Bopanna’s Courage

Prologue: Drop of Life is a category of blogs which carry small Anecdotes or very short story that carries the reflection of life in every drop.

“Please sir, don’t hit me… Aaargh!” , the pain in the voice echoed piercing the silence of the night. Bopanna got up from his bed like he has been stuck by a shock of electric current. He gasped and his face was fully drenched with sweat. His eyes reflected the fear he had inside. He turned and looked at the clock by his side, it was 1 am. He took the bottle of water on the table by his side and drank. As he drank his hands shivered and water spilled on his face and flowed down his body. He kept the bottle back on the table and wiped his face with a towel.

“Sir sir… Please do not hit me…!” the voice sounded again. It had more pain than what it had previously. Bopanna was again in a state of shock. He held his chest with the towel. Then he laid down on the bed sideways and hid his other ear with the pillow. Although his intention was to avoid the sound and sleep, he could not succeed in his intention.

Let’s go in the direction of the voice and see where it comes from. As we move past the house of Bopanna we turn left into a police station. The wall of the police station is very adjacent to the house of Bopanna. The voice was coming from the remand cell in which the prisoners are kept and interrogated. This cell’s wall is on the side of the house of Bopanna. Hence the sound is very clearly heard in his house?

Bopanna’s house is in a small town called Adhikudi. It is a small time business hub for all the neighboring villages. The villagers came to this town every day to do their daily trades or buy commodities. The house was situated little away from the central market place, it was a small house with red tile roof. The tiles had gone black withstanding rain and heat through many seasons. The house had a small hall with an open kitchen and a single bedroom on the side. Bopanna earned his living working as an English teacher in the government school. His wife Gayathri and a five-year-old daughter Meghana stayed with him.

The trouble of hearing painful voices in the night has been a recent menace. There has been a new inspector deputed to the town. He has a very efficient track record of setting things right and preserving law and order wherever he is performing his duties. His name is Kalicharan. From the time he had come into the town the crime rate has significantly reduced. He has been very strict in maintaining law and order in the town. From the petty thieves to dacoits the name Kalicharan sent chills down their spine. His ways of interrogation and punishment had been well known to the accused and the fear of undergoing one kept them in check. Now we know the reason behind those voices in the night.

Everyone in the town was happy with the new inspector’s arrival but for Bopanna. Gayathri has asked him several times to go and tell the inspector about the nightly nuisance. However, Bopanna being a very simple person could not muster the courage to go up to him and complain about the nuisance.

He tried discussing the idea of going ahead and complaining to the inspector with his friends. There is one thing we all get freely in this world “Free advice”. The thing with free advice is that it sparkles the creativity and empowerment of the person giving the advice without worrying about any failure. Same thing happened here. He got different pieces of advice from different people… “don’t dare to do that… Are you mad…? The new inspector is arrogant and he might keep you in the remand and your family would hear your voice next”, “if I were you I would keep quiet about it… After some days you would get used to this noise and you will start missing it when it is quiet.”, “have some attitude to give to the society. You can consider this as a sacrifice for the neighborhood. The crime rate in the city has come down to a great extent. If you raise this concern now and if the inspector stops everything then god save us”, “Hey I have heard that the inspector has a thousand ears and he knows what people are talking in the town. I think you should not speak about this more or else he might come to know and we would be in trouble”. All these just reinforced Bopanna’s thought of keeping quiet. However, when he returned home his wife told him, “others will not understand what we are going through. Meghana is all frightened by the sounds she is hearing and she often gets sick now. We are telling a genuine concern and the inspector should understand it” Bopanna replied, “they can’t change the police station for us”. His wife said, “you should leave the problem to them… Anyways tomorrow I am going to our hometown to attend the temple festival and will be there for a week with our daughter. You please fix this problem before we return”

It was already a couple of days since Gayathri had left. One of the mornings on his way to the school, Bopanna spotted the inspector crossing the road towards the side he had been standing. Seeing that he tried to gather some courage to tell him about the issue. To his surprise inspector, Kalicharan walked towards him. Kalicharan is a well-built man with a large mustache. His eyes were half red most of the times. This made his face very stern and serious. As Kalicharan’s steps approached near Bopanna, he could not swallow his saliva properly in fear. Kalicharan directly walked towards him. Bopanna’s friend’s voice echoed in his ears “the inspector has a thousand ears…” Kalicharan’s eyes were even more red than usual as he neared him. He just lifted his hand and came down hard towards Bopanna. For a moment the entire world went dark as Bopanna closed his eyes. But nothing happened to him. He opened his eyes to find that the inspector had caught hold of the guy standing next to Bopanna by his shirt collar and started slapping him. As he slapped, the guy handed over the wallet to Bopanna. For a moment Bopanna could not believe his eyes. It was his wallet. The inspector then took the guy towards the police jeep. Everything happened in a jiffy it took quite some time for Bopanna to realize what had happened.

In the evening Bopanna sat in the park and recollected what had happened in the morning. He was still shivering thinking about how arrogantly the inspector had hit the guy and pulled him off. He slowly reached out to his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He ran his fingers around it and a faint smile appeared on his face. Then he got up and walked determinedly. He reached the junction where his house is and looked towards the police station. He saw the inspector’s motorbike parked outside the station. The constables ran around hurriedly doing their duties. There were enough indications that the inspector is inside. Bopanna walked towards the station. He reached near the gate and asked the police guard at the gate that he wanted to meet the inspector. The guard gave him a look and then directed him inside. Bopanna walked slowly inside the station. He started to sweat a bit. His heart beat increased when he came in the sight of the inspector. Kalicharan was busy with his work. Bopanna stood before him. Kalicharan was looking into some file. He just lifted his head and looked at Bopanna. He cleared his throat and pointed to the chair in his front. Bopanna sat down in the chair without saying a word.

