Sunday, 28 September 2014
Navarathri in New Delhi
It is Navarathri time now. I cannot help but recollect the Golus organised t at my sister’s home in New Delhi in the fifties and sixties specially a couple of comic incidents . Those days, New Delhi was essentially a government city with government servants in accommodation allotted in accordance with their rank and salary Therefore, the scale and size of the Navarathri Golu in South Indian homes reflected the status of the allotted person. Each year a make –do “Golu padi” (stairs) was constructed with empty trunk boxes by placing them one above another. Problem would arise when the trunks were of the same size and shape. The big “Razaai “box, - a must in all homes to put away the woollen blankets, shawls, coats, sweaters etc. during the non- winter months, was invariably used without removing its contents. Half of its lid’s breadth would be occupied by school/college text books like Wren & Martin English Grammar , Asquith’s Geometry, Hall & Knight Higher Algebra and spiritual books like Sampoorna Ramayanam by Anantharama Dikshitar ,forming the top mantle .The differences in the thickness of the books would be adjusted by note books of 40/80 pages. The lower mantles for the golu were the small tea tables, stools and planks supported by bricks, the entire structure draped with dhobi washed dhotis/ white bed-sheets.
The dolls were arranged on the stairs depending on their age and size. My mother insisted on including in the Golu, the pair of Marapachhi (carved dolls made of a variety black wood) which she bought in Tirupati many years earlier as well as the Tanjore Bommai, a chettiar (Bania) doll which would tumble due to uneven weight distribution. As a concession to modernity she agreed to the dolls of Mahatma Gandhi, Mary with child Jesus and Ramakrishna Paramahaamsa being placed with godly Ganesh, Sri Rama and Krishna dolls. The inevitable chettiar and chettichi pair as grocer couple was made to sell fruits and vegetables like oversized big slice of cut water melon, potato, cucumber, banana, pumpkin etc.
Being a school going boy and a new learner of cycling, I was assigned the job of delivering the typewritten invites for “haldi kumkum" to the Tamil homes in the Gole Market area. The invites were for a specific day(s) during the festival when the “prasadam’ would be special like home made barfi, and the inevitable “sundal” (a dish made of boiled gram/pulse), coconut, banana, betel leaves and scented nuts. On the other days, we would have an assortment of sundials collected from Golus visited by my sister and nieces. The sundals were mostly packed in “pottalam” (newspaper parcels) It was when my sister moved to a bigger government accommodation, that a permanent structural frame made of wood was constructed. This resulted in increased number of mantles and more thematic sets of dolls like dasavadaram, south Indian marriage scene and band players. There also was the “Kai Velai” (hand work)by the side of the golu-padi, depicting a village scene, with a railway station, stationary engine and coaches, horse drawn cart, pastoral fields( real grass) and a couple of paper huts. The background landscape was a hill of clay with a strip of aluminium foil to indicate a flowing river.
The list of invitees grew bigger each year as my sister’s husband (he was also my maternal uncle) received promotions and wives of his equal status officers got added to the list. The invitations were now printed and sent by book- post. On one occasion, one invitation was returned to us by the Post Office charging double the postage. The addressee did not receive it as it was under-stamped. though she promptly attended the Golu on the fixed day. She stated that although she had refused to receive the invitation, she had made a note of the date and time in her appointment diary!
On another occasion, a couple of hours before the appointed time for the guests to arrive, the serial lamps around the Golu padi failed to light up. There was no time to send for an electrician and so my uncle and I were summoned from our offices. We went behind the white sheet cover and inside the hollow space under the Padis and started checking for any loose connection. In a serial bulb arrangement, detecting the fault means checking the joint at each and every bulb with the wire and Murphy’s Law operates i.e. it is always the last bulb checked which is loosely connected. We were half way through when a group of invitees trooped in. We were inside the frame like sitting ducks neither speaking between us nor laughing aloud at the comedy of the situation. We stayed put there for some three hours as batch after batch of ladies came, as in a relay race. Adding insult to the injury was my uncle’s senior officer who accompanied his wife, asked about my uncle and my sister said that he worked late in office those days. The senior officer smiled at my sister’s bluff as he had granted my uncle permission to leave office early that day!!
