Image from: http://takato-matsuda-xcess.deviantart.com/art/Anime-Love-Vector-123402405
It is a fact universally acknowledged that any woman of any cast, color or creed is an epitome of unpredictability. Even the simple words like Yes, No, or Ok can’t safely be judged to have a simple meaning when uttered by a feminine tongue. And since ages and ages, men have struggled to fathom this greatest mystery of the universe, the mystery that’s called ‘Woman’s Heart.’ But none, not even the wisest of wise, have been able to claim a complete mastery in the art of comprehending a woman.
But miracles do happen, you know. And just a few days ago, while walking with my eyes glued to the screen of my brand new ZenFone 5, I bumped into one such miracle. Or rather, fell over it, as it sat on the side of a road in the shape of an old, old man.
And horror of horrors! As I stumbled, my brand new ZenFone 5 slipped out of my hand and fell down near his foot.
“My ZenFone!” I cried out.
Asus ZenFone 5
“You should have seen where you were going, instead of staring at your phone,” he said.
My tongue burnt to give him a fitting retort, but I remained silent. For one, he was an old man. And I have been taught to respect the aged. And then, I did feel that it was my fault. I probably had been a bit too absorbed in my ZenFone that I had bought just that day.
But what could I have done? I just couldn’t stop admiring my incredible ZenFone 5′s big and bright 5″ TFT LED Backlight / 1280 x 720 HD IPS display as my fingers caressed lovingly its smooth and comfortable soft touch back. My thumb on its own kept on swiping from one screen to other, opening and closing different apps one after the other. My grin getting broader all the time as I experienced the swift and smooth functioning of my ZenFone 5 that I knew was thanks to its powerful 2×2: Intel® Atom™ Multi-Core Z2580/Z2560 Processor 2.0 / 1.6GHz with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and 2 GB RAM . I couldn’t stop exploring all the features of my new phone and couldn’t rest till I could feel fully familiar with all the ease and conveniences of the brand new ZenUI that I knew my ZenFone had. And I knew that I could play with my phone as much as I wanted because there was no danger of its 2110 mAh battery running out so soon.
And even if I did drain the battery by continuously fiddling with the phone, I could always adjust the power saving mode to make the battery last longer.
But now, my incredible ZenFone lay in dirt at the feet of the old man.
Back of Asus ZenFone 5
I steadied myself and extended my hand to pick it up. But the old man, with a surprising swiftness, grabbed it before my hand was even half way.
“Nice phone,’ he said.
“It’s Asus ZenFone 5,” I said, “not just nice, but incredible!” I corrected him, snatching my ZenFone from his grasp.
And then I saw it! My dear ZenFone had received a scratch! I don’t quite know whether from the fall or that old man’s long nails. But a scratch there was.
“Now look what you have done! And I just bought it today.!” I cried out, showing the scratch to him.
“That’s nothing, I can mend it in a blink,” he said.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” I jeered at him.
“I tell you, I can. I can even make it more incredible,’ he said.
“Yeah? How?’ I asked.
“I can give it a super power!” he exclaimed, ‘any super power.”
“Really? Can you give it the power to make me rich?’ I asked.
“Yes, but that would be a poor power indeed because being rich is no guarantee of happiness.”
“Guarantee of happiness,” the words caught my attention. “That’s a good thing to have,” I thought. “But what power can I ask for that can give me the guarantee of happiness? What would make me happy, really happy? And then the word sparkled before my eyes. LOVE! Of course, I wanted the power to win me love. Love of one special girl.
But that special girl had already made it clear. “I would only marry the one who really knows me. One who can understand me and my feelings,” she had declared.
“I know!” I said to the old man, “give my phone the power to understand women, to see what they are thinking and feel what they are feeling.”
“Your wish is granted,” the old man said. “The phone you love most will now have the power to show you the thoughts of your love and make you feel her feelings. When you long press the volume key on your phone, you’ll be able to see on the phone’s screen the thoughts of the person in front of you. And as long as you hold your phone in your hand and keep its camera pointed towards her, you’ll be able to feel her feelings. Use the power well and you will have your heart’s desire,” so saying, the old man got up and walked away, fading into the dwindling evening light.