Kalicharan asked, “tell me what’s the matter?”

Bopanna said, “Thank you for saving my wallet today morning”.

Kalicharan looked a bit thoughtful and said: “It’s ok no problem, anything else?”

Bopanna replied “no errr… Yes”

Kalicharan sighed and asked, “what is it”.

Bopanna swallowed his saliva and said ” I am Bopanna, I work as an English teacher in the school. My house is just nearby next to the station. You know the house with the yellow paint?”

Kalicharan said “hmmm yes… ”

“that’s my house… People say that after you had come the crime rate in the city has come down… ” ” that’s ok what do you want?”

“hmmm …I know you are tough with the accused people… In the night I could hear the sound almost every day… We, that is me and my family … that is my wife and my five-year-old daughter… we are not able to sleep properly because of that… errr… ”

Bopanna’s heart almost stopped when he spoke the last words he did not look up into the eyes of the inspector.

Kalicharan just replied “Hmmm… Let me see what I can do about this…” Bopanna slowly lifted his head and Kalicharan started reading the file in his hand. Bopanna got up from the chair and asked: “So I will leave now?”

Kalicharan did not lift his head from the file and just replied “yes”.

That night Bopanna had a very peaceful sleep. He did not get disturbed by any of the voices. It turns out that Kalicharan had moved the remand cell prisoners to a cell inside the station and not at the periphery of it. As Bopanna was going towards the school next morning he saw Kalicharan on the way. Kalicharan looked at him and their sights froze at each other for a moment and then he walked away. Bopanna looked at the direction Kalicharan walked and smiled to himself.

As he got into his class he erased the blackboard and wrote the new thought for day, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak – Winston Churchill“

Chris Rocks

Prologue: Drop of Life is a category of blogs which carry small Anecdotes or very short story that carries the reflection of life in every drop. 

This morning Christopher had woken up with a strange feeling. He was staring at the mirror. He was hallucinating and the image in the mirror was laughing at him. He saw himself being surrounded by so many people with various musical instruments and all of them were about to start the greatest musical event. The image of Chris had a seamless pride in place. The audiences were cheering for him with placards that read "Chris Rocks…". All these images dissolved in a ripple and Chris startled for a moment which broke his hallucination. The tired image of himself looked back and stared at him.

Chris is a violinist. When he was a child Chris saw a beautiful piece of article in his uncle’s room, that had beautiful carvings which flowed along its sides and tightly stretched strings covered from one end to the other. Chris was fascinated by the look of it. As he held it with his little fingers there were two hands on his shoulder. His uncle stood back and smiled at him. He took Chris on his laps and held the instrument and placed one end on his shoulder. He held the other end and took Chris hand to hold it. Then he took a long stick like instrument, pushed it on to Chris’s hand and held it gently. Then made it flow on to the strings in a rhythmic motion moving Chris’s tiny fingers to put pressure on the strings. Chris found himself amidst of profound eternity. His moment of truth as the music flowed out of the instrument. His uncle looked into his surprised and startled eyes and said "V-i-o-l-i-n…" Chris tried to say it back…"Voyalieen!!!" From that moment onwards he had fallen in love with this and aspired to be the greatest violinist one day. Not a day has been passed by the last twenty years where in he hadn’t forgot to picture himself as the greatest violinist.

Chris hails from a middle class family which had the financial status of just meeting the daily needs and saving a few for rainy days. On hearing to Chris’s dream his mom always said, "One day an angel’s touch would change your life!". But Chris did not know when that day would come. He finished an arts degree in music and tried various music directors in the film industry for a violinist position. But in vain he could not get one. He could not afford to keep searching for an opportunity. He had to take care of the financial need of his family. One of the large hotels in the town wanted a violinist to entertain their guests who had come for dining. Chris joined here 5 years back while in parallel searching for his dream. But day by day the dream looked far for him. He was seeing himself getting dissolved as a dot in the entire crowd of people searching for a break through in the music. As the passion dies down the creativity comes down as well.

His life has become a monotonous routine where in he went every evening to the Hotel and played till late night. At the end of every performance there was a mechanical applause from the audience. Every one would have applauded for any kind of effort Chris would have put in. Chris was not sure if any one really appreciated his music. The Hotel was located near the town hall of the city and was a two storey building. It was a unique restaurant which sported the pre-independence era as the theme. All the inner settings resembled the interiors found during the colonial rule. The waiters and hosts were dressed in the ancient East India company like costumes with long red coats with a white trouser and neatly polished black shoes custom made to order. They wore a black cap on their head and few of them even had a different kind of wig. Chris also had to wear such a costume and play his violin.  The moment he picked up the violin Chris would forget himself and get lost in the waves of the music he created. But this whole monotonous nature and mechanical environment was slowly taking away his passion. The hotel manager had asked him couple of days back why there is no much life in his performance nowadays. Chris could not tell anything to him…

"How many more days?", Chris said to himself looking away from the mirror. He then lifted his violin neatly packed in its case and set out for the evening performance. The evening sky was changing its color rapidly from blue to orange to red and then became dark. The hotel had quite a number guests today. Its strange that there were people from different background and different countries sitting across the table and happily chatting. Each of the table encompassed a whole life which was unique in its own way, separated only by a few feet. How many such lives Chris comes across every day but not taking any efforts to peep into them. Each table had a neatly spread cloth on it. A flower vase and a candle that was lit and would make the faces around the table visible to others. Chris started to play his violin.

