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The more we depend upon tech, the more we have to depend on tech support. When you do it, have you ever observed that the moment the technician steps in, the gadget or machine seems to work fine?

Once our refrigerator seemed to have breathed its last. I tried everything, including switching off the power and switching it on again (because of my hangover of working with Windows-based computers). I yanked all the power cables from the stabiliser and inserted them again, but to no avail. Finally, I decided to call the service centre. The guy arrived, switched on the power and, voila!, the refrigerator came back to life!

The irked technician thought I was playing tricks and quizzed me on how I `operated' the fridge. I wondered what was there to `operate' in a fridge. He left after advising me to call the service centre only after `properly' checking everything.

Our office is no exception. Being one of the largest and most respected media organisations means the systems have to be perfect. The technical teams, apart from having to maintain the systems, have to put up with calls from all the departments spread across several buildings. Ours is a huge office and I sometimes feel sorry for the tech guys who have to run around the premises attending to (trivial?) problems.

Most of us end up looking stupid when everything seems to work fine as soon as the tech guys arrive on the scene. I once called the tech department as the monitor didn't work. I did everything I knew. I finally gave up and called the tech department. "Remove the monitor cable and insert it again," I was told. Though I had already done it, I did it again. Nothing happened. He said, "Switch off the system and switch it on again." (Yes, we have Windows). I did it. The result was the same.

He came and switched on the system. I don't have to tell you what happened other than that I did not know where to hide. The tech guy looked at me and I looked back at him. We both smiled and he left. The tech people seem to have some energy field around them that instantly solves issues.

Something different happened last month. A member of my team said he was trying to launch Firefox, but couldn't. He had tried several times since morning without success. I went to his machine and clicked on the Firefox icon. The errant browser opened without a protest. May be I had little bit of the energy field. Or may be I am qualified to call myself a techie.

R. Dinakaran

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