The festival ended each year with all operations in reverse order and to the relief of the menfolk.
Saturday, 27 September 2014
The Chembur Mama
If you happen to see a white-haired man of about 70 years of age in the Central Avenue area of Chembur, Mumbai between Diamaond Garden and Chembur Rly. Station wearing “Veshti”, a loose fitting T Shirt with a US institution/company monogram and with a cloth bag in hand, you are meeting the typical Chembur Mama. The cotton bag is a recent adornment ever since A.P.Mani Stores started charging extra for plastic carry bags. Mostly hailing from Palakadu in Kerala, he has lived in Mumbai for well over 50 years, first in Matunga as bachelor and patron of South Indian Concerns ( popularly called The Concerns). After an arranged marriage with a “young woman well trained in household affairs” ( now Mami), he moved to his own flat “ 600 sq. One BHK” bought for Rs, 80000 with a loan of Rs 40000 from Govt of Maharashtra in a four storeyed building in the then developing Chembur. Today he is a senior citizen, retired from work and spending time with his children and relations. In spite of his long living in Mumbai, he has not picked up any Marathi. He is none the worse for it though as his regular business deals with Chembur vegetable shops, grocers and occasional jeweller all take place in Talayalam (Tamil spoken in a Malayalam intonation and accent). Even his asking for “kai vaccha banian” (banian with sleeves) has been understood by the shopkeeper.
When he first arrived in Mumbai in early fifties with his Matriculation certificate and 45/120 words speed in typing/ shorthand, he was grabbed by the private companies owned by Gujaratis and some British Companies with offers of jobs as typist. He later got a choice of as junior manager either in Sales because of his fluent English or in Accounts because of his numeracy skills.. The salary was modest and he saved enough to send home to his parents some cash. He recollects those sunny days, “Eight annas got you a breakfast of 2 idlis, one vada, one dosa with unlimited sambhar and fresh coconut chutney and a steaming cup of coffee in Rama Nayak's while a book of monthly meals coupons was just Rs 22. Transport to and fro offices in South Mumbai were in the Local suburban trains costing as little as 2 annas”. The children were born as he and Mami were careful to limit their number just to two or three keeping in mind the limited space in their home.
Now the children have grown: the elder son is CA, married and has moved over to his own flat in the adjoining Ghatkopar/Deonar, the only daughter is married and lives in Philadelphia with her husband. The younger son is an IIT/IIM product and works as a professor in Nothewestern University. Though the elder son asked the parents to move to his abode, Mami confidentially told Mama that the offer is not without strings as they would be made to baby-sit their grandson. She had had enough of grooming children and now wants to live without such responsibility. She wanted to be the queen of all she surveys which is not possible living with mattu- ponnu.(daughter-in-law). Mama, true to his wont all through his married and working life of never saying “NO” to the boss, quietly agreed. Mama’s Housing Society is now under redevelopment and he is expecting to move to his new 1.5 f.s.i. flat soon. They now divide their time between Chembur (temporarily rented flat), Ghatkopar and the USA.
Mama like most of his contemporaries is a simple man with clean habits. Long ago soon after his first job he was tempted to smoke once, choked and resolved never to smoke again. Drinking was considered a sin and even as a marketing man he entertained the clients but he sipped only soda. He has not missed performing Sandyavandanam even for a day. After retirement he has joined the Veda Classes to learn to recite the Rudram, the Chamakam and the Suktams. He performs all the rituals lie Amavasiya Tharpanam, Mahalaya Shradam and of course the two annual “ceremonies” for his departed parents. He visits the Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Cheda Nagar occasionally on festival days like Thai Poosam, Skanda Shasti etc. but the visit to Sri Ramar Koil every day is a must as it gives him the needed daily walk of about a mile or two which he says is good for both “body and soul”.