Chris closed his eyes and started playing his violin. As he was playing he saw a beautiful shadow dancing in his eyes. It was making very fine irregular movements that was resonating with his tunes. He just opened his eyes and saw there was a cute little girl of about six years dancing before him. She was moving her small feet to the notes of the tune and circled around. Chris for the first time felt his music was so much recognized. As he finished playing the song the small feet stopped and the beautiful little blue eyes stared into his smile. It was not happy with the music being stopped. For a moment Chris was getting lost in the expression and then realized what was expected from him. He started playing his next tune. It was the heart song of Chris not recorded by any one before. He started playing it with a great zeal. The small feet moved more faster than before and she was circling the empty tables and chairs. Chris followed her playing the tune with a smile on his face. Both of them were lost between themselves. They did not realize that the entire hotel was looking at them. In fact this was the first time that the guests were looking at Chris. Every time Chris would finish playing a song she would frown and having a puzzled expression why he stopped and go and sit on a chair. And Chris would start again with fresh energy. She would smile and get down and start dancing to the tunes. The tune from the violin and the feet were resonating in the whole hall. This spectacular event went on for thirty minutes or so. Then there was the loud applause from the audience which Chris was very much familiar of. But this time he was not hearing it in his dream but in real. The sound of reality has a magic in itself no imagination could replace it. It flowed as a wave in Chris’s heart and he started playing his violin as a thank you note for all the applause. This again was greeted with a much louder applause. Chris felt more complete today. The little girl’s father had come and picked her up and praised her. He took her to give her food and thanked Chris.

A middle aged gentleman dressed in a black suit walked up to Chris and shook hands with a smile. "That was really excellent!!!", he said. Chris said "Thank you sir!!!".

"Do you play here everyday?"

"Yes Sir"

"Do you do anything else other than this?"

"No Sir… I do not do anything else"

"Would you be interested in joining my troop? I am Tejas and I am popularly known as TJ"

"TJ!!!!…" Chris couldn’t believe his eyes. TJ was well known composer in the music world and it is a dream for many people to at least perform a concert with him. Chris couldn’t believe what had happened. He was not sure if he had asked him to join the troop or was he hallucinating again. TJ broke his confusion and made it clear by asking again "Would you join my troop?"

"Oh yes yes!!! That would be the best thing for me…Thank you Sir…err.. Thank you so much…I can’t believe I am talking to you…"

TJ smiled and pushed a card in Chris’ hand and said "Meet me at my studio tomorrow morning 11 AM".

"Sure Sir…" said Chris.

TJ smiled and walked away. Chris was floating in cloud nine. As he was packing his violin, the family to which the little girl belonged were leaving the hotel. Chris hugged her and said "You were so good…and Thank you…" The little girl smiled. He asked, "What’s your name?" She kissed him and said "Pari…" (Angel) and laughed as she walked away with her father.

Chris froze for few moments and looked in the direction she had gone with tears filled in his eyes. His Mom’s words were echoing in his ears "One day an angel’s touch would change your life!"

Geometry Box

Prologue: Drop of Life is a category of blogs which carry small Anecdotes or very short story that carries the reflection of life in every drop. 

Shankar felt so weak and incapable. Wished he knew about a way to come out of this crisis. His life was so normal and happy until this night when he returned home. His 12-year-old daughter Sneha came up to him and said: “Papa, I would need to get a Geometry Box, a new pencil, and a notebook to take to school”. Shankar was hit aback by this unplanned requirement.

He asked, “By when do you need this?”

Sneha said, “The teacher had asked us to get it to school this Friday”

It was already Wednesday night. Shankar was not thinking as he spoke, “I will get it to you when I come home tomorrow night”

Sneha said “Papa!” and hugged him.
Shankar patted her back, “Did you have dinner?”
“Yes”.
“You should go and sleep now.It is very late.”

As Sneha jumped and walked to her bed, Shankar was looking at the direction his daughter had walked without taking off his eyes. Shankar’s wife Savitri was looking at all these and came to Shankar and said “How can you promise her to get it tomorrow? You just have one day.We would at least need 50 rupees to get everything for her. We don’t have money in the house. Do you have money with you?”  Shankar turned to her and said “No.” Savitri sighed and said, “Huh! How can you promise then?”

Savitri was reasonable and practical in what she had said. Shankar’s family runs on what he earns on a daily basis. He visits the apartment in the neighbor hood and presses clothes for earning. His daily income completely depends on how many clothes he would be able to press on a day. Some days he would be able to earn more than hundred rupees in a day and while on some days he would earn only thirty rupees. All the groceries and house hold needs to be run on the money he gets home every day. Sneha was their only daughter. When she was born Shankar had taken a vow that he would give her very good education and not let any of their poverty affect her. He has been able to do this successfully all these twelve years. There had been many days Savitri and Shankar had spent without having food so as to save the money to pay Sneha’s school fees. But even at those times they always made sure that Sneha did not have to sleep in hunger. Shankar had always thought Savitri is the best thing that has happened in his life. She had been so much understanding about his interests and lived life accordingly. She managed the house hold so well with whatever little money Shankar could bring home and never complained.

