Black Swan

 

We know of swans as white. In Hinduism, it is accorded a special place as a "vaahan" (vehicle) for Goddess Saraswathi (goddess of learning and music). Most depictions of swans are as a white bird. It also symbolises purity of thought and action. Purity of the soul. Probably, 3000 years ago, white was the colour of purity and black the colour of "rakshas"... (Picture of white swan from here)


Europeans, too, thought there were only white swans in the world.  If someone wanted to signify an event which would have a very, very low probability of occurrence, he would say, "it will happen when I see a black swan". Things went swimmingly, until someone found black swans to be native of Australia and New Zealand sometime in the early 18th century, perhaps. The shock and surprise was complete. Black swans did not come with an adjective of high improbability. They were just not native to Europe, but not rare at all.

The consequences of such realizations have been the subject of a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (more details here) and the title of his book is appropriately "The Black Swan, The Impact of the Highly Improbable". It has attracted the attention of people in Wall Street and academia who have come to recognize in this book the near impracticality of predicting "black swan events" - events that are extremely rare, but whose impact is far-reaching and probably global. (Image of black swan from here).

Extreme examples are 9/11 and the aftermath in terms of war, increased security, man-hunt and the changes that we see to this day - 11 years on. More recently, we had the Covid 19 pandemic that ravaged the world and killed millions within a very short time - probably of the scale of a world war. On the positive side, we have Internet, Google, mobile telecommunication (especially in India), and the rapid technological changes it has wrought in society and business as a result.

Could anyone have predicted these? There is someone who has, strangely. A futurologist called Ray Kurzweil (more here) who has been able to predict many "black swan" events with timelines. Among his predictions was the power of internet, wireless communication and internet access, nano-technology, and power of chess programs to routinely win against the best humans. His predictions are here.

Of interest to me is not these phenomena which are global. If there are black swan events on a global scale, can we not have black swan events at a country, province, district, village, or family level too? Events which are not foreseen, but which can have intense impact when it does happen. I can think of the 2004 tsunami which devastated many coastal towns and villages in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia. For those villages and towns the event was a black swan event. Highly improbable, but with devastating consequences for life and savings. Tsunamis in the Pacific were the reasons for the advance warning systems that were established along the Pacific - from US through Hawaii upto Japan. But no one predicted that an Indian ocean tsunami could be so enormous - at least till Dec 26, 2004.

Without going through the country, state, province, district, and village levels for other examples, let me go to the black swan events that can rock a family. What do we say happens to Mr. Sushil Kumar who was the winner of the Rs. 5 crore jackpot prize during season 5 of the popular quiz show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) (inspired by the British show, Who wants to be a Millionaire)? A computer operator, whose monthly salary was 6,000 rupees. His life would have taken a totally different turn since winning the top prize in KBC 5. A black swan event in his family. On the positive side, no doubt. Coming to think of it, wasn't KBC itself a black swan event for Star Plus (now on Sony Entertainment Television) and for the career of Amitabh Bachchan, its host? 

At a personal level, illnesses and its consequent effect on the person can be a black swan event. I have had three of them in my life - each made an enormous impact in my life.

No, marriages are NOT black swan events in one's life - even though it changes one completely. You see, it is inevitable and you know you are going to "fall" into it. It is not in the category of "highly improbable".

 

IF.....

Reposted from another blog of mine that I do not access....at all. Just happened to visit that today and saw that the last blog of mine there was this one. Just copy-pasting that here without any edits.

This was published on October 2012. My family and I were living in Bangalore then.

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My wife and I need to meet our cousin who lives about 25 kms away. There are multiple routes to reach her place, and before we leave, we discuss the options. I feel going through the "ring road" is quicker since the roads are wider, and there are less signals to pass through. However, the route is longer by about 6 kms. The route via the city centre, though shorter, has more signals. Anyway, the options are only regarding which route takes longer. We don't want to be stuck on the road for a long time. No fun in that and with petrol prices at stratospheric levels, we cannot afford that too!

We choose the ring road, the over-riding reason being that I am driving the car. But we didn't contend with the traffic jam today. There are at least three places where the traffic is insane and at each place we spend almost 10 minutes navigating through 6 lanes of vehicles of all description crammed into three lanes of traffic, with motorbikes occupying all intervening spaces. With the stop-start-stop being the norm, my wife also starts the same "start commenting, stop commenting, start commenting". If you had listened to me, if you had driven through the city, if I had not finished dinner before leaving as you wanted me to, if...if...

How can wives know where the traffic will be lighter? Beats me. But during occasions such as these, they pretend they have a seventh sense (the sense to detect traffic jams).

