Plugging into the wireless life

At a 24/7 mall, a clutch of youngsters may be caught sipping cappuccino at midnight. It might be cool to be at a cha bar at 9 pm and graduate to a cha-cha bar an hour later. On Friday evening, the Kapoors are preparing to leave their duplex home and drive down to a weekend retreat, 100 km away from town. The junior Kapoors are packing their bags - stuffing in Pocket PCs loaded with games and, of course, their maths homework.The Rao family - 20-strong and three-generation extensive - has booked a screen at a luxury multiplex. All by themselves in the 30-seater hall, they are going to watch the family's all-time favourite: Chaplin's The Great Dictator. Dadaji, who won't miss his Sunday afternoon nap, plans to carry his air pillow along. As our wireless lives continue to get zippier, style will have to keep pace. And as always, we will want everything cool and everything hot. So as mobiles remain our best mates, we will want to watch promos of the new Hollywood movie on them, but still crave to see it on big screen for the "aah-so-lovely" panoramic shots. The more mobile we are, our cellphones will emit video, music, photographs, mail, reminders and our daily work schedule. The motormouths will have hand-phones for each segment: office colleagues, friends and family. Many others will bask in the glory of Internet telephony. Personal appearance will be high on the pecking order of our social presence. Design gurus may differ over whether drainpipes will fade away and bellbots will butt in; whether bumsters and spaghetti-strapped tops will stay longer and whether jogging pants and grey suits will be considered things of 2004. It's the persona, as many agree, that will dictate that a dress be in sun yellow, shocking pink or emerald green. Black and white, eternal favourites, and neutral browns will rule. And so may satin halter-necked gowns, short kurtas, bangles and bracelets. In corporate circles, however, dressing down may be complete with everybody in formals — Monday through Friday. From designer hair to sleepwear, from diamond jewellery to cookies - all may be made to order at brand bazaars. Our lickety-split daily routines will see us stop more frequently at self-service kiosks, be it for a soft drink or to pay our electricity bills. Awakened to a sunny Sensex, young professionals will get used to sedan comforts. HR chiefs in the BPO industry will try and meet the attrition challenge by pampering the employees. They'll bring the home and the world outside their office doors. Yet all style will be decreed by strong environment concerns - a trend that is bound to spread - and an increasing awareness of vegetarianism, charity and spiritualism. Just the things needed perhaps to supplement a life that's a bowl of cherries.