But now, this unplanned expenditure of buying a Geometry Box had come. If it had been a weekend Shankar would know that he would get a lot of clothes for pressing and have enough money to buy his daughter a Geometry Box. But it was just mid week. Usually, Thursday’s and Friday’s are dull in his work. People would wait for the weekend to do the Laundry and then give it for pressing.

Shankar felt so weak. His self-respect has never let him borrow money from someone to this date. There had been tougher times he had passed through without losing his self-respect but now, over come it is his daughter’s education. He would have to let her know about their poverty and not get her what she wanted for now. He had never let Sneha know about their situation. Sneha had always looked at her father as a Santa Claus. Every wish of her got fulfilled from her Father. How hopefully she had run to him today evening asking for a Geometry Box. He can’t see disappointment and tears in those little eyes.

But how to overcome this. He might go and ask for clothes in one of the houses. But it would maximum get him thirty rupees. He would need money for getting groceries for house too. He can’t let his daughter go hunger. Where would he go for the remaining money? Even if he wanted to borrow it from his friend Arvind for two days, Arvind is not in town. He did not feel like having dinner. He sat on the bed in a very dejected mood. He felt something soothing on his head. It was Savitri’s hand. She was patting on his head. She said, “I understand how hard it is for you, don’t worry we will find some way out.” His eyes became watery. Savitri hugged him and said, “Sleep peacefully now every difficult situation would pass.We would come out of this.”

It was a morning that Shankar had never wished for. But time does wait for none. He woke up very early in the morning and started out. Savitri asked him where is going so early. Shankar replied, “I need to go to Babu Sir’s house before he leaves for work. He is the one who might have clothes for pressing.” All other houses would give me only in the weekend. Before Savitri could reply anything, Shankar hurried.

He might get thirty rupees for the clothes he would press. He did not know where he would get the remaining money. He had planned he would finish his work quickly in the morning and go out to find if he can somehow get money from any of his friends. What is the value of self-respect before his daughter’s wish? Shankar knocked the door of Babu Sir’s house. The door opened and Babu Sir was getting ready to go to work. He saw Shankar and said “Oh…come”

Shankar said “Sir, do you have clothes to be pressed…?”
Babu Sir said,”Yes I do have some… How come you had come early in the week?”
Shankar said “I did not have much work today thought I will get your clothes pressed today”

Babu Sir went in and came with some clothes to be pressed. Shankar counted it to be fifteen.
Babu Sir asked, “How much it is?”
Shankar said, “There are fifteen clothes and it would be thirty two rupees?”

Shankar was still thinking where he would get the remaining money from. He still could not imagine how he is going to make the remaining money and which friend of his would lend him the money. His friends might be surprised or even might laugh at him, “Finally you ask us for money on loan?” The thought made Shankar’s body to shrink in shame.

“Shankar…Shankar!” Babu Sir called.
“Yes Sir… ”
“I would be coming very late from work today so may not be able to get the clothes from you. Leave it with the security once you are done ok?”
“Yes Sir…”

Babu Sir took out his purse and took a hundred rupee note out of it, “Here is the money.Do you have change?”

Situation was making fun of Shankar. If he had the money to give for change he wouldn’t have been standing so early at the door step. Shankar said “No Sir…Sorry I don’t have change…”

Babu Sir said, “Oh…ok can you get the money from me on Saturday then?”

“Errr…Ok Sir…” Shankar could not stop and say he is in need of money. Babu Sir had never delayed in giving money. Hence he could not say no. Now the hope of getting thirty rupees was also not there.

Shankar walked away from the Door step with full of disappointment. His shoulders were bent down with loss of hope. His feet refused to walk faster. That’s when he heard Babu Sir calling “Shankar…”

Shankar turned around slowly, “Yes Sir…”

Babu Sir held the hundred rupee note towards him and said, “Keep this with you for now and we can adjust the remaining amount for the clothes you would press for the next 2 weeks.”

Shankar couldn’t believe his eyes. He had hundred rupees in his hand. Bapuji was smiling at him. He had the hopes of his daughter in his hands.

In the evening, Shankar was there at home before his daughter had come from school. When she came in, he showed her the new Geometry Box he had got for her. Sneha hugged and kissed him. Savitri stood near them with a smile on her face. Shankar forgot all his worries.

This moment filled with happiness was priceless!

Fast Food Lingo

Being in Bangalore one of my acquired habits have been eating out in these so called joints popularly known as Fast Food joints. Many of the residents address it as Darshini also. These are small eat outs where in you order for your food and get it across the counter and you can just choose one of the least crowded round table conference and eat it. If you are looking around for a chair, then sorry you may not find it. Perfectly works if you are in a hurry for your work and want to pickup something real quick. But you should be aware of the Fast Food Lingo to order your food. Or else you may not get the dish exactly you wanted.

If you are wondering how challenging it could be… here is the 101 course for ordering the first item in the menu. The famous South Indian breakfast Idly. Talking about Idly, it is one breakfast that never be cooked unhygenic. The way it is prepared makes it always hygenic. Not sure about the chutney or sambar you get with it though…. I am deviating from what I wanted to say and giving health tips here. Ordering Idly may not be as simple as you think. Many of the people who eat idly like it to be completely soaked in Sambar (lentil sauce) before eating it. Few people like me do not like it to be soaked in Sambar but like to order sambar separately along with the idly. If you are of the former catergory then you will not have that many challenges as anyone from my category would face.

