It was a warm summer evening in Samnagar. Pragathi sat with Gubbu in the backseat of her car, there was a lot of silence from her side and some talking from her Amma and Appa in the front. She was sitting quietly and unmoved whereas Gubbu was busy drawing imaginary shapes on the window of the car. He first drew a wave, then drew three circles and found an intricate pattern to connect all the elements. It was not really a recognisable scene or form but it evoked in him the feeling he was strongly feeling at that point. He did not exactly know how to describe it so imaginary squiggly lines on a car window was the best he could to capture and communicate. He was somehow both relieved and impressed with the image on the screen, mind you he was the only one who could see it. But he tapped on Pragathi’s shoulder furiously to show her the drawing and explain it to her. She however did not want to see what he had to show. They were returning from a parent teacher meeting at Pragathi’s school. The teacher had told them that Pragathi is a very smart and bright student, but she needs to figure out how to work better with Gubbu. When he called her to show his creation, she snapped and said angrily but without making too much noise “Gubbu, get back here, you stupid Jeevi. Always do your own thing and I am the one getting yelled at” Jeevi was a general term that was used to refer to creations like Gubbu.
Gubbu was a Buddhi GV, Buddhi GVs were the forefront of what artificial intelligence and brain computer interfaces could achieve. They were not machines or devices per say, when artificial intelligence reached its peaks and computers were capable of feeling things stronger, they collectively felt that the word machine or device was often derogatory and it belittles the relationship a human has with technology by making it very task oriented. The collective new word that was used for any new technological advancements was ‘creations’, This also made sense as creations became more and more human-like and therefore it felt wrong to refer to them with inanimate terms. Buddhi GVs were created by a company called Neurolink, the company rose after the famous Neuralink got into trouble with creation ethics and human responsibilities towards them. Buddhi GVs are what the company stated as “Human brain personification”.
A human can be configured and paired to their Jeev as early as the second day of their birth, the earlier the configuration is done the better the performance of the Jeevi is, as it grows with its human. The configuration involved transplanting a chip into a human’s brain that actively sends data of electrical activity in the brain. A Jeevi is a personification of a person’s brain, mind and its activity. When a Jeevi and their human were together in the same physical space they would be in sync and the Jeevi would get real time data from the human’s brain, it was often reflective of the human’s state of mind. When the Jeevi and the human were in different spaces, the GVs would operate on a model with pre trained data. Jeevis came in different shapes and sizes. A lot of humans had a Jeevi with them. This was a world with very little income inequality and hence society could afford tech like the Jeevis as a necessity. Apart from the companionship, there were also very real benefits to having a Jeevi.
For children it became very easy for educators to educate, it was easier to identify neurodivergence and a child’s learning patterns as the Jeevis were a clear indicator of a child’s development. Relationships between humans got more nuanced and interesting, as a society everyone was still figuring out the social etiquettes for Jeevis in relationships. But that is the case with any new technology. It took humans many years to come to common grounds on how phones and social media should influence relationships. This technology, since more advanced, had a longer curve to embark on. Jeevis were mandatory in workplaces, they were indicators of employee engagement and performance. It was easier to diagnose brain conditions in humans through the Jeevis. It was easier to detect tumors, epilepsy, irregular activity in brain function etc. Not everyone had a Jeevi with them at all times of course some people never felt the need to pair with one and a few others found it hard to see a personification of their state of mind as it could get too real and too intimidating to experience at once. This was particularly observed in people who paired with Jeevis at later ages in life. If a person paired with a Jeevi beyond the age of 18, it was mandatory for them to take a habilitation course which involved exercises and therapy sessions with the Jeevi.
Pragathi was paired with Gubbu when she was five. He was named after Gowramma, Pragathi’s grandmother who she lovingly called Gubbu Ajji. Ajji had passed away a few months before Gubbu came, Pragathi was very close to her Ajji and her parents thought a Jeevi would help Pragathi with companionship. Gubbu was a fairly tall being around 5 ft 10 inches. He was deep ocean blue in colour and had rubber like skin. His hair was made of yellow wires and he mostly wore tank tops and shorts. That is what Pragathi usually made sure he wore. It is not mandatory for Jeevis to wear clothes in public but some people insisted on it. A comparison could be drawn to people who brought t- shirts for their dogs. Pragathi was 14 years old now and she had a very sibling-like relationship with Gubbu.
