The Udipi restaurants dispense coffee -- that is ready to be consumed. Like ready-to-wear T-shirts. Is that anyway significant? Of course! The coffee may also be served in a System Knocked Down -- SKD condition, to those who desire some programmability. That is, milk and sugar separately delivered. Make your coffee black, white, brown or whatever. The Component Knocked Down -- CKD service is a further refinement. You get a buffalo for the milk and a cane for extracting sugar. You can have never-before coffee ! Oh Boy ! What a way to start a day!!

I was obliged to tell a story to Sudha. Every day. As she used to wait for the school bus. The bus was never consistent in its delayed running. Some days it was only ten minutes late. Some other days, twenty minutes. And less often, thirty minutes. The stories had to be structured to match the extent of waiting. It was a task to discover stories that made a perfect fit. But I had my methods. You see I had been trained in user friendliness, sufficiently, to be able to convert that disad into an advantage.

Therefore I volunteered, " What story shall I tell you Sudha, today?"

"Any story", she said.

"My repertoire is vast. You will have to help me in choosing a right one for you".

So I unreeled the menu.

"Okay", she proposed, "tell me a story of an elephant"

"What kind of an elephant?"

"A revengeful baby elephant, should be okay"

"Tell me, Sudha, why should the elephant take a revenge?"

"Because," she thought for a while and suggested, "the tailor hurt it"

"How could a tailor harm a little elephant?"

"With a sewing needle, of course"

"So Sudha, You want me to tell you a story -- of a sweet baby elephant that used to go for its bath every day along the bazaar. Passers-by used to present fruits. One day, however, a mischievous tailor pricked its trunk"

"Yes, of course", Sudha would add, "I shall suggest how the baby elephant would return the tit for tat..."

By that time, the bus would arrive. Throughout the time Sudha was in the school, the story was never completed.

Today, there is user friendly software.

"So I believe you wanted to generate some word processing software", the computer told me.

"Yes, you heard me right"

"What language?"

"Say, French"

"OOPS", said the computer, "I meant, amongst others -- Ada, Pascal, Einstein or Clinton"

"OK, then make it simple so I may C through it"

"OK, I suppose you like use a keyboard. What kind of a board have you?"

"A rugged one -- I suppose"

"I was wanting to know - if it was QWERTY or ASDF ?"

"How about a keyboard with letters on it -- is that too demanding?"

"No, not at all. Only that I was worried about my Font Manager"

"Who is he? Is he the one who sits in the Font Office?"

"Yes and No. Do tell me what kind of paper you use?"

"A--one"

"That is no size. You have to choose from A -- 2,3 through 6. It depends. Say, on how many lines you intend to place on a page"

"Two hundred, if that is not very difficult for you"

"My counting stops at fifty five. You have to name a figure within that "

"Look here, Computer, you seem generous. You sure allow me to have an opinion, so long as that matches with yours. Tell me if I were to organize all these things, myself, why would I need you?"

"Mortal! This is coffee by CKD. You are getting a Designer Version of custom software, made only for you. If you do not like, you are free to quit this installation program. And have ready mixed coffee in the Udipi restaurant opposite"