He is member of the famous The Fine Arts Society and attends, with Mami in consort, all its music programmes, dramas and dance recitals and thus makes up the average age of the audience as something 55+. On these occasions the 8.00 clock dinner at home is missed because of the medhu vada, uppuma, Kara baath eaten at the Society canteen during the “Thani Avarthanam” by the percussionists. (solo performance by the accompanying artists)
Family crises arise occasionally like when a year ago his professor son in USA announced his decision to marry his co-professor, an American of Chinese origin. After some initial unpleasantness and after many consultations and clarifications with his daughter and son-in-law in he consented. As he told his wife “it is wise to accept a foreign mattuponnu, rather than losing the son”. They attended the wedding and Mama is not tired of telling how the foreign mattuponnu took care of his amavasya tharpanam and the night “palaharam” ( light meal mostly of fruits / tiffin) during the few days they stayed in USA. after the wedding.
All said, the Chembur Mama is embodiment of peace within and without.
When he first arrived in Mumbai in early fifties with his Matriculation certificate and 45/120 words speed in typing/ shorthand, he was grabbed by the private companies owned by Gujaratis and some British Companies with offers of jobs as typist. He later got a choice of as junior manager either in Sales because of his fluent English or in Accounts because of his numeracy skills.. The salary was modest and he saved enough to send home to his parents some cash. He recollects those sunny days, “Eight annas got you a breakfast of 2 idlis, one vada, one dosa with unlimited sambhar and fresh coconut chutney and a steaming cup of coffee in Rama Nayak's while a book of monthly meals coupons was just Rs 22. Transport to and fro offices in South Mumbai were in the Local suburban trains costing as little as 2 annas”. The children were born as he and Mami were careful to limit their number just to two or three keeping in mind the limited space in their home.
Now the children have grown: the elder son is CA, married and has moved over to his own flat in the adjoining Ghatkopar/Deonar, the only daughter is married and lives in Philadelphia with her husband. The younger son is an IIT/IIM product and works as a professor in Nothewestern University. Though the elder son asked the parents to move to his abode, Mami confidentially told Mama that the offer is not without strings as they would be made to baby-sit their grandson. She had had enough of grooming children and now wants to live without such responsibility. She wanted to be the queen of all she surveys which is not possible living with mattu- ponnu.(daughter-in-law). Mama, true to his wont all through his married and working life of never saying “NO” to the boss, quietly agreed. Mama’s Housing Society is now under redevelopment and he is expecting to move to his new 1.5 f.s.i. flat soon. They now divide their time between Chembur (temporarily rented flat), Ghatkopar and the USA.
Mama like most of his contemporaries is a simple man with clean habits. Long ago soon after his first job he was tempted to smoke once, choked and resolved never to smoke again. Drinking was considered a sin and even as a marketing man he entertained the clients but he sipped only soda. He has not missed performing Sandyavandanam even for a day. After retirement he has joined the Veda Classes to learn to recite the Rudram, the Chamakam and the Suktams. He performs all the rituals lie Amavasiya Tharpanam, Mahalaya Shradam and of course the two annual “ceremonies” for his departed parents. He visits the Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Cheda Nagar occasionally on festival days like Thai Poosam, Skanda Shasti etc. but the visit to Sri Ramar Koil every day is a must as it gives him the needed daily walk of about a mile or two which he says is good for both “body and soul”.
He is member of the famous The Fine Arts Society and attends, with Mami in consort, all its music programmes, dramas and dance recitals and thus makes up the average age of the audience as something 55+. On these occasions the 8.00 clock dinner at home is missed because of the medhu vada, uppuma, Kara baath eaten at the Society canteen during the “Thani Avarthanam” by the percussionists. (solo performance by the accompanying artists)
Family crises arise occasionally like when a year ago his professor son in USA announced his decision to marry his co-professor, an American of Chinese origin. After some initial unpleasantness and after many consultations and clarifications with his daughter and son-in-law in he consented. As he told his wife “it is wise to accept a foreign mattuponnu, rather than losing the son”. They attended the wedding and Mama is not tired of telling how the foreign mattuponnu took care of his amavasya tharpanam and the night “palaharam” ( light meal mostly of fruits / tiffin) during the few days they stayed in USA. after the wedding.