When you get the bill and walk across to the food counter which is always crowded with people waiting for the food items to arrive, you need to be real fast in saying exactly what you need. Forget all the grammar and proper sentence formation you have learnt in school. This is fast food. So everything including ordering for the item should be fast. The moment you say idly you will the person who is serving would place the idly in a bowl like plate, pour Sambar over it and give it to you. Naah…this is not what I wanted…I wanted it to be separate. So this is how I saw people ordering for Sambar. They said "Idly Sambar kodi" (Give Idly Sambar).

So I used my intelligence quotient to figure out how to order for the sambar separately. Next time I was very careful and ordered for "Idly one plate kodi,(pause) Sambar separate kodi" But to my surprise I again got Idly soaked in Sambar and person looked bit puzzled and hesitated before giving it to me. Then I found that the pause was the problem and plate coming after Idly was the problem. The moment he had heard Idly one plate, the subconsicous instructions have triggered and he put Idly and Sambar together and gave it to me. This was a great insult to my intelligence and was a challenging problem than the severity one issue my customer had been facing. I decided to come up with a more innovative solution.

I revised the sentence formation class from my High School to make sure Idly goes close to Sambar separate. Probably getting a advise from a shorthand typist could have worked better. Next time I went I ordered "One plate Idly kodi, Sambar separate kodi" (I want one plate idly and sambar separately). But still the lingo God was not in my favor I got Idly and Sambar together…Aaaahgh!!!

The problem became more serious as this happened. It was a huge challenge for my intelligence. I thought my sentence is still too long. I need to make it short. So against my consciousness of forming a proper sentence I thought I will compromise on the sentence formation and go short hand way. I thought of removing the verbs and not so necessary nouns in the sentence. I went with a great eager and excitement to conquer this lingo which has been bothering me a lot. I asked "Idly Sambar separate". Ha Ha I thought I just made it but alas! it did not work out. I still got Idly and Sambar together with the same puzzled look from the person who served it to me.

I was puzzled and was thinking how short I can get it. I can’t say just idly, or I can’t say just Sambar and I can’t just say….!!! Wait a minute…Hurray I just got what I wanted to say…

I went in the next day and ordered "Idly separate". Bingo! I got Idly and Sambar separately. "Idly separate" in no way would mean anything to anyone else…but its the perfect programmed statement for ordering a Idly and Sambar separately.

 

Congratulations as a reader you have also passed the 101 course in Fast Food lingo!!!

The Dosa Master

“One plain, One masala…”, there was so much enthusiasm in the voice of Chandru. The place was a small hotel at the junction of four roads. It had few tables arranged with a plastic jug full of water on each of them. There was no proper door for the hotel but a shutter which remained open and presented a wide screen view of the outside road for the customers. Chandru had been working in this hotel for the past 3 weeks. His job is to take the orders from the customer and tell it as per the sequence and capacity the Dosa master can handle. Chandru should be around 15 years old with dark complexion and with a lean body. His eyes always looked curious and sported a proud look of handling the customers.

 

There was one thing that kept Chandru longing all day. He wanted to become the Dosa master and make a dosa for a day. He used to look so eagerly whenever the dosa master took batter in a small cup, poured it over the pan and spread it by the bottom of the cup evenly over the pan, then took the oil with a spoon and sprinkled it over the dosa, then used a small spade like sppon to turn the dosa around folded it and took it in full piece and placed it on a plate.

 

When leaving for the day, Chandru said he was so surprised how the batter could be transformed magically into a thin slice of dosa. Dosa master Venu smiled at Chandru’s surprise. He said it is so simple “it just needs a little bit of perfection and confidence to take it in one piece” Chandru’s eyes lit up, for him Venu looked like God. Chandru asked “Will I be able to make dosa..?” Venu looked at the vessel which had little batter left over. Venu handed over the cup to Chandru and asked him to take the batter. Chandru was so happy holding the cup in his hand. He looked as if he was holding the cup of life. He put the cup into the vessel and took the batter out. His hand trembled in excitement. He poured the batter on the pan, and placed the cup over it to make it flat. Venu caught hold of Chandru’s hand and drew circles on the batter, which made the batter into perfect flat circle. Chandru was happy. Venu handed over the oil to Chandru. He poured it over the Dosa with the greatest care. Once it was done Venu again held the hand of Chandru and turned the Dosa. Chandru was very happy and overwhelmed seeing his first creation coming out. He felt like God. Although not hungry Chandru ate the dosa and enjoyed every bit of it. This was the best dosa he had in his life.

 

Dosa making class happened at the end of everyday and within few days Chandru was able to make a dosa on his own. Now the next thing was making a Dosa for a customer. Chandru wanted to become the Dosa master. Whenever Venu took a break Chandru used to eagerly await for a customer who would bring in a bill for Dosa. But to Chandru’s disappointment only bills for Idly or Poori’s came. By the time a customer bought a dosa bill Venu would have come back from the break. Chandru would just call out “One plain dosa…” with a very toned down voice.

 

Chandru’s unfulfilled wish of becoming a dosa master remained a dream for a long time. This made him more disappointed every day, until one day. The day started as usual. There was some problem in making poori’s hence Venu took a break to look after the same. Chandru was waiting for someone to bring in a dosa bill. But still customer’s bought requests for idlies. Chandru was tempted to ask do you want dosa but he did not. Finally a bill arrived which had Plain Dosa written on it. Chandru’s eyes lit up. He turned back Venu has not yet arrived. He shouted “Master, One Plain dosa order…” Venu replied “I am busy you make it…” Chandru could not believe his ears. He asked once more and got back the same reply. Chandru was very happy. His heart started racing, he took the batter in the small cup and carefully poured it over the pan and evenly spread it into a circle. Then he sprinkled oil over it. After waiting for few minutes he turned the dosa with a spade like spoon. Carefully folded it and placed it on a plate. He served his first dosa to the customer with a pride. The customer wouldn’t have realized so much emotion behind the Dosa. Chandru did not take his eyes of the customer till he finished eating the dosa and walked out satisfied.