We do tend to look back at various points in our lives to pause and reflect. If only I had prepared for my CAT more thoroughly, if I had applied for a US university, if I had not taken up my job at XYZ, if I had done this, if I had not done that...

In fights with my wife, we have said many things to each other including if we had not married each other. I have often thought of this, honestly..

Life is full of choices. We are confronted with this right from our school days, where our parents make the choices on behalf of us. They choose our schools and from there we form friendships and alliances and networks. These are some of the strongest influences in our lives. We remember many of our school friends even later on in life. Thanks to the internet and social networking sites, we can remain connected even when we are into our fifties. Later on when we move to higher classes, we need to make our own choices. The most important "fork in our life" comes when we move from X std. to junior college or Plus 1 or XI (depending on the board of education). Science, Arts, or commerce? PCMB or PCMC? Commerce with Economics and Statistics or Business studies? The decisions we take here determine the path along which we will travel for the rest of our lives. Oftentimes we consider ourselves too immature to take these decisions and leave them to our parents to decide. The more "mature" ones have even "maturer parents" who want their kids to take a particular course. Entrance exams, colleges, courses, jobs... and the list goes on probably culminating in "choosing" the life partner.

"I think Arup (name changed) should have taken metallurgy in NIT Jaipur instead of studying electrical engineering in a Bangalore college. You (this to her husband) told us then when we went for counselling that Arup need not go to Jaipur. The college is not so good. But now Lalitha's son, Prashanth, has completed B.E. Computer science from NIT Jaipur and has got admission in a US University. If only Arup had joined NIT Jaipur...."

It is comforting to live in the past and examine each decision and choice with the benefit of hindsight (which has 20/20 vision) and then find fault with one's own choice or with the choice of the partners. In my opinion, this is wishful thinking and doesn't take us anywhere. You cannot drive a car constantly looking at your rear view mirror. You only look at it occasionally to see what is behind you. Drive looking ahead.

Leave the "ifs" in the realm of flowcharting where it truly belongs. You need to ask yourself many questions starting with "if" while flowcharting, to understand the various choices people in the process make. What do you do if the invoice doesn't have the PAN number of the supplier? What will you do if there is no budget this year for the item indented, but it is a critical item needed now? Ask innumerable questions with IF at each stage of your process while creating your flowchart for the process that you are studying to determine what actions people take under various situations. 

However, do not live your life with an IF.

 

Special Session of the Assembly

 

I woke up yesterday to the raucous sounds of a particular type of bird that is distinct. These birds are seen all over India and are quite intelligent - even rivaling some distinguished people of our country whom we have mistakenly elected as our people's representatives. Their cawing woke me up around 5 am and after brushing my teeth, I went to the kitchen to prepare coffee. It was then that I saw a few crows outside on the neighbour's window shade crowing about in a very disturbed manner. There were angry responses from other crows whom I couldn't see from the narrow window of my kitchen. I wondered what the commotion was all about - and that too early in the morning. Had the crows taken over from the rooster to wake up humans?

Being quite well versed in the language of the crows, I beckoned the crow nearest to me and inquired as to what the whole discussion was about. Here's an edited version of the story. (Edited to remove certain 'parliamentary' words used by the crow).

I: Hi! Good morning. What is the occasion? Why are you so agitated?

C (Crow): Hey! Sorry to have woken you up today. Didn't know that you wanted to sleep for some more time. 

I: What is the occasion?

C: Ha! Our Chief Crow called the special session of the assembly of Crows to discuss why you humans have stopped feeding us? We are going hungry and our chicks are starving, you know. Hardly anyone serves us freshly cooked rice anymore. I have been told by my grandmother crow that she used to enjoy the ghee soaked rice with some dal which probably your mother served her many years ago. We have hardly tasted such food recently. Our chicks are dying of hunger and you are least bothered. That is the prime reason for our special session today.

I: Oh! I thought you were objecting to the काला कौव्वा jibe that we people use.

C: That is another pet peeve of ours. In fact last evening there was a speculation among some of us that the special session may be because our Chief Crow wanted to change our names from कौव्वा to something else. In fact some of us were voting for some interesting names. Some wanted us to be referred to as कागा or कृष्ण काग: However, that is not why our special session has been called for.

I: Any reason you think you have a right to demand food from us? Do you know we work for our food. We struggle with our bosses, our traffic, our inflation, our children's school fees and their tuition charges. Hardly anything remains after all these expenses. How do you expect us to prepare extra food on a daily basis to feed you folks? What work do you do to 'earn' food?