All said, the Chembur Mama is embodiment of peace within and without.
Sunday, 21 September 2014
The Chembur Mami's Dilemma
The Chembur Mami is unique and can be spotted around Chembur Railway Station, Diamond Garden, The Fine Arts Society Building, Ahobilam/Shringeri mutts, Subramanya Swamy Temple in Cheda Nagar and the adjoining areas of Deonar, Ghatkopar, etc. Hailing mostly form Palakkad in Kerala, the Mami is middle aged and educated and happy running her home. Her ubiquitous presence in the Katcheris, marriage receptions and other religious and social functions in bright kanjivarams and dazzling diamond ear-tops and conversing in Malayalam accented Tamil, loud enough to be heard by others, is the only solace to the otherwise dullness of these events.
Conversant with modern gadgets like the cell phone and the internet and smart enough to negotiate for a better deal in the redevelopment of the flats in her housing society, she is the brain behind the family investments in gold (ornaments), apartments and stocks , in that order. Yet her identity is linked to her husband’s whose name is suffixed to the company he works(ed) for, like Godrej Mani, Ponds Seshan, etc. Modern though in most of her beliefs, she is prone to set the dress norms for her daughter with more liberalism than for her daughter-in-law. However, if the latter transgresses the norm, she would rather complain to Mama than talk to Mattuponnu. In this as well as in other matters regarding values and practices, the Chembur Mami prefers to remain old fashioned, but discreet enough not to voice her disapproval in the open.
Of late, the Mami is in a dilemma of sorts. Like most other Chembur Mamis, she too has seen the film The Dirty Picture (TDP) in the company of Mama and liked “Namma Chembur” Vidya’s superb playing of the difficult character of a misdirected film personality of the 80s, bringing in all the emotions of joy, success, frustration and anger. At the same time, some scenes where Vidya is seen in very intimate proximity to male actors is anathema to Mami’s views on morality and public behaviour. While Mami is proud about Vidya’s talent and has no objection to her taking to acting in films, though a rather unusual career for a Chembur Tamil girl, she expected that the roles were decent and good as in Pa and Parineeta. But what irked the Mami most is that in TDP, Vidya has thrown all decency of dress and public behaviour to winds. So, the Mami’s dilemma is: should she admire Vidya as in the past for her acting or should she condemn the actor for transgressions of the dress and decency norms.
For a change, Mama was asked for his opinion and he took a carefully considered stand saying that the objectionable scenes and Vidya’s dress in them were warranted by the character of Silk that was portrayed in the film. Mami is even more confused and so her dilemma continues.
Conversant with modern gadgets like the cell phone and the internet and smart enough to negotiate for a better deal in the redevelopment of the flats in her housing society, she is the brain behind the family investments in gold (ornaments), apartments and stocks , in that order. Yet her identity is linked to her husband’s whose name is suffixed to the company he works(ed) for, like Godrej Mani, Ponds Seshan, etc. Modern though in most of her beliefs, she is prone to set the dress norms for her daughter with more liberalism than for her daughter-in-law. However, if the latter transgresses the norm, she would rather complain to Mama than talk to Mattuponnu. In this as well as in other matters regarding values and practices, the Chembur Mami prefers to remain old fashioned, but discreet enough not to voice her disapproval in the open.
Of late, the Mami is in a dilemma of sorts. Like most other Chembur Mamis, she too has seen the film The Dirty Picture (TDP) in the company of Mama and liked “Namma Chembur” Vidya’s superb playing of the difficult character of a misdirected film personality of the 80s, bringing in all the emotions of joy, success, frustration and anger. At the same time, some scenes where Vidya is seen in very intimate proximity to male actors is anathema to Mami’s views on morality and public behaviour. While Mami is proud about Vidya’s talent and has no objection to her taking to acting in films, though a rather unusual career for a Chembur Tamil girl, she expected that the roles were decent and good as in Pa and Parineeta. But what irked the Mami most is that in TDP, Vidya has thrown all decency of dress and public behaviour to winds. So, the Mami’s dilemma is: should she admire Vidya as in the past for her acting or should she condemn the actor for transgressions of the dress and decency norms.
