Child146;s play

Meet Silicon Valley Bangalore8217;s wizards who are as much at home with computers, cellphones and gaming technology as with good, old homework.

A sixth generation gaming console, the PlayStation2 PS2, that he received as a gift around two years ago first hooked Rahul to gaming and gaming technology. His interests have gradually spread to mobile phone technology and computers. With as many as 10 other boys in his class homing in on new age gaming consoles like the PlayStation, X-Box and GameCube, gaming technology is a key part of the day-to-day vocabulary at school, says Rahul.

8220;A lot of our school leisure discussion revolves around gaming. Saturdays, Sundays and any other free time is spent gaming or on the computer. We are all eagerly waiting to get our hands on the latest products,8221; Rahul points out, adding, 8220;if our parents allow us8221;.

Sneha, on the other hand, has few people to talk to. Her passion for electronics and computer programming is more easily shared with boys than with girls. Last year, the 15-year-old won the Infosys 8216;Catch them young8217; contest, aimed at scouting young software talent in Bangalore. Recently, she wrote software for hospital administration along with a school friend, created a metal detector for a school science exhibition and qualified for a Cyber Olympiad.

8220;It was the computer lessons and projects at school that really got me interested in programming. I began doing it even beyond school. I enjoy writing computer programs. It gives me a lot of satisfaction. One of my best products was a solution for hospital management,8221; says Sneha.

When the IT boom began in pensioner8217;s paradise Bangalore nearly a decade ago, young engineers and computer graduates aged between 21 to 30 were training ageing parents to use computers and mobile phones. With hundreds of young engineers moving to the United States and Europe, grandfather and grandmother needed to use e-mail and phone conferencing to keep in touch with their children and family.

8220;I got a computer and a net connection five years ago to correspond with my US-based daughter and her husband. I went for some basic computer lessons but I could never fix problems myself. I still turn to kids in my flats for help,8221; says Valerian Lobo, a 68-year-old living in Bangalore. These days, with the 8220;software-expert generation8221; busy making money in offices, teenage kids have got down to settling technology problems, their8217;s and their parents8217;, on their own.

Ashwin Sridhar, a 15-year-old, for example is tech man Friday for his 70-year-old grandfather and 42-year-old engineer father Sridhar Govindachari. 8220;As people become older, they tend to become averse to adapting to the increasingly rapid rate of technology change. Only usability matters to them. They are not willing to spend time mastering the technology like younger people are willing to,8221; the 15-year-old pontificates.

Adds 40-year-old engineer Ramesh Arvind: 8220;Children are fearless about technology, once they have access to it. My 14-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son can figure out computers and computer games faster than I can.8221;

The increased dalliance with computers, gaming and mobile phone technology is, however, driving parents up the wall as well. 8220;He spends almost all his time indoors with his gaming or computer these days. I wish he would get out and play more often,8221; says Rahul8217;s mother Vindhya, a doctor.