C: Haven't you read your holy books? Isn't it mentioned that we are the reincarnated form of your ancestors. Don't you think it is your duty to feed your ancestors? After all it is just a spoonful for you; but that is enough to fill the stomachs of at least three of us. Can't you show some kindness towards your fellow species? As for doing work, do you know that we are also one of the 'cleaning staff' for your city? We have been reduced to eating the leftover food that people throw away on the roads and near the compound walls. Most times that food is what even you folks couldn't tolerate. The Swiggy and Zomato stuff that you waste money on. You just throw them away. We try and salvage some from there and feed ourselves and carry that for our chicks. But that is giving us poor health. Many of us are just collapsing and dying - probably of food poisoning. You are responsible for many of our deaths. You should be held accountable. Our Chief Crow wants to find out if your Chief Justice would take a suo-moto case on our behalf and tell your PM to come out with a law to feed us fresh food every day.

I: Wow! You folks have discussed all this today in your special assembly session so early in the morning?

C: Yes, indeed. We woke up early today for this special session. It was called for so early so that we could pass on our request to some people who can understand us.

I: It is quite early now, and my wife hasn't yet prepared rice. Would you mind if I keep a few biscuits here for you? Will that suffice for the present? I will try and persuade my wife to feed you with your rice soaked with ghee and dal everyday. Though she is bound to ask why I am making that request to her today. She doesn't know that I can converse with you in your language. I generally do not 'crow' about my abilities, you know. Pardon the pun. Do you like fresh filter coffee? I can keep a cup for you.

C: No need for biscuits and all. That is not healthy. In fact even stale bread that you throw away after its expiry is harming us. We want rice or roti. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?

I: I will pass on your request to all.

C:  There is another problem for us. Why do you folks call a group of crows as 'murder of crows'? Why do you call the collection of owls as 'parliament of owls'? We object to that. In fact, our Chief Crow wanted to call our 'assembly' as the 'parliament of crows', but you folks have given us another poor label.

I: Actually you should be happy that we do not refer to you as the 'parliament of crows'. Have you heard of what really happens in our Parliament? How our elected representatives debate? If you had heard, you would not have come up with the request for the label change. In fact, I think the owl fraternity may call for a special session tonight to request for a change in their nomenclature.

C:  Oh. Ok then. I will inform the Chief Crow about this and we may drop the request for the change.

_________________

Appeal to all: Please do keep food for the starving birds. Help them so that they can help us. 

Most importantly, do not litter.

The Cost of Values - 7

 

In case you happen to just come over to this blog post 

and are wondering what this is all about, 

please do go to the earlier posts, and especially  

The Cost of Values - 1. 

The story starts there. 

You may please read the other chapters before reading this one.

 

This is the 7th Chapter in the serialized story that I am writing.

-----------------------------------------------

 CHAPTER -7

THE CONVERSATION

 

A few hours earlier

 

Akshay found himself in an unfamiliar surrounding. He thought he was in the cafe like structure one moment, and the next moment he found himself alone in a 'room'. There was light, but he couldn't place the source of the light. It was definitely not natural sunlight; though it seemed like that. He looked around and didn't find any windows or apertures through which he could look out and determine where he was. Given that he was naturally a curious person, he was not overcome with fear; though anxiety was there. Yes, certainly some anxiety.

 

Akshay checked himself and found that he was dressed in the same dress that he woke up in. He hadn't carried his mobile phone, which was under the pillow of his bed in the camp. Hopefully his friends would be taking care of it and answering any calls that his parents may make. There was a chair and he sat down. These actions and thoughts may have taken about a minute. Akshay called out to no one in particular, since he couldn't spot anyone, "Hello!"

 

"Hello!"

 

"Who is this? Where am I?"

 

"You will get an answer to these questions and anything else that you may have by and by. First tell us why did you enter that structure without any permission?"

 

"I did call out 'Hello!' when I entered through the open door. I thought it was a cafe and we could grab a cup of coffee."

 

"Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

 

"Yes, some water, a cup of coffee, and something to eat would be great". Akshay didn't in the least feel that he was in any kind of danger since the 'person' speaking to him was very polite.

 

All that Akshay asked for appeared almost instantaneously and was placed on a stool in front of him. He was taken aback by this. How did these food items suddenly appear out of nowhere? He drank the water, ate the slices of bread and sipped on the hot coffee. Are these items for real? Where did they come from? Looking around he found everything almost the same. But where was the other person who was speaking to him?

 

Suddenly he heard a voice, "We are 'beings' from very far off and visit your planet once every few years of your time. We have been visiting your planet off and on and whether you believe it or not, we have a decent knowledge of your planet."