For a change, Mama was asked for his opinion and he took a carefully considered stand saying that the objectionable scenes and Vidya’s dress in them were warranted by the character of Silk that was portrayed in the film. Mami is even more confused and so her dilemma continues.
Saturday, 20 September 2014
The Rape of The Mind
I was distraught at the increasing incidents of rape in India and the attitude of the politicians and the police to dismiss them as either too few for a nation of our size and population or due to the overall degradation of morality in our society. Then I remembered an incident some years ago that concerns my friend Venu and which gives him no peace even today.
He was then posted as a junior manager in a bank in Chennai and was living in the lower middle class locality of Triplicane with wife and infant daughter. His home was a two- room portion in the ground floor of a two storeyed building in Bells Road and there were some four or five other families living in similar accommodation on the ground floor. One of the families was that of the middle aged Krishnaswamy working in a private company with his wife and four children. His eldest child was Saroja aged 15 studying in the 9h standard. There were 3 other families on the ground floor with some five or six children studying in various standards from KG to the 6th standard. These children, mostly girls, played games like pandi, etc. in the evenings while Saroja the oldest in the group being a spectator. The first floor was a single unit of 3 rooms, hall and kitchen occupied by one Devarajan working in LIC.
One day in May that year when schools had closed for summer vacation after announcing the results, Venu had returned from work early and found gaiety and celebrations in his building. A little girl came and told him that she has passed and she was followed by other children gleefully saying that they have all passed. He thought that he should give them some sweet on their promotion and shouted to the shopkeeper across the building to send some chocolates. He asked the kids to come one by one to receive the chocolate. He kissed each child as he gave the sweet and did not consider it improper as they were kids. All this while, he had not noticed Saroja standing some distance away watching the proceedings. When he saw her, he asked her about her result and she said with all modesty that she has stood first in her class and got promoted to the 10th standard. She was about to leave when Venu asked her to take a chocolate like the other kids. She hesitated in the beginning but ultimately came forward. Venu gave her the chocolate and involuntarily turned to kiss her as he did with other children. Saroja was aghast at this and mumbled something like what would others say if they came to know that a grown up girl like her had been kissed by an adult male. As she started to leave, Venu grabbed her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She gave him the angry look of an injured and defenceless girl subjected to an act of shame and with tears in her eyes ran to her home.
That night, Venu could not get sleep easily. As he closed his eyes the child-like and innocent face of Saroja kept on tormenting him. He was at a loss to justify to his conscience his kissing a teen-aged girl and felt morally weakened. He told his wife about the incident in the evening expecting her to assuage his guilt feeling and condone his act of kissing a girl as young as his daughter without any sinister intent.. He tried to convince her that he had not acted with any amorous intention towards Saroja. But his wife refused to buy this and chided him for behaving stupidly with an innocent girl. He sincerely prayed that Saroja would not tell anyone in her family or others and that things would be forgotten soon. He did not see Saroja thereafter for many days and even felt glad to have not seen her. The intensity of his guilt feeling lessened over time Mercifully, he received his transfer orders within a month and left Chennai for Hyderabad.