 

Chandru turned back to Venu and smiled with pride and Venu gave back a friendly smile. Chandru slowly recited the following sentence proudly in his heart “Chandru, the dosa master!”. When the next customer came with a bill Venu got the bill and shouted to Chandru "Master, one plain dosa…" Chandru’s face filled with happiness and he started playing the role of a Dosa master with full enthusiasm.

Sound of happiness

Prologue: Drop of Life is a category of blogs which carry small Anecdotes or very short story that carries the reflection of life in every drop. 

 

"I want this day to get over soon" Sameer thought. He was in a very irritated state. What a day it has been. The clients were having some problem with the software Sameer and his team has been developing. It was a show stopper for the clients and it needed to be fixed immediately. It was one of those usual issues which were not replicable in the development environment. Sameer was looking into the issue. He called up Vishal who had been developing that particular code to know when he would be coming in. But Vishal sounded too low, he was running a high temperature and said he would not be able to come in. Sameer asked him to take care of himself and started looking into the issue on his own.

 

Sameer’s business unit head has already called into find what was the status of the issue. He kept calling every hour to find out the progress of the issue. It was a serious issue that was a threat for business. So every possible eye was closely tracking its progress. But this darn thing Sameer was still unsuccessful in replicating it. He started to doubt his capability. He was one of the star performers in the organization however this time he was feeling like a loser. The fix has to reach the client today. It was already 4pm in the evening and no luck yet.

Sameer was already too tired and frustrated on the issue. No useful traces and logs were available from the clients. He had already had four coffees for the day but still was feeling tired. Don’t know when he had last got up from his place and took his eyes off the monitor. He tried all possible paths and still not successful. He thought "I want this day to get over soon".

 

It was 8pm in the night and Sameer had just found a possibility of the issue and not yet figured out the solution. His wife Neha called him in his phone and said that their one year old daughter Shruti was cranky all through the day and asked him when he would be coming home. Sameer knew that Shruti does not sleep till he returned home. Shruti was a one year old kid who has not yet begun speaking. But today his mind was not working he did not even remember what he answered Neha. He continued on the issue. The client has already called into find out what has been the status. Neha was also software professional. She decided to take a break one year ago to make sure that Shruthi is taken care very well. She understood the nature of the job Sameer had and was very cooperative of his unplanned schedules.

Sameer now had to take assumptions and do a fix. He started working on it. He did not realize that he was the only person left in the office working still. It was 10 pm. Neha had called up twice to inquire about him. Sameer was still frustrated, his eyes were red. He was now testing the code which he had fixed and packaged the whole thing and sent to the client at 11 pm. Then he had to make a series of calls to all those stake holders who were tracking this issue closed. He was so tired to even feel relaxed. There was no voice to comfort him until the issue had been closed by the client.

 

He drove back home and reached by 11:30 pm. The lights were still on. He thought "Oh poor Shruti she is still awake!". Neha opened the door for him and served some dinner. Sameer was in no mood for eating dinner. He just had a glass of milk. Shruti was still active. Sameer was very tired and sleepy. Neha said, “You should sleep now”. Sameer looked into her eyes and said "Look at Shruti, she would be disappointed. I will sit with her for sometime and then sleep." Sameer took Shruti on his lap and sat on the couch. He switched on the TV but did not realize what channel was playing for he was tired. Shruti was playing with the rattle she had. Neha sat near Sameer lying on his left shoulder. Sameer was feeling sleepy and tired. His eyes were drowsy and everything started to dim.

 

Just then something happened, it was like a flash of light, sound of happiness. He heard the word "P a p a!" His eyes opened in surprise. He couldn’t believe what he heard. He turned to Neha and found she had the same expression as he had. They looked at Shruti. Shruti was looking into Sameer and was laughing with those two small teeth trying to grow. Again she uttered those magical words "P a p a!" Sameer was frozen for a moment. Then Shruti bent down and kissed on his cheek. The first words from her daughter and the first kiss of her daughter, Both Sameer’s and Neha’s eyes filled with tears. They kissed Shruti.

 

Just about the last few minutes remaining in the day…Sameer’s day was made. With Shruti sleeping on his right shoulder and Neha on his left shoulder Sameer thought "I want to live this day completely till the last second of it….I don’t want this day to get over soon!"

Catch up with Life

Prologue: Drop of Life is a category of blogs which carry small Anecdotes or very short story that carries the reflection of life in every drop.  

 

I am the most significant character in this whole house. Sometimes I feel I form the base foundation of the relationships that exist in the house. I think I am in this family since I was born and don’t remember when I moved into this house. I am not yet sure if anyone else lived in this house before me and felt as significant as I feel today. 

I have seen both happiness and difficult times the family has gone through. I had been there always to gather all of the family members every day. All the incidents each one of them have gone through on that day is recited before the whole family. There is happiness, sadness, joy, confusion, laughter and what not in the whole set of stories recited. For every problem a solution is found collectively, for every success there is a collective appreciation, for every joke there is uncontrollable laughter, for every let down shoulder there is always a couple of comforting hands patting on the back. That half an hour to one hour is what I wait for all through the day. Then the lights go off and I go to sleep like the rest of the family.  

Every morning is busy and we don’t get to meet all of them together, each one of us has our certain duties to do. I am the most privileged one who get to meet at least each of the family members individually. I am not sure if all of them see each other in the morning. But each one of them at least spends few minutes sitting down with me. Hardly there is any talk as each one of them may be quickly catching up with the Newspaper, sending SMS, answering calls, reading books and so on. I am happy at least they are able to sit with me for those few minutes amidst of all busy schedules.  

I don’t go out of house to work so I stay all day long in the house eagerly waiting for each one of them to return from office, school … Evenings are always pleasant. Every one returns back and try to catch up with life they had missed. But before that I assume they may have some important work to do at home also. They sit in the near by room and watch TV, do the homework. I wonder if they talk to each other then, as the only sound I hear is the one that comes from the TV Channels, which changes very frequently. If at all they talk I hear them talking or arguing about changing channels.  

The time for get together has come. All of them come and sit around me and there is life. All of us catch up with life that has been missed all through the day. I am thankful there is no TV in the room I am present. There is happiness again each one of them has their own set of anecdotes to share and each of the other has very patient ears to listen. Its joy again. I am happy to be the part of this family.   

All the members of the family call me the "Dining Table". Every morning I don’t forget to say to each one of them "Come home for dinner tonight!" and eagerly wait for it the whole day.

Moment of Truth

Prologue: Drop of Life is a category of blogs which carry small Anecdotes or very short story that carries the reflection of life in every drop.  

"Life goes on like a tape recorder, every night the rewind button is pressed and the tape recorder plays the same song yet again till the night when it reaches the end and the rewind button is pressed", thought Sameer drinking his cup of coffee in the morning. Not sure if he has just missed the purpose of life. He began wondering about if he has been caught in a endless circle and which gets him to the same point again and again. A sudden blankness surrounded him. Getting up in the morning going to work and staying back late as there was nothing better to do and then coming home to retire on the bed. If this is the purpose of life then there is no interest in it or it should be that he is not seeing things the right way. The phone rang and disturbed his thoughts… He picked up the call…said "yes" the voice on the other end spoke something which we do not know, but the expression on his face was irritation. He said "No I am not interested in any of that offer…" and cut the phone in extreme frustration. 

The day continued the same way as any other day. He started speaking to the computers and he was very well known for his extreme talent for understanding the problems of the computers and solving them. He should have forgotten interacting with humans and whenever he did the only solution he had to the problems of the human was to restart their life. The thought he had over the cup of coffee today was not allowing him to concentrate. He was just thinking of the amount of stress that is building in his daily life, driving through the traffic for more than an hour which used to take ten minutes few years back and waiting for long time in the restaurants to get a good meal. Crowd everywhere and all of a sudden everyone around him looked very selfish and felt a sudden pain of competing for happiness which seemed to be scarce. This did not make him stay normal but added a lot to his frustration. He thought life is growing more uninteresting around him. The rest of the day was spent in frustration… so he decided to break his normal routine and left office early. He waded through that traffic which did not seem to have any special consideration to his state of frustration. 

Sameer just dropped into a restaurant to have his dinner earlier. As usual the restaurant was crowded and he had to wait for sometime. The restaurant was in the first floor of the building and he got a seat near the window which was covered with screen of yellow and white checks. He ordered for his food to the waiter. A small girl should be five years of age came with her parents to the table before him. Sameer’s was curious looking at her. She slowly climbed over the chair and stood over it and looked all around the restaurant. As she looked around she was smiling. She started to go through the hotel menu with her parents and wanted to have an ice cream. Her father patiently read out each of the falvors of the ice cream listed in the menu, she was feeling excited every time her father read out a new entry. She said, "I wan Choklate ice kreem". Her father said, "Thats good choice!". Sameer already felt he was never so excited looking at the menu or seldom realised the restaurant served ice cream. When her father ordered the chocalate ice cream to the waiter, she laughed uncontrollably…! She once again looked around the restaurant with a huge smile this time. For a moment her eyes and smile should have met Sameer. She then looked to her right to find the yellow screen before the window and starred at it. She then turned to her father and pointed him to the screen. Her father stood up and slided the window screen to the right. Her face lit up seeing the street out side. Sameer looked out and saw the whole street had been lit up in glittering yellow lights and the shops had their best items kept outside to attract customers. There were people walking on the street happily. The honking of a car disturbed Sameer’s thought. He saw the street had a heavy traffic. The one which he hated. He thought he did not see the traffic for so long, he had been looking at all those beautiful things around. The uncontrollable laughter of the kid brought Sameer’s attention back to her.  

She was now having her cup of ice cream and laughing looking at Sameer. He felt it was the moment of truth. He realized "It is not about finding happiness, but being happy!" Now he smiled back to the kid.

 

Search Engines – A social perspective

Sipping my usual morning cup of coffee, I just began to realize how much I love the cup coffee I dirnk everyday morning. I was just wondering is it any good for my health. I know I am not addicted to it. But is it really good?

I wanted to find it out and used one of the most frequently accessed Information store, the web. I used one of the search engines to search for the information. When I typed in "Coffee is good for health" I got various links which spoke about what is good about drinking coffee. However when I type "Coffee is bad for health" I got the same number of links which talked about dangerous effects of coffee to our body. At the end of the whole thing I just decided against to research more about this topic.