 

"You are surely joking. What nonsense! We haven't been visited by any life form outside our planet till now."

 

"How can you say so? Aren't you surprised that we are able to converse in a language familiar to you?"

 

That is when Akshay realized that he had taken the language for granted. But still there were many possibilities that the 'beings' were from some part of our Earth. Why should Akshay believe that he was 'captured' by aliens? It could be Chinese too with some advanced technology or a secret project of the Indian government and he may have inadvertently stepped on to something that was being tested. Yes, that seemed to him to be the most plausible explanation.

"How do you know so many terms that we use conversationally like 'hunger', 'coffee', 'water', etc?"

"As I mentioned, we have been visiting often enough and have a reasonably good idea of the languages spoken by you humans. We have interacted with other life forms that live in water, on land, and in the air and have a decent understanding of their language too. We can converse with them as well, and have met them in similar surroundings over the last thousand years."

"What is the purpose of your visiting us?" Still no sign of any fear in Akshay.

"We have helped your civilization in many ways. Do you think you came about due to evolution? From apes? That was a theory that Darwin proposed, and yes, we have got that information too. Actually we helped the creation of sapiens and have watched you evolve, and nudged you biologically over time to help you reach this stage of 'intelligence'."

This continuous volley of information was too much for Akshay to process. He was not fearful of any unknown generally, and took anything that he didn't know about with a curious mindset. He also looked for logical explanations when faced with things that he didn't know about. If this was true, was he some sort of guinea pig or lab rat for them to experiment on? As if reading his thoughts, he heard the voice again.

"No. We do not experiment with any beings from your world. We nudge your brain a little; but sometimes that little nudge results in a huge breakthrough in your world. We may do that to you too so that you can benefit your people."

"Why should you do that? What do you gain by this?"

"Why do humans have pets? Why do they 'train' them?"

"We like to keep pets for our mutual benefit. Pets care for us just like we care for them. Ignoring some people who may keep wild animals as pets, generally our pets like dogs or cats are good for both of us."

"Good. Can you tell me why your scientists have experimented with plants? Why do marine biologists go under the sea to study marine life? Why do ornithologists study birds? What purpose does it serve the birds or humans?"

"We have learnt many new things from them. In fact we may also have invented some drugs to benefit us by exploiting what we study in the forests and in the oceans." Having said that Akshay now had a tinge of worry whether life forms on Earth are likely to be 'exploited' by these aliens for their purpose. He didn't voice his suspicion, but realized that his brain was being studied while they were busy keeping him talking to them. He asked, "Where are you from?"

"From a place very far off. Since you do not have any interest in astronomy, I may not be able to make you understand within the time that we have."

"What will you do next? Will I be able to return to Earth, if I am not there now?"

"Of course. As I mentioned, we don't take captives. You came to us; we didn't capture you."

"Ok. That is a relief. How much time has elapsed since I came here? I do not know how time moves in this environment relative to ours."

"Maybe about four hours. To answer your previous question regarding what we will do to you, we have already done that. As I said, a positive nudge in your area of specialization for you to achieve some breakthrough in your life and benefit humans."

"If I am asked about my experiences here, I may not be able to explain anything at all. This is just a seemingly vacant room and all I am hearing is your voice."

"Oh relax. You will not remember anything that happened here. We take care of that. We know that many of you folks are distrusting of anything you do not know and have historically tried to kill it and kill the messenger too!"

"But this is really sad. I want us to meet more often; not necessarily with me, but with many of our more intelligent and smart scientists, engineers, and technologists. They can really benefit with your interacting with them."

"Are you sure?"

That was what he heard last; though Akshay wouldn't remember these words. He now found himself at  the edge of the woods adjacent to the grassy lands near the campsite in Kanatal. He wondered how he got there. It was afternoon, though according to him it was just early morning a few minutes ago. He remembered walking with this friends towards a structure that had appeared suddenly the previous night, but now there was nothing there. When he looked towards the campsite, he could see the tents fluttering in the afternoon wind. He saw Amrutha, Ganesh, and Vikrant with some others. He started walking towards them.

_______________________________________________________________

 

Note to readers:

 

Thanks for your support and encouragement. Quite a few commented within the blog in the initial chapters, but quite a few wrote words of praise on WhatsApp. I thank them. I also thank those of you who took the time to come here and read this 'serialized story'.

 

Before beginning to write this story, I had no previous experience in this genre. I like to write and I look at this effort more like an experiment rather than an achievement (😁).  

The Cost of Values - 6

 

In case you happen to just come over to this blog post 

and are wondering what this is all about, 

please do go to the earlier posts, and especially  

The Cost of Values - 1. 