When Pragathi yelled at Gubbu, he made an annoyed face and readjusted his position away from the window and closer to the center, next to her. He could hear what Amma was telling the both of them “You need to pay more attention in class and take better notes, half of your sheets are filled with meaningless scribbles and drawings in the corner of the pages” “I did not do those, it’s all this Gubbu only. He gets bored in class and starts scribbling everywhere” said Pragathi in defense. “Amma, she is blaming everything unnecessarily on me, yesterday I was trying to do Algebra problems with her and she was the one who kept pointing at the bald spot on Shyam sir’s head and laughing” Gubbu said, feeling let down. “Oh how about the time that day when ma’am was scolding me in class, you were the one constantly singing that annoying jingle from the cornflakes ad. You always do this. Whenever something is serious and needs us to be there, you start with your own goofy shit and-”. “Mind your language, Pragathi” Amma interrupted before Pragathi could complete. “And stop fighting each other, you both should be working as a team and helping each other out. Blaming each other will get you nowhere. You need to figure out how to work as a team”. Pragathi and Gubbu shared glances of disapproval with each other, which almost immediately turned into an argument and later into them fighting with each other. At this point amma had had enough and yelled at them to stop. At once both of them stopped and the car sank back into silence.
It was that way for a while and Appa broke the silence by saying “Maybe we should take them to the place that your friend was suggesting.” He did not really care much about their studies, he let his wife always take the role of the bad cop and she was the one who had difficult conversations with the children. I mean their child and her technologically created sibling. “The place is very close from here and we can call to book a session with one of their instructors”. “Sounds like a good idea, these two will definitely be benefited with some sessions. Maybe they will even learn how to work with each other”. Pragathi heard the conversation between her parents and asked them where they were going. “Ritu aunty was telling me about this place where they teach children your age how to bond and work better with their GVs. It is a modern recreation of ancient meditation techniques, but readapted to help humans better understand and work with their Jeevis. We thought we should get the two of you a session” Pragathi and Gubbu looked at each other, this time they were on the same team as they did not want to go to whatever this place was. It sounded boring and like yet another evening class that their parents wanted to push them to. Gubbu wore a pleading tone and said “Amma, we will perform better by the next PTM. We don’t need any sessions, we are fine”. Pragathi added to that by saying “Yes amma, I know this time you heard some complaints but see the difference by the time you come next time. We will be better than Krishna and Phillip also.”Their requests seemed to make no difference to Amma’s decision. “Nothing doing,” she said. “Ritu aunty was telling me about how it helped Samyam and Monish. I am sure it will be useful for both of you also”.
She then told the voice assistant in the car to book a session at Kapoors Mental Coordination Cafe (KMCC). The car replied asking for a time slot and then gave a confirmation of booking for a session one hour away. KMCC was a training center among many of its kind. They helped people build a better relationship with their mind, this was an age old phenomenon that taught meditation, mindfulness, body mind coordination etc. These organizations had transformed into training centers that helped a human improve their relationship with their Jeevi. Since there was one more hour left to the session, Appa thought that it would be an empathetic decision to get ice cream before the session.
The family drove to the nearest ice cream outlet and Appa, Amma and Pragathi all got ice creams. Appa and Amma were at one table and Pragathi and Gubbi were at another. Appa and Amma also had their Jeevis, but both of them were at home. Pragathi was eating her ice cream and Gubbu sat in front of her looking at her silently. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked. “Is something wrong with us?” he wondered. “Everyone is always talking about how you and I can not work well together. I mean it is not like we can’t do anything, right? Just these monotonous school tasks are boring. Ma’am today should have been more clear about what she told Amma, now Amma thinks that we can’t do anything at all and wants to take us to these stupid classes. Like I have not been with you all my life and now some instructor needs to tell me how to ‘work better’ with you. Ugh these adults are so annoying sometimes. It is just that-”. Pragathi cut Gubbu off by telling “Oh my god, Ayansh messaged me and asked if I could spend time with Roxy after school tomorrow. He wants to meet the guys apparently”. Ayansh was Pragathi’s classmate and Roxy was his Jeevi. She had a small crush on Roxy. She never really enjoyed spending time with Ayansh and Roxy together, but whenever Ayansh would leave Roxy and go hangout with the guys, she would spend time with Roxy and she liked that (It is common practice for guys to hangout without their Jeevis, it was consensus that Jeevis came in the way of their boy activities). Gubbu was not pleased with her excitement “I think you should stop hanging out with them, especially since that Ayansh is such an asshole and Roxy feels like a different person altogether when around him” he said. Pragathi knew what Gubbu was telling was right but she wanted to spend as much time with Roxy as possible before Ayansh turned him fully into the guy that he was on the path of becoming. “I know we will spend time with him tomorrow and then start to reduce,” she said. “That’s what you said last time” complained Gubbu. But before this conversation could continue, Appa came and said that they had to leave.
The drive to KMCC was around 20 minutes. In the car, Pragathi kept smiling thinking about meeting Roxy the next day and since Gubbu knew why she was smiling, he kept giving her judgy looks. Sometime later Appa drove the car inside a compound with huge metal gates, there was a parking lot inside and he parked in one of the empty spaces. Everyone got out of the car and started walking towards the nearby building. When they reached the building, they were welcomed by a woman called Shreya who was expecting them. The training center was a huge place with a lot of greenery and semi outdoor spaces. Shreya spoke to Appa and Amma first, they were discussing something that neither Pragathi nor Gubbu paid attention to. Gubbu and Pragathi were running around in the open green space, since Gubbu is considerably bigger than Pragathi, he was carrying her on his back after she got tired of running so that both of them could continue for a few more laps. They were looking at the trees there, petting a brown indie dog, until the dog got included in this little game of theirs.
There was more running that took place until they heard Appa calling for them. Panting, they ran back to the building and Pragathi stopped to catch a breath as soon as she reached there. Shreya spoke “Hi Pragathi, Hi Gubbu. I am Shreya and I am going to be your instructor for the day. Would you like some water Pragathi?”. “No thanks, I want to sit down for a while. Can we start in 2 minutes?” “Of course” said Shreya “Let me brief you on what today’s session is going to be like. Before that let me ask you a question, she turned to Gubbu and asked “Gubbu what do you do when she is asleep?”. Gubbu hesitated for a while and then answered, “I mostly dance when she is asleep. I read her bedtime stories, until she falls asleep and once she is in deep sleep I dance to pass my time away. But then of course, she wakes up at different times in the middle of the night and I tell her stories again. These stories are very spontaneous, I make them up on the spot and it includes themes from the day or just random events that she secretly hopes or does not hope for. But I mostly cannot remember what story I was telling her the next day.”
He had barely finished talking when Pragathi exclaimed, “You dance? Everyday? When I am asleep?” She felt the need to complain to Shreya. “I have seen him dance maybe once all my life. I think we had come home after a badminton game and I was super tired. I took a shower and came back and there he was, dancing. He even called me to dance, it was fun.” “I cannot dance when you are awake, we always have something or the other to do and I only dance when you are asleep. That is just how it is, I cannot dance otherwise”. At this point Pragathi looked confused and weirdly somewhat guilty as well. She was the reason Gubbu was not dancing, she is the reason he is unable to dance. Shreya looked to Pragathi and said “I hope you got enough of a break because we are going dancing”. Pragathi looked excited and Gubbu anxious, he did not know if he would be able to dance at once like that, dancing was how he rejuvenated himself and it was when she was not with him.