This gave entirely a new thought about the social impact a search engine might have. None of algorithms as we know are published to us and we do not know what is real logic on how they retrieve and show us the links. Based on the searches I have done in the past I had come to the conclusion that a search engine speaks to your perception. If I think coffee is good I will search for "Coffee is good" which way I would most probably get the links which talk about the good qualities of coffee when I think coffee is bad for health I would search for "Coffee is bad" and the results I would get links which talk about the bad qualities of coffee. Most often than not I would not search for different perceptions and find the answer. The search engine keeps me happy as it most often than not reassures my perception by giving me results which match the readers perception.

I just remembered a story from my childhood. Akbar (the famous Mughal King) and Birbal (His wise minister) were having lunch together. The cook had prepared a dish with egg plant (Brinjal) which Akbar liked a lot. He turned to Birbal and said "Egg plant is very tasty. I think this vegetable is the best one". Birbal immediately said "Yes your Majesty. Egg plant is the best of all vegetables. That is the reason nature has added a crown on its head".  As the king liked it a lot the cook included egg plant in all the dishes he made from then on. As days passed by the king was fed up with this egg plant. He said to Birbal "I am fed up with having egg plant in all the dishes. I feel this should be the worst of all vegetables". Birbal immediately replied "Yes your Majesty. Egg plant is the worst of all vegetables. That is the reason nature has nailed its head".

The story ends with the king as usual praising the wit of his wise minister. I relate search engine to Birbal. They provide links which talk the readers perception than providing links which talk about the right facts. This phenomenon may provide interesting effects on the society. In the absence of a search engine it is difficult for one to find the source of information, if one finds a source of information like a course from a college would teach the true facts, however by reading from any links may try to mislead people at some instances. But this is offshooted by the power of information access the web gives us. It is left to the readers discretion to learn the right facts. There are many contenders to this who claim this should not happen and it should be the responsibility of the search engine to provide the right facts while there are other people who wants to let it to the readers discretion.

I personally don’t have any opinion that is against search engines. I feel the search engines would remain to do the same until we could develop a search engine algorithm which removes the perception from the users search string and brings the real and true facts to the user. But till then lets hope and believe that the readers are able to derive the right information they get access to 🙂

In the Battle field

Dreams are one of the most interesting aspects of life. I know there are many scientific reasons on how dreams occur but I feel there is so much mystery around these dreams. I get a lot of dreams in my sleep. Some of them are down to earth, some  funny, some strange, some wierd.Some of the dreams I remember the next day and some I do not.

The recent dream I had was a strange one, I remembered very well the next morning. Here is how it goes.

I was amidst of chaos. The situation around me was tense. When I closely analyze the situation I find I am in a battle field. Who am I, how did I get here I am unaware. I am inside a very old building, I hear the sounds of guns firing in a distance. The army camp inside the building I am in are not very happy, very soon I find that they are on the losing side. The captain or the leader of the side is inside the building. There is one brave man who stands up and says that now they all would have to enter the battle field and fight till they die. He says that their leader would be left unprotected. He turns to me and says “Can you take care of the leader?”. “Me!!!” I don’t know what a battle is and the usage of any weapons. But before I could speak a word the battallion leaves into the battle field. Sounds of guns firing approaches the building. I know clearly that the side I am in is definitely going to lose the battle. I turn to the leader and say that he should escape from the building and run away. I see hesitation in his eyes and reluctance to leave the place. I force him to leave and convince him it would be good for his people and country. I lead him to the back door of the building and ask him to run fast. He does that. I see him disappear in the distance and I am satisfied that I had played my part. But immediately the fear strikes me. I start thinking about me… what will happen to me. Why did I not run…? I couldn’t figure out. The opposite end armies shout in cheer. They had got their people. All of a sudden the fear of dying hits me. Is this the last few moments I am going to live? How can I get out of it? I hear footsteps approaching the building. I run and lock all the doors of the building from inside and through the hole in the wall I see blur images of enemies running towards the building. I am not sure what needs to be done. I lie down on the floor and close my eyes and try to sleep. Why am I not running? Have I yielded in to the fate? I suppose so. I am ready to face the inevitable. I have bet on that little fortune I might have, for the enemies might take me for dead. I hear the banging on the doors, I feel someone should have broken through the back door and come in. I have still not opened my eyes. My heart beat increases…I hear footsteps near me. Someone is looking over me. Should I open my eyes… no I decide against it. The contradicting thought process of yielding versus fighting enters into a dual. The fear of facing my death in my own eyes versus not to look at it makes me to remain in the current state. The person looking upon me bends down and holds the tip of the gun on to my head. Oh my god! my little hope on the fortune has been turned down. Its just a matter of second and everything will be over. I could feel the trigger being pressed. I could feel the suction of the gun on my head, pulling a portion of my head into it. All of a sudden my fear is overcome by last minute, rather last second courage. I feel a sudden sense of fearlessness in me. I knew if not now then never. My hands act faster than my mind could think and gets hold of the enemy’s fist and rolls it over. I whirl around and I get up as if a spell had been cast, I don’t know how. I find myself holding the gun in my hand and I let it trigger the next second pointing to the person.

“Dreams are strange” there is a gush of water flowing out of the gun and I see that the person standing before me is my friend and the gun is fake. My friend is laughing at me drenched in water. I couldn’t believe all this was a joke… The next immediate question I ask him was what happened to the war. He says the war is over and the armies have returned back to their base… I watch out of the window I see sun shining bright and people walking around engaged in their daily chores. All of them might have been happy as the war got over…!!!

I wake up from my sleep. My dream is over. The fear of a gun pointed at me slowly got rid of me. I was relieved that it was all just a dream!!!