The story starts there. 

You may please read the other chapters before reading this one.

 

This is the 6th Chapter in the serialized story that I am writing.

 

CHAPTER - 6

The call to Ramu had eased the tension somewhat of the three persons in Kanatal. At least they felt that Ramu and Prema had not suspected the three friends of any foul play. That was a relief. Now they needed to tackle the authorities. They presumed that they would have to contend with the police since this was a case of disappearance of a person! How wrong they were.

Vikrant and Amrutha cleared their camp and were about to leave for Dehradun when Amrutha received a call from an unknown number. Again with great trepidation, she answered the call.

"Hello!"

"Hello! Is this Amrutha from DataLogix?"

"Yes. May I know who is calling please?"

"I am Pramod Gupta from the Government of India. I would like to speak with you. Where are you now?"

"Which department of the government do you represent?" asked Amrutha in a tremulous voice.

"That I will tell you when we meet. Where are you now? Please answer me honestly."

"I am in Kanatal. But why do you ask?"

"This is in regard to the disappearance of Akshay. We would like to talk to you about it."

"Are we in trouble?"

"That depends. I will be able to know more only when I meet you three - Ganesh, Vikrant, and you Amrutha. Just stay where you are and do not move away from your campsite. A team is coming over to you now to talk to you. We want all of you to be there. Do not leave the place. I repeat, do not leave the place under any circumstances."

"Ok sir!" Amrutha looked at Ganesh and Vikrant and all three of them realized that the situation is grave if some government agency is involved. Who knows what they may ask!

 

Within about fifteen minutes a police vehicle came to a halt near the campsite and a senior police officer got down with an Inspector in tow. He looked around and checked the tents of the three campers, turned around towards Amrutha and asked, "Amrutha?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Pramod Gupta spoke to me about an hour ago and asked me to come up here and be with you and ask a few questions. Do you mind if I ask each of you individually what you experienced today?"

Ganesh and Vikrant felt a bit relieved that they need not have to go anywhere since the police was here. But was that a good news or bad? They went a few feet away, but the Inspector took them about a hundred yards away from where the senior police officer was speaking to Amrutha. Probably they wanted to query each of them individually to ensure that there was uniformity in what they saw today morning. Already the disappearance of Akshay seemed to be so distant. Things were happening real fast.

"Amrutha, don't be scared of us. We are here at the instruction of Guptaji. My name is Shailendra and I am the Additional SP of Tehri Garhwal district. The Inspector there is Mr. Vikas Singh from the police station at Tehri. So we would like to ask a few questions before Mr. Gupta reaches here. He is already on his way and would be joining here within about 2 hours."

Amrutha explained in detail what they saw that day in the morning. Shailendra asked a few questions to clarify things that he didn't understand. Amrutha also showed him the pictures that she had taken. Shailendra looked at the pictures intently and complimented Amrutha for her foresight. Not for a moment did Amrutha feel that she was under any suspicion; but Ganesh and Vikrant, standing so far away that they couldn't hear what was being discussed, had some apprehensions.

Shailendra then called Vikrant over and checked with him about his impressions and later spoke to Ganesh as well. He soon realized that the three of them had prepared well what to say when questioned since their responses were, for the most part, identical. All five of them then went to the place where the 'structure' appeared and then suddenly disappeared. As they were about to reach there, a car pulled up near the campsite and they saw a gentleman in a formal suit gesture to them to return to the campsite.

"I am Pramod Gupta and this gentleman here with me is Mr. Somanathan. As I mentioned to all of you over phone, I am from the Government of India and am here to investigate this.....well... this issue. By the way did any of you three call Mr. Ramakrishnan, Akshay's father, to inform him of this event?"

Amrutha said, "Yes sir. I called up Mr. Ramakrishnan and informed him. He was shocked. Later I spoke to his wife also. They said that they would be coming here to meet us."

Pramod said, "Yes, I spoke to them afterwards too. But later they called me to inform that they may not be coming today."

Meanwhile in Bangalore, Ramu and Prema had finished their packing and were getting ready to leave for the airport, when there was another call for Prema.

"Hello!"

"Hello amma!"

"Akshay?"

To be continued next Sunday - 20-August-2023

 

The Cost of Values - 5

 

In case you happen to just come over to this blog post 

and are wondering what this is all about, 

please do go to the earlier posts, and especially  

The Cost of Values - 1. 

The story starts there. 

This is the 5th Chapter in the serialized story that I am writing.

