was wearing off.

Soon, the phone began to take tumbles more often. The plastic coating had come out ages ago. My keys left more scars on its surface and I routinely pushed coins into my pocket, rubbing it against the phone. I kept telling myself, "as long as it performs well...thats all that matters."

Soon, it wasn't just the cosmetic damage anymore. I spilt some hot coffee on it on one occasion. On another, I flung the phone towards the bed, missed it and it came apart. I didn't even bother to think about what was happening to the phone now. Because it wasn't new anymore.

Then, one day, I noticed the phone was in less than ordinary shape. It had scratches all over. The screen wasn't looking as bright as before. The battery had started dying quicker. I had no choice but to acknowledge that I had been quite shoddy. What started with just a scratch on the surface and caused mere cosmetic damage had grown to cause irreparable damage to the phone itself. And I had remained unperturbed so far because I was taking things for granted. I had gotten too comfortable with things and didn't bother about the upkeep of what was once a very beautiful thing.

I realized this. And then I realized something else. It wasn't just the phone...