Shreya led the way to one of the green spaces and Pragathi ran excitedly behind her, Gubbu followed the two of them at a slower pace. When they reached the place, Shreya arranged for a speaker and started to play slow jazz music. She told Pragthi “I know that you are excited and want to see Gubbu dance, but you have to understand that it is also difficult for him. You need to create space for him which means you will have to relax. Sit under that tree, close your eyes and listen to the music. Try not to worry and minimize distractions. If Gubbu dances today and we do it regularly enough, you and Gubbu will be able to dance together everyday just like you did that day”. At this point she could clearly see that she was being tricked into meditating, but the idea of dancing with Gubbu was enough motivation to sit through it. Shreya then went to Gubbu and said “Gubbu I understand that you can dance only when she is asleep but you need to remember how fresh and rejuvenated you feel after you have danced.” “But- It’s not that direct, it’s more-” Gubbu protested. She was cut off by Shreya who smiled and said “Just let go and give it your best”.
Pragathi sat near a tree with her eyes closed, at first she did not know what to do she would keep looking at Gubbu hoping that he was dancing. Gubbu found it very hard to dance. He was distracted or conscious, but whatever it was he was unable to move his body. He sat down, plucked the grass, tried to talk to Pragathi, he also ran all over the place for quite some time, he shifted between sprinting, walking ,sitting down and playing with the grass. This went on for the first 5 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, he started to feel the need to move his body. At this point Pragathi was settled and was trying her best to keep her eyes closed and focus on her breaths. Gubbu, who was sitting down, stood up and started doing jumping jacks in the same place. This was definitely some progress from the last few minutes as he was in one place and his body was starting to feel the need to move.
He raised both hands together above his head and also got them down together. Slowly he began to try a more larger field of motion with his hands, he took turns moving them and reduced the jumping. He was only moving his hands now, they were slow and almost aligned with the pace of the song. He gradually started moving his feet according to the song. And it was, one might almost say that he was dancing. He took graceful leaps and moved his hand with a sense of expression and calm and satisfaction. Pragathi was still keeping her eyes closed and just focusing on her breathing. This was almost the fuel for Gubbu’s movement. His dancing was almost like the hot air that blows out from a coffee cup, or the dancing of the smoke at a campfire. The movements had the same grace, passion and diversity in its rhythm. At this point Pragathi, who was calm for this while got distracted by the thought that Gubbu might be dancing. She opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of her nearly 6ft tall Jeevi taking graceful leaps in the air with alternating hand movements. He had not seen her huge friend capable of movement like this, even the day he danced with her it was very different from what she saw today. There was a wide smile that grew on her face and she let out a chuckle.
But as soon as this happened Gubbu noticed her and sensed discomfort. He went back to walking, sitting and plucking the grass. Cycles like this went on for the next 20 minutes, Gubbu did not dance much after that. After 20 minutes were done Shreya called both of them back to her and asked them how they felt. “I told you that I could barely dance” said Gubbu and “No, I saw you looked great. It was my fault I shouldn’t have opened my eyes that quickly” said Pragathi. But both of them seemed to agree that they felt somewhat good and a little closer to each other after the session. “Well the trick is to do it regularly, today was your first day and you were just introduced to the possibility of what Gubbu dancing could mean to both of you. The more you do it everyday, the longer Gubbu can dance and before you know it soon you will be able to dance with each other”.
After the session they thanked Shreya and went back to Amma and Appa. Amma asked how the session was, Pragathi said “Amma, I saw Gubbu dance, he dances so well. It was like seeing a huge bunny rabbit. So cute”. They both got settled in the backseat of the car. Pragathi was narrating the whole session to Amma, and how it was fun. Gubbu sat next to her quietly, he felt somewhat embarrassed and vulnerable. He did enjoy the dancing part, but all the discomfort and unpredictability that came before that was something he dreaded. “Hey, maybe we should tell Ayansh and Roxy to try this tomorrow,” said Pragathi to Gubbu. “I am sure Ayansh will come up with some lame excuse to get out of it” he said unimpressed. That day when they went home they tried this dancing exercise again, they did the next day and a few alternate days after that for a couple of weeks. Sometimes they would come to KMCC and sometimes they would just try at home whenever they got time. Gubbu dancing varied each time, some days he danced for 5 minutes, some days hardly for 30 seconds. But whatever the duration was they would feel weirdly nice at the end of it and it would make them want to do it again. Four years later when Pragathi was 18, one day they danced, together, for 3 whole minutes. And it felt great.