Two years later, he was in Chennai on official work for a week and was pondering whether he should go to his old Bells Road home to meet the Krisnaswamys. In fact, the urge was to see if Saroja would show any rancour when she sees him. But he did not have the courage to meet her. He rang up Devarajan the tenant upstairs and expressed a desire to meet him. They met at a hotel and after initial exchange of pleasantries, Venu asked him about the other tenants in Bells Road. Devarajan informed that while other tenants continued there, Krishnaswamy’s family has moved away without any forwarding address. Venu pressed for details for this odd behaviour on the part of Krishnaswamy. Devarajan with some hesitation said that for a month or so after Venu’s departure for Hyderabad, things were going normally when suddenly Saroja seemed to lose interest in everything. She fared poorly in studies and failed her 10th standard exam. She lost weight considerably and became pale. She ate less and less and very often seen to go into a kind of a trance, sitting alone in a corner. Her responses to others were muted. In the beginning, Krishnaswamy, like any middle class father, used the “samadhana, beda, dhanda “approach and when all these failed got her treated medically by doctors of all systems including sorcery. But nothing was helping Saroja and she became more and more moody and confined herself within the four walls of the house sulking everyone.
As it happens in small communities, the rumour mills started grinding. Tale after tale about the promiscuous character of Saroja did the rounds making the Krisnaswamys exasperated. Then a psychiatrist was consulted. It was then the truth came to be known. To the psychiatrist, Saroja recounted the incident of kissing and told him about how she felt shocked and totally defenceless on being kissed by an adult... She had been brought up under strict discipline by her parents and when an adult kissed her she felt she has been subjected to an immoral act and lost her honour. She shuddered to think about the ramification of this incident for her family if became known to the public. She started to believe that she had been wronged by Venu deliberately. She despised all men and their mean ways of lust and overpowering behaviour with women. She underwent days and months of severe mental torture. She soon lost interest in everything and even thought of ending her life but fearing the adverse effect on her family name gave up that idea. But while she narrated all her feelings, she stoutly refused to divulge the name of the person who kissed her saying that he was an honourable man with a family and some status in the society. The psychiatrist concluded that Saroja was in a schizophrenic seizure and suggested taking Saroja out to new surroundings amongst new people to give her time to recover. The Krishnaswamys therefore decided to move away from Chennai to an undeclared destination.
Venu was now even more hurt than before. He narrated to me the whole story and rued how the tragic outcome of his well-meaning gesture of a kiss of a young hapless girl torments him every now and then. I could not see any justification of his act since as a middle class person brought up in a puritanical family environment where even talking alone to a girl after her puberty is frowned upon, except to muse how even a small act of indiscretion can ruin the life of a young girl brought up in strict middle class discipline.
He was then posted as a junior manager in a bank in Chennai and was living in the lower middle class locality of Triplicane with wife and infant daughter. His home was a two- room portion in the ground floor of a two storeyed building in Bells Road and there were some four or five other families living in similar accommodation on the ground floor. One of the families was that of the middle aged Krishnaswamy working in a private company with his wife and four children. His eldest child was Saroja aged 15 studying in the 9h standard. There were 3 other families on the ground floor with some five or six children studying in various standards from KG to the 6th standard. These children, mostly girls, played games like pandi, etc. in the evenings while Saroja the oldest in the group being a spectator. The first floor was a single unit of 3 rooms, hall and kitchen occupied by one Devarajan working in LIC.
One day in May that year when schools had closed for summer vacation after announcing the results, Venu had returned from work early and found gaiety and celebrations in his building. A little girl came and told him that she has passed and she was followed by other children gleefully saying that they have all passed. He thought that he should give them some sweet on their promotion and shouted to the shopkeeper across the building to send some chocolates. He asked the kids to come one by one to receive the chocolate. He kissed each child as he gave the sweet and did not consider it improper as they were kids. All this while, he had not noticed Saroja standing some distance away watching the proceedings. When he saw her, he asked her about her result and she said with all modesty that she has stood first in her class and got promoted to the 10th standard. She was about to leave when Venu asked her to take a chocolate like the other kids. She hesitated in the beginning but ultimately came forward. Venu gave her the chocolate and involuntarily turned to kiss her as he did with other children. Saroja was aghast at this and mumbled something like what would others say if they came to know that a grown up girl like her had been kissed by an adult male. As she started to leave, Venu grabbed her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She gave him the angry look of an injured and defenceless girl subjected to an act of shame and with tears in her eyes ran to her home.