 

CHAPTER - 5 

 

Ganesh and Vikrant discussed between themselves regarding which police station to go to for registering their complaint. The nearest police station may not have the necessary expertise for registering or investigating such 'disappearances', they felt. Hence they called up Amrutha to voice their concerns and involve her also in the final decision regarding which police station would be appropriate to meet with and register their complaint regarding the disappearance of Akshay.

It was finally decided that they would go to Dehradun and all three people were unanimous in their final choice since that was the capital city of Uttarakhand. There was a great mystery associated with Akshay's disappearance and they all felt that speaking to any other police officer in a smaller town may not get the attention that this event deserved.

Amrutha realized that the one-way journey for Ganesh and Vikrant would take about 4 hours at the least and she may have to stay back in the campsite for the full day and possibly spend the night alone too. Ganesh and Vikrant too realized this as soon as they had left; so they decided to return to the campsite. Now another quandary presented itself. If all three had to leave by vacating and clearing the campsite, they would have to remove Akshay's belongings and pack up the tent too. This would disturb Akshay's tent and may have a problem with the investigation. So they realized that they were back to square one on the next course of action.

 

Ganesh asked around if any among the three had any relative in the police department anywhere in India and whether contacting that relative would be helpful. Vikrant said that his uncle was a senior officer in the police in Rajasthan and he could contact him to inform him of the situation and get the contact details of the senior officer in Dehradun. 

Ganesh asked, "Do you think your uncle will believe us?"

Vikrant replied, "I am not sure. But do we have any choice? This is a unique situation and inspite of carrying out an internet search, Amy hasn't been able to get any information on similar occurrences in these parts, or anywhere else in India. We have to start trusting someone. I think this option is our best bet to make the authorities believe us."

 

Ganesh asked with a hint of sarcasm, "As if there would be news about such an occurrence! Even the most liberal and transparent country like US doesn't reveal any existence of such paranormal phenomena. Do you think Indian government would do so?"

 

Both Vikrant and Amrutha did not have any way to counter this argument of Ganesh.

Amrutha was pensive for a while basically thinking of her next step, which was to contact Akshay's father Ramu, or his mother, Prema, to inform them of the sudden disappearance of their son. She was struggling with how to explain. But she  had to call and Vikrant and Ganesh realized that calling Akshay's parents should be their first priority.

"Hello!"

"Hello! Is that Mr. Ramakrishnan?"

"Yes. May I know who is speaking?"

"I am Amrutha, Akshay's friend and colleague in DataLogix at Gurugram. I am here in Uttarakhand in a camping site near a place called Kanatal. I am here with two more of my colleagues, Ganesh and Vikrant."

"Ok. So why are you telling me all this? Is Akshay with you? Is anything the matter?"

"Sir, I am sorry to inform you, but today early morning when we woke up, we saw a structure had suddenly appeared near our campsite, which was not there till yesterday evening, and when Akshay went ahead of us to investigate what it was, the structure and Akshay both disappeared. Sir, please believe me when I say this, the structure and Akshay who had just entered the building, both disappeared instantaneously in front of our eyes! We are still unable to wrap our heads around this event. We do not know how to make anyone believe us."

Ramu felt all this was some sort of prank by scammers and they were after some extortion. That was his first impression and he didn't take this seriously. Amrutha, Ganesh, and Vikrant explained to Ramu in detail about their work in DataLogix, their individual contact numbers, and also mentioned that he could disconnect the call so that Ramu could call Amrutha back.

As he was speaking Ramu realized that he needed to involve Prema in any further conversation and both of them could think of their next move. He started towards his apartment and met Prema near the lift. He told her of the phone call and immediately saw that Prema gestured to him to return to their apartment to discuss further and investigate this call.

Prema and Ramu went back home and Ramu called up Amrutha, who picked up the call immediately. Prema wanted to hear from them directly and so Amrutha, Ganesh, and Vikrant told her what had happened that day. Prema said that both he and Ramu would take the next available flight to Dehradun and would plan to be there by the same day afternoon. Prema suggested to Ganesh that he should stay back at the campsite and Vikrant could take Amrutha to Dehradun after speaking with his uncle and contacting the senior police officer in Dehradun.

Things started moving speedily. Ganesh was mildly surprised that Ramu and Prema did not say anything that could suggest that they suspected any foul play by the three.

Prema contacted her office, informed them of a family emergency and said she would be travelling to Uttarakhand and may return after a week. Ramu did the same with his organisation. Prema had contacts with a travel agent who could organise flight tickets for them, which he did by the mid afternoon flight.