I already felt as if I had all my desires fulfilled. I had my ZenFone, without any scratch now, and I had the power to win the love of my love. And the time was just perfect too because the very next day we were going to Goa on our annual office outing.
“Goa, Goa would be the place where I would win her love,” I thought, already congratulating myself at my success and happiness.
ZenFone 6
I did not know at that time that I was not the only person forming such a plan that evening. But I guess, even If I had known, I wouldn’t have much worried. After all, I had the greatest power in my hand, didn’t I?
So there I was in Goa, next day. I didn’t know if the weather felt so perfect because my heart was dancing with joy, or whether the sky had really painted itself in brighter hues, the wind had loaded itself with a more fragrant spirit, and the sea was actually bounding with the joy of seeing me win my true love! My love, yes, there she was. Her hair gleaming with the pride of having softer and more tempting waves than those of the sea. Her eyes shining with delight of youth and beauty. And her fair form, as light as a flower petal, and as graceful as the tender branch nodding with the pride of bearing the fairest and loveliest flower in all universe.
Alright, maybe I exaggerate a little. But you would excuse that, I’m sure, especially if you ever loved anyone as I love her, my lovely Anu.
So there we were, our entire team, roaming around in Goa with the intent of squeezing more fun out of that enchanting place than anybody else ever had.
We were all walking from our hotel to enjoy our first frolic at the beach. There was an ice cream vendor by the road side. I saw her look at him. I directed the camera of my phone towards her and looked at the screen. From my ZenFone, a shiver ran up my hand. That was the first time I felt what she was feeling and knew instantly what she wanted. I long pressed the volume button of my phone and could see it written clearly on the phone’s screen too. Chocolate ice cream!
I ran to the ice cream vendor and bought her desire. I ran with it to her, she saw me coming. Her eyes widened up in alarm, and instantly my ZenFone buzzed in my hand. I halted and looked at the screen.
“What’s he doing? Why is he running towards me with that ice cream? I’ll never forgive him if he dares give it to me in front of everyone!” the words scrolled quickly on my ZenFone’s screen.
Vibrant Colours of ZenFone 4
I immediately turned my plan on its heels. I started eating the ice cream as if I had always intended it for just myself. Instantly my phone made me feel her renewed yearning for the chocbar.
“Hey, girls! Want an ice cream? My treat?” I called out to ask the entire girl gang of my team.
“Sure!” several voices echoed.
I asked each one of them which flavor they wanted, but I did not ask her. Through my ZenFone, I could feel that she was confused at that. I smiled under my skin at her confusion. Then I calmly ordered another chocolate ice cream and took it to her.
“How did you know I wanted a chocolate ice cream?’ she asked with not an unpleasant surprise.
I smiled into her eyes, “Lucky guess, maybe?” I said, in a tone that implied sufficiently that it was much more than a mere guess, rather a result of a connection which was far deeper and far more sincere than a guess could ever be. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. And my ZenFone told me that she was smiling, even as she turned and walked away.
Aided by my super powered ZenFone, more such lucky guesses followed. Seeing her thoughts written out clearly on my phone’s screen, and feeling what she was feeling through the vibrations of my ZenFone, I did everything that she desired to be done. Even to the extent of helping her build sand castles, engaging the local kids at the beach in a football game and then pulling her into it, buying a whole load of flowers from a poor girl just because Anu was feeling sorry for the child, and eating at breakfast, lunch and dinner that which she favoured. And I made sure Anu noticed this, and was pleased.
Basically, I kept Anu’s heart tickling with joy at all times, while all the time raising fumes of jealousy from my rival Aneesh’s heart. But he too had his own power to bring into play, I must admit. First, he was good-looking, as it was easy to see declared often and again in the eyes of all the unmarried girls of our team. Then, he held a superior post than mine. And worst of all was that he had been Anu’s schoolmate and they had lived in the same neighbourhood since many years.
Flip cover with window
All in all, a daunting rival, you must admit. And I suppose I would have had no hope of surmounting his hopes, had I not in my hand the greatest power of all.
But having that power, I used it at all available opportunities.
It was the third day of our stay in Goa. Next day, we were all to fly back to Delhi. My attempts had, by that time, been awarded many smiles and shy blushes from Anu, but nothing more had happened to give me any concrete evidence of my steps progressing on the road to the castle of happiness.
“But a lot can be achieved in the course of one evening,” I assured myself as I walked over to where she was laughing and chatting with four or five other members of our team.
“Hey, what’s the joke?’ I asked as I joined them just when they happened to be laughing louder than usual.
“Nothing,” My Anu said, pretending to scowl. “I was just showing them some pictures of mine. Don’t know why these girls think they are hilarious.”
“Hey, talking about pictures,” I said at once, “let’s take some group selfies!”
A chorus of approval met my suggestion at once. And we all arranged ourselves to frame ourselves in memorable selfies. I positioned my incredible ZenFone 5, pointing its 8 MP PixelMaster back camera towards us.
“How are you going to take a selfie from the back camera?” Anu asked.
“Simply by using the ZenFone’s Selfie mode which auto detects faces and clicks the picture so I can have the best selfie. I can take a selfie from the 2 MP front camera too, of course, but why do that when my phone is capable of taking selifes from the more powerful back camera?”
“Wow, nice mode,” said Anu.
“Yes,” I said, smiling, “Asus ZenFone has some really nice camera modes. I love the Selfie and the low light mode best. Just see the picture of these flowers. I clicked it when it was totally dark. Still see how nicely the colours have been captured. And here’s one mode that I’m sure all of you girls would love to try out.”
“What mode is that?’ Anu asked.
Various Camera Modes
“Beautification mode,” I said grinning. And then, of course, took pictures of all the girls gathered there to let them see that mode’s magic. And they loved it, of course. Anu also liked the amazing picture effects created by my Depth of Field Mode which brought a chosen object to prominence.
While we were thus enjoying, Aneesh sauntered up there too, much to my displeasure. I wished that I could just use the Smart Remove mode of my ZenFone’s camera to remove that gentleman from the face of the earth. However, the mode could only remove him from the pictures I clicked, and that I did quickly enough, you might be sure about that.
Anu and other girls loved the pictures clicked by my ZenFone so much that I was appointed as the cameraman of the evening and made to take over a hundred pictures. Thankfully, my ZenFone 5 has 8 GB of internal storage which was quite sufficient to store all those pics and the many videos I shot at that evening.
Web Storage and Cloud Service integration in File Manager, Music Player and Gallery
But then, even if the internal storage had proved short, my ZenFone had access to 5GB of webstorage, which is integrated and can be accessed from the File Manager of ZenFone. Not just the Asus WebStorage, but even other cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive can be accessed from within ZenFone’s file manager. Also, sharing the images and videos from my phone to other phones or computers is a breeze too, thanks to ZenFone’s various quick sharing features like Party Link, PC Link and Share Link etc.
Various Quick Sharing Options in ZenFone
But I digress. I was telling you about that memorable evening in Goa.
Well, we had a lot of fun clicking pictures and shooting videos and having a jolly good time. I, at least, was having a really good time as I could easily notice how often and for how long Anu was standing beside me, and by her own choice. And the more she remained close to me, the more opportunities I got to show to her how well I knew and understood her. I even went so far as to predict her words sometimes.
The first time I did that, she smiled and blushed. Next time won a smile from her too. But then, her girly unpredictability kicked in, I suppose.
At first, I had sensed it clearly enough through my superpowered ZenFone that my predicting her thoughts and wishes was pleasing her. But then somehow, the pleasure started getting polluted by an unease, which turned to alarm, and this alarm become worse and worse the more I used my phone’s super power to prove to her how well I knew her. And then the time came when I noticed her avoiding me, even in quite a rude way.
And then the worst happened.