That night, Venu could not get sleep easily. As he closed his eyes the child-like and innocent face of Saroja kept on tormenting him. He was at a loss to justify to his conscience his kissing a teen-aged girl and felt morally weakened. He told his wife about the incident in the evening expecting her to assuage his guilt feeling and condone his act of kissing a girl as young as his daughter without any sinister intent.. He tried to convince her that he had not acted with any amorous intention towards Saroja. But his wife refused to buy this and chided him for behaving stupidly with an innocent girl. He sincerely prayed that Saroja would not tell anyone in her family or others and that things would be forgotten soon. He did not see Saroja thereafter for many days and even felt glad to have not seen her. The intensity of his guilt feeling lessened over time Mercifully, he received his transfer orders within a month and left Chennai for Hyderabad.
Two years later, he was in Chennai on official work for a week and was pondering whether he should go to his old Bells Road home to meet the Krisnaswamys. In fact, the urge was to see if Saroja would show any rancour when she sees him. But he did not have the courage to meet her. He rang up Devarajan the tenant upstairs and expressed a desire to meet him. They met at a hotel and after initial exchange of pleasantries, Venu asked him about the other tenants in Bells Road. Devarajan informed that while other tenants continued there, Krishnaswamy’s family has moved away without any forwarding address. Venu pressed for details for this odd behaviour on the part of Krishnaswamy. Devarajan with some hesitation said that for a month or so after Venu’s departure for Hyderabad, things were going normally when suddenly Saroja seemed to lose interest in everything. She fared poorly in studies and failed her 10th standard exam. She lost weight considerably and became pale. She ate less and less and very often seen to go into a kind of a trance, sitting alone in a corner. Her responses to others were muted. In the beginning, Krishnaswamy, like any middle class father, used the “samadhana, beda, dhanda “approach and when all these failed got her treated medically by doctors of all systems including sorcery. But nothing was helping Saroja and she became more and more moody and confined herself within the four walls of the house sulking everyone.
As it happens in small communities, the rumour mills started grinding. Tale after tale about the promiscuous character of Saroja did the rounds making the Krisnaswamys exasperated. Then a psychiatrist was consulted. It was then the truth came to be known. To the psychiatrist, Saroja recounted the incident of kissing and told him about how she felt shocked and totally defenceless on being kissed by an adult... She had been brought up under strict discipline by her parents and when an adult kissed her she felt she has been subjected to an immoral act and lost her honour. She shuddered to think about the ramification of this incident for her family if became known to the public. She started to believe that she had been wronged by Venu deliberately. She despised all men and their mean ways of lust and overpowering behaviour with women. She underwent days and months of severe mental torture. She soon lost interest in everything and even thought of ending her life but fearing the adverse effect on her family name gave up that idea. But while she narrated all her feelings, she stoutly refused to divulge the name of the person who kissed her saying that he was an honourable man with a family and some status in the society. The psychiatrist concluded that Saroja was in a schizophrenic seizure and suggested taking Saroja out to new surroundings amongst new people to give her time to recover. The Krishnaswamys therefore decided to move away from Chennai to an undeclared destination.
Venu was now even more hurt than before. He narrated to me the whole story and rued how the tragic outcome of his well-meaning gesture of a kiss of a young hapless girl torments him every now and then. I could not see any justification of his act since as a middle class person brought up in a puritanical family environment where even talking alone to a girl after her puberty is frowned upon, except to muse how even a small act of indiscretion can ruin the life of a young girl brought up in strict middle class discipline.
The Smart World
The concept of “smartness” in good old days was mostly attributed to personal qualities like quick wit and intelligence or stylishly dressed, such persons being called “smart”. Like my school friend Santhanam, when asked to indicate Newfoundland in our class room world map pointed out to some dot of a space two inches below Australia in the Indian Ocean saying that he newly found that place. We all thought he was smart but our Geography master was not amused and admonished him saying “Don’t be a smart ass”.