While they continued with their plans to travel, the 'loss' of their son in mysterious circumstances took a backseat. Though the concern was there, they were busy in organising themselves for the next phase of their task. That was to determine what happened in Kanatal and take the help of anyone who could help solve this riddle.

There was a call, again from an unknown number, to Ramu.

"Hello!"

"Hello! Is this Mr. Ramakrishnan?"

"Yes."

"Sir, I am Pramod Gupta from Delhi. We have heard of the news that your son, Akshay has disappeared suddenly today from a place called umm....Kanatal in Uttarakhand. Have you heard the news?"

"Mr. Gupta, who are you?"

 

"Please do not worry, Mr. Ramu. I am from the Government. I would like to discuss with you regarding this."

 

To be continued next Sunday - 13-August-2023

The Cost of Values - 4

 In case you happen to just come over to this blog post 

and are wondering what this is all about, 

please do go to the earlier posts, and especially  

The Cost of Values - 1. 

The story starts there. 

This is the 4th Chapter in the serialized story that I am writing.

 

Thanks to all the readers who have followed this story. 

All of you commented, either in the blog, 

or directly to me, to continue with the story. So here goes.

CHAPTER - 4

The sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of the restaurant like structure shook the three friends to the core. It was something so unexpected that it is no surprise that even technology savvy people were left dumbstruck. Vikrant was the first to recover from the shock of seeing the 'restaurant' disappear as if in thin air. It had also swallowed Akshay. Swallowed may be a wrong word to describe the events, but for Ganesh, Vikrant, and Amrutha it did feel that that is what had happened. All three were engineers and had a backing in science, but this phenomenon defied all known (at least known as of now to mankind) theories in science. How could a building vanish in front of their eyes? What had happened to it and where did Akshay go?

With some trepidation (fear of the unknown causes even the most scientific minds to be wary) the three of them walked gingerly, holding hands, to the exact spot where the building stood. Were there any signs of a building there from today morning? Any foundations? Any marks of the pillars? Was the grass bent? They could detect the places on the grass where Akshay's shoes made an impression. But suddenly there were no more impressions of Akshay's shoes.

 

Amrutha did a smart thing then. She took some photographs of the footprints and also shot a video of the footprints till the spot where the prints vanished. She took some photos of their camp location from the place where the building was seen. 

 

Ganesh was the first to say something. He posed a question uppermost in the others' mind. "What shall we do next?"

 

Amrutha said the most practical thing. "We should report to the police." 

Ganesh posed, "What shall we tell them? That Aks vanished into thin air! Will the police believe us? Won't they detain us and question us; probably use third degree methods on us thinking that we are the cause of his disappearance?"

Vikrant agreed with Ganesh on this, but being a bit more astute, he said, "If we do not go to the police and report Aks' disappearance, we will be under greater suspicion. The police will not have to go far to locate us since all our information would be with our employer."

Amrutha, ever the more practical, said, "I have shared the photos that we have taken over the three days, including today's, in a common album with you. You will be able to show the photos and video to the police inspector so that the police doesn't suspect you. You both go to the police station, whereas I will remain here, just in case the building and Aks appear again."

 

Amrutha further said, "I will also try and google to find out if something similar has happened anywhere else in India or the world. Surely, this must not be a one-off affair. What do you think happened just now? What are your first impressions?"

 

Ganesh and Vikrant shook their head and realized that they hadn't thought of any explanation as to what had happened. Surely the police would ask them their suspicions based on what they had seen first hand. They should be prepared with some logical explanation. Better to discuss this together so that they do not give contrary and confusing responses to the questions by the police.

 

Vikrant said, "I think the most logical explanation is that we have been hypnotized. It will be no surprise if a magician like P. C. Sorcar with a film crew were to appear now and bring Aks over and have a laugh at our expense."

 

Ganesh thought about this for a moment before asking, "Do you see any evidence of anyone in the vicinity? I don't see anyone for miles together. This is not a forested or a wooded area. It is a grassland, though among hills."

 

Amrutha thought for a while and said, "I think we should discount the magic mumbo-jumbo when talking to the police. This will not wash with them, even though I suspect they may also think along the same lines given what we see in Discovery and History Channels on TV." 

Vikrant asked, "So Amy, what do you think happened? What is your most logical explanation?"

Amrutha said, "I think we should all only say that the building disappeared in front of our eyes. That is a factual information. If asked by any authority, not only police, but any other authority of the government, we should express our ignorance of the matter."

Ganesh said, "I think people will ask our suspicions as to what happened. They will want us to describe how the weather was, whether it was a clear sky? Whether we saw any 'machine' in the sky or not? Did we hear any noise? If there was a noise, how clearly can we describe the noise to them. I think before leaving we should pool our information and speak as of one voice in these matters, else the authorities will likely suspect only us first."