It was late afternoon. We all were enjoying ourselves at the beach. The sun was still hot. when, near evening time, as we all were frolicking at the beach, I sensed her feeling thirsty and wishing for a coconut water. So, of course, I went and got her that.
“How did you know I wanted it?” she asked, frowning.
“I…” I began, but halted, not knowing what to say to that.
“You are scaring me now, Rohit,” she said.
“Me? Why?”
“How do you know everything that I’m thinking?”
I smiled at that. “That’s because I know you well, so I can…”
“Nobody can know anybody so well as to know her every thought. It’s downright weird. And Scary. And I don’t like it!” she said, stamping her feet.
“I was only trying to prove to you how well I know you and understand you because you said you will only love the one who understands you completely!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, but not so completely as to be able to know my every thought! That would be…that would be…horrible!”
“Great,” I thought to myself. “First she didn’t want to have anything to do with me because I didn’t know her well. And now she doesn’t like me because I know her too well!” Worse, she was scared of me now! And that was something that I could not bear.
ZenFone 4
So I walked up to her and handed her my ZenFone. “I don’t know your thoughts, Anu. I could only see them because of the super power of my phone.”
“What? What do you mean?”
So I explained to her what I meant. Her face showed her mounting anger clearly enough to me.
“I’m sorry if you think it was wrong of me to read your thoughts. But I only did it to prove to you how much I love you and to win your love. But I suppose it’s hopeless now. I might as well go and congratulate Aneesh now,” I said, turning and walking away in dejection.
“Wait,” she called out. And I turned and waited.
“You had the chance to get any super power you wanted, and you chose to get this power so you could win my love?”
I nodded.
“Oh my God! Do you really love me so much?” she murmured, her eyes softening up instantly. She blinked and stared at me for a long moment. And then smiled and turned away, but only to hide her blush, I think.
A year has passed since that day, and almost seven months since our marriage. My wife Anu is taking selfies using my superpowered ZenFone 5 right now. I’m in the kitchen making breakfast for her. She still refuses to hand me back my phone as she still would not let me read her thoughts. She uses it now to click selfies whenever she wears a new dress, which is pretty often, by the way. She also uses it to see the thoughts of her friends. Consequently, she has to find herself a new friend faster almost than she finds herself new dresses.
Informative and Useful Widgets and Lock Screen
Useful Note taking apps like QuickMemo, SuperNote and Do It Later
To compensate my loss of my superpowered phone, my wife Anu has bought me ZenFone 6 instead. It is even bigger and better than my previous ZenFone 5, of course. It has 6″ TFT LED Backlight / 1280 x 720 HD IPS display, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, like ZenFone 5. Also, like ZenFone 5, I can use it with a gloved hand. My ZenFone 6 has 13 MP front camera and 16 GB internal storage. And it costed me only Rs 16,000, for of course, my Anu gifted it to me using my own money. But I don’t complain because even if my new ZenFone can’t help me see her thoughts or feel her feelings, its Intel Inside goodness, brilliant features like QuickMemo (which can be pinned to all screens), SuperNote (a comprehensive note taking app with ability to insert all sorts of media), DoItLater (to help me remember to call or message Anu whenever I miss her call!), WhatsNext (to keep me updated with weather conditions and upcoming events) etc. help me to remember all that Anu wants me to remember. And that makes her happy. And its sleek looks, big and bright screen and swift and efficient performance and various other features make me happy too. Truly, even without a superpower, ZenFones are pretty impressive and incredible devices, and with incredible prices!
ZenFone 6
But wait, I think my wife is shouting at me from the bedroom. What is she saying? Smell? What smell? Oh, God! I burnt her omelet while telling you our story. But how did she smell it from the bedroom when I failed to smell it standing right beside it?
*************************************
And to that, the writer (a woman and proud of it!) would like to say that if ever a man got the opportunity to have a super power, it would be a good thing even if he just got the powers we women naturally have. What say, girls?
**********************************
This blog post has been written for a contest by Asus on Indiblogger
To know more about ZenFone, check out the official page here: http://www.asus.com/campaign/zenfone/IN/
You can also read my detailed review of ZenFone HERE