With the electronics revolution in the last century the concept “smartness” in devices has changed to mean their capacity to do many independent functions in addition to the main intended function. Thus came the smart card and the smart phone and now its extension, the Apple smart watch. The smart watch “apart from helping consumers send and receive messages, and post on social networking sites, can also monitor one’s heartbeat, serve as a pedometer, measure one’s calorie intake and facilitate cashless payments”.
The management gurus prescribed S.M.A.R.T. ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound) goals for organisations.
There is news that Mumbai’s Bandra –Kurla Complex (BKC) is to become the city’s first “smart district” by the end of this financial year. Under the Smart BKC project, five services will be provided- viz public wi-fi, smart parking, smart solar street lighting, a citizen portal or apps to spot utilities like reserving a table in a restaurant and video analytics based CCTV cameras to alert agencies about thefts or suspicious activities .Smart news indeed for Mumbai citizens smarting from the poor civic functions .If you ask me, Mumbai needs smart roads without pot holes.
I was curious if vegetables can be smart. I goggled and discovered the “smart potato, smart tomato and smart brinjal”. The first two are mentioned in the context of summer activities of kids and the third is mentioned for its the universality and good properties .
Next was my search for the” smart wife” in the belief that such a person does not exist but the following story dispels the belief. A man and woman were married for many years, even though they hated each other. When they had a confrontation, screaming and yelling could be heard deep into the night the man would shout, "When I die, I will dig my way up and out of the grave and come back and haunt you for the rest of your life!" Neighbours feared him. They believed he practiced black magic, because of the many strange occurrences that took place in their neighbourhood. The man liked the fact that he was feared. To everyone's relief, he died of a heart attack when he was 68. His wife had a closed casket at the wake. After the burial, she went straight to the local bar and began to party, as if there was no tomorrow. Her neighbours, concerned for her safety, asked, "Aren't you afraid that he may indeed be able to dig his way up and out of the grave and come back to haunt you for the rest of your life?" The wife put down her drink and said, "Let him dig. I had him buried upside down......"
The smart things of the future? Your guess is as good as mine.
With the electronics revolution in the last century the concept “smartness” in devices has changed to mean their capacity to do many independent functions in addition to the main intended function. Thus came the smart card and the smart phone and now its extension, the Apple smart watch. The smart watch “apart from helping consumers send and receive messages, and post on social networking sites, can also monitor one’s heartbeat, serve as a pedometer, measure one’s calorie intake and facilitate cashless payments”.
The management gurus prescribed S.M.A.R.T. ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound) goals for organisations.
There is news that Mumbai’s Bandra –Kurla Complex (BKC) is to become the city’s first “smart district” by the end of this financial year. Under the Smart BKC project, five services will be provided- viz public wi-fi, smart parking, smart solar street lighting, a citizen portal or apps to spot utilities like reserving a table in a restaurant and video analytics based CCTV cameras to alert agencies about thefts or suspicious activities .Smart news indeed for Mumbai citizens smarting from the poor civic functions .If you ask me, Mumbai needs smart roads without pot holes.
I was curious if vegetables can be smart. I goggled and discovered the “smart potato, smart tomato and smart brinjal”. The first two are mentioned in the context of summer activities of kids and the third is mentioned for its the universality and good properties .
Next was my search for the” smart wife” in the belief that such a person does not exist but the following story dispels the belief. A man and woman were married for many years, even though they hated each other. When they had a confrontation, screaming and yelling could be heard deep into the night the man would shout, "When I die, I will dig my way up and out of the grave and come back and haunt you for the rest of your life!" Neighbours feared him. They believed he practiced black magic, because of the many strange occurrences that took place in their neighbourhood. The man liked the fact that he was feared. To everyone's relief, he died of a heart attack when he was 68. His wife had a closed casket at the wake. After the burial, she went straight to the local bar and began to party, as if there was no tomorrow. Her neighbours, concerned for her safety, asked, "Aren't you afraid that he may indeed be able to dig his way up and out of the grave and come back to haunt you for the rest of your life?" The wife put down her drink and said, "Let him dig. I had him buried upside down......"
The smart things of the future? Your guess is as good as mine.
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