Both Amrutha and Vikrant thought that was a good suggestion by Ganesh. They went back to their camp and sat separately. As per Vikrant's suggestion, it was decided that each of them will write their experience from the previous evening in as detailed a fashion as possible, and then compare notes. The next thirty minutes were spent in silence, broken only by the sound of birds in the sky that were going about their daily routine, blissfully unaware of the crisis developing below them.

Having completed their notes, they compared what each had written. But for a few minor changes in perception, each of them had the same experience as the other one had. So with more confidence in their ability to confront any charges that may be thrown at them by the police, Ganesh and Vikrant decided that they would leave in Ganesh's bike and leave Vikrant's bike near the camp site, just in case Amrutha needed any transport. Thankfully, each of them was careful not to go near Akshay's camp so that everything was left the same way as Akshay had left it in the morning. They were sure that it would be first thing the police would check when they came here to investigate.

Before leaving, Ganesh asked, "Does anyone among us have Aks' contact information? His home telephone, or his father's or mother's mobile number, so that we can inform them at least? We don't want the police to be first to inform."

 

Amrutha thought over this and said, "No, I don't think any of us has that information, but I will immediately call our HR and get that information from them and call either his mom or dad. You better get going. It is going to take some time to reach the nearest police station. The earlier we report this, the better it would be for all." 

After Ganesh and Vikrant had left, Amrutha did google for information on the disappearance of people in similar fashion; but she wasn't successful. Many were YouTube links where some dubious people were peddling fake information. She didn't believe any of these, but continued to look for credible sources. She didn't get any. Without wasting too much time on this endeavour, she decided to get the contact information of Akshay's parents. Instead of calling the HR department and getting questioned as to the need for her to call the company, when she could as well get it from Akshay himself, she called up Pronnoy, Akshay's roommate. Without checking why, Pronnoy gave that information to Amrutha.

Amrutha decided to call up Akshay's father Ramu, to tell him about what had just happened. She decided it would be better to be truthful, rather than beat around the bush. So she called up Ramu.

 

To be continued next Sunday - 6-August-2023.

The Cost of Values - 3

 I have been writing blogs that are generally events or my experiences.  

I have hardly ever attempted to write a story. 

However, for a change, I thought I should write a story -  

not a short story that can be completed within a blog post;  

but a 'serialized' story that I will continue every week. 

 

CHAPTER - 3

 

[In case you happen to reach here without reading the earlier parts of the serialized story, 

please go here........ Chapter - 1]

 

 A few days earlier.....

 

"Akshay, what are you planning to do during the weekend?", asked Pro (Pronnoy), Akshay's roommate.

"Not decided man. I may opt to just relax, if I do not have any backlog to be completed at work!" said Akshay with a sigh. 

Over the last couple of years that Akshay had been with DataLogix in Gurugram, he was always being swamped with work. He resented that overload during the weekends, since he seemed to be among the few who, like his father, completed his part of the project on time and with the quality that was expected of him. This resentment didn't appear on his face or demeanor when he was allotted that 'extra' work by his manager during office hours, since his nature was never to refuse work. Among the values inculcated in him by his parents - both mother and father always mentioned that 'hard work never killed anyone; hence accept the work and do your best' - this was something of a golden rule. Other values that they instilled in him were curiosity, respect for everyone, and honoring the commitment. Somehow, Akshay never questioned these aspects; though on quite a few other issues he could argue with his father till kingdom come.

It was raining in Gurugram and the city was a mess due to the traffic, water-logging, and general indiscipline on the roads. He made his way to the office, just a block away from his apartment and got into his cubicle. 

Just then Amy (Amrutha) came up to his cubicle and said, "Hey Aks, we three are planning a camping trip to Kumaon hills. Are you interested?"

"Yes, sure. I don't have a bike though."

"Not an issue. Vicky (Vikrant) is coming on his bike and Gan (Ganesh) is always ready to take any road trip. So there will be four of us on two bikes."

"Ok. Looks good. Let's do it. When do you leave?"

"We are leaving on Thursday morning. Take one day off and Friday is anyway a holiday. That makes it a three day camp. Hope you have your hiking boots and camping gear. Not given to anyone na?"

"No. I have that."

"Where are we going? Have you guys decided yet?"

"Gan was mentioning a camp site near a place called Kanatal, about 4 hours from Dehradun. We should be reaching there by late afternoon, if we leave this place early morning on Thursday."

Akshay decided that this trip would be 'off the radar' of his parents. His mother was of the worrