X-Y-Z theory

About 10 years ago, my mother in law and father in law came to Bangalore (where we live). They stayed with us for a few weeks, like they do even to this day. As part of their visit, my wife suggested we go to Mysore and do some sight seeing there since my in-laws had not seen the city. We made arrangements and got going. I have a cousin who lives in Mysore and I just mentioned this to her. Her husband, who is ever ready to help anyone, and who doesn't even wait to be asked for help, immediately said that he would arrange a local taxi for sight seeing from a reputed tourist taxi hiring agency in Mysore. He did that, called us over for dinner one day and prepared dinner himself (since my cousin was away from Mysore) and took abundant care of us. My mother in law was surprised to see a person, who is not closely related, helping us so much. He suggested the itinerary and route for visiting a few temples around Mysore too.

This incident made a deep impact on me. Till then, I felt that I needed to help only those people who asked for my help. And here was a man who was going out of the way to help others - even when they didn't ask for it. Pro-active.

I quickly realized that I could not help him back in any way. He was not only independent, but probably because of his nature, he would not "ask" for help. Some introspection was required to know how to give back what I received. So I decided that I would help others.

Now my theory is slightly different from the thinking that most people adopt. If X has helped Y or given her some money, Y needed to return the favour to X either in cash or in kind. If X did not need any help from Y, she would wait for such help to be asked. It works like the debit-credit facility in a bank. You can draw money to the extent you have credit, otherwise maybe overdraft facility will be available, but that would depend on the "kindness" of the manager of the bank.

I decided that as far as I was concerned, if X helps Y, and Y helps Z then the equation is balanced. If each of us practice this theory in our lives, we will see goodness spread.

I told about this theory of mine to an Office Manager in an organisation where I worked briefly. He just laughed and said, "Saheb, sab aapki tarah Gandhi nahi ho sakte" (meaning Sir, all of us cannot be a Gandhi like you). I know it was said more in sarcasm than in good humour.

I want to know, is it so difficult to practice this theory?

Age of Innocence

We grew up in a township in Ranchi (now in Jharkhand, but then in the early 1960's, in Bihar). It was just being formed and the houses were new and would often leak during the monsoon rains, the roads unpaved, the gardens and playgrounds being developed, no hospital yet, just an MI room (you can see in the building in the background with the red + sign).

But that age was an age of innocence, of finding happiness in small pleasures and treasures, of playing in whatever facilities were available. Even a heap of sand was a playground, where we could make some tunnel, and imagine a stone (as a car) moving through it as if we were driving a car through a tunnel in a mountain.

This photo is priceless in our family not because of any great photo composition or lighting, exposure, contrast or any such other gimmicks. If I remember right, the camera was a basic pin-hole type camera which took a 120 mm film (good for 16 exposures per roll). It is great because it shows the three of us (siblings) laughing. And laughing for God knows what reason. It is also priceless because we were spontaneous and enjoying the moment. I remember there were many such moments in our childhood, but this photo is the only one that captures our days in Ranchi - the days that we cannot forget, the days that we yearn to go back to.

If you look closely you can see the safety pins holding the blouse of my sister (to the right) in place. She obviously did not believe in "dressing" herself up before being "shot". That came later when she started going to college. We couldn't afford many good dresses anyway, and probably all we had then were a couple of "wearable" but washed and clean clothes. I don't recall ever any of us having worried about that or comparing ourself with other 'well to do' guys in the township. A township life is not easy since in a small place the General Manager's kid is also sharing the same space as a clerk's child. Probably they would have to go to the same school. I don't recall my father ever having to say to me not to move or be friends with some guys just because we wouldn't gell together or we were not of the same 'status'.

An age of innocence perfectly captured for posterity.

When will the Time Machine be ready, man?

Minor luxuries

Kishore was in a hurry. He was getting late and his lunch was not ready. He works in a small pharma contract manufacturing company near Peenya. His job was to supervise the production line and though the job was in two shifts, due to his seniority, he was always in the general shift and would take over some line when the line supervisors needed breaks for tea, snacks, toilet or lunch. The practice of not stopping the line came about because of Kishore's idea to the MD, wherein he suggested a small crew of people who would rotate among various lines to give breaks to workmen and supervisors and ensure the line ran for the full shift. He liked giving ideas; but was averse to being late for work. Now Smitha was not punctual in preparing his lunch and he was getting agitated.

"Where is the lunch box? Should I eat in the staff canteen today?"

"Just two minutes. The 'subzi' is about to be ready and I have to make one more roti for you. Can't you wait?"

"My regular bus will leave, and I will have to take the next bus, which will be crowded. I won't get a seat. How many times have I to tell you this. Can't you wake up just 10 minutes before to keep my lunch ready?"

"Don't forget, I too work in a factory."

"Yeah, but your time is 10 am. My work starts at 8.30."

"But I have to leave Suresh at his school, you know. And here is your lunch box. Now get going."

Kishore hurried out. Generally his bus would be late by about 5-10 minutes at the bus stop. It was only 3 minutes beyond his regular time. Hopefully, he wouldn't miss the bus. On the other hand, today being a festival day, the traffic was also light. He needed to know if the bus had already left his stop. Should he call his friend Shyam, who too travelled to Peenya by the same bus?

Yes, he had missed the bus today. Now the next bus would be here after 10 minutes. He not only had to wait, but would also have to push into a crowded bus. Smitha! All because of her.

Hmm. Entered the bus. Deep breath. Both feet firmly on the floor of the bus. Good. Hand on the rail above. Great. Minor luxuries. Now he needed to move towards the centre of the bus to be able to get a seat, if some passenger alighted from the bus.

Slow movement past school kids with their inflated bag and lunch box; ladies with their oversized bags (what items do these ladies carry? We are able to accommodate everything in our pockets, aren't we? Need to ask Smitha about it tonight. But only if she is in a good mood), old men going to the post-office or the bank to collect their pension. No! Bank holiday today. Then where do these old guys go during peak hour? There should be a law preventing people who are not commuting for work from crowding the bus during peak hours. These oldies and retired guys can travel around 10 or 11 when there is less crowd, no! Having difficulty themselves, and creating problems for the commuters also. Maybe BMTC should run a senior-citizen special. He laughed at his own ideas.

Standing in the middle of the bus now, but somehow need to move near one of the seats or the vertical rod to be able to rest my back, he thought. That is also accomplished. What about the handle above? All are already taken. Kishore is 5'3" and if he stretches his hand and holds the horizontal rod, he feels uncomfortable. Yes, that handle is now released. Grab it. Done. Both feet on the floor. No one is pushing. Back resting on one of the seats, hand on the handle grip. Everything is fine. Life is back to normal and the world looks good.

Minor luxuries!

Food - Art and Science

We love to eat. There are some poor souls who only eat to live. I, on the other hand, can shamelessly say, that I love good food and am particularly fond of sweets. I dabble in cooking and there are frequent arguments with my wife as to "how" to cook. As to the subject of "what" to cook, I have long ago given up trying to fix the menu for the day, as my suggestions are shot down on one pretext or the other. So if she asks me at all as to what to cook, I just shrug and keep quiet. After all, discretion is the better part of valour, if valour means getting into verbal jousts with wife.

While cooking, I have tried to understand the science behind the cooking rather than the 'art' of cooking. I believe that cooking is PHYSICS  and CHEMISTRY. If we understand what happens using the principles of these two sciences, we have understood cooking. Addition of ingredients at the right time ensures that the reactions are favourable and the essence of the flavours that we want our food to have, occur correctly. Heating at full flame or at half flame also is rooted in reactions that take place to ensure that the cooking happens and the food doesn't burn.

Lemon (or any acidic material) and milk should be as far away as possible while cooking or we should be prepared for curdling to happen. Sugar needs to be added only when the cooking of the vermicelli is done or it won't cook properly. Addition of sugar or salt will reduce the "viscosity" of the product since they "release" water, so we should take that into account during our cooking process.

So is food only science and not art? In my opinion, art comes into the picture only for the presentation of the food at the table for visual appeal. If the food that I cook is presented poorly, my guests (or my family) will turn up their noses and avoid that item, however well it may have been cooked. However, an average food can gain a few points if presented well. Most times we assess the food based on our eyes and our noses. Tongue come last. So however well we understand the science of cooking, we must keep in mind that our "customers" will see and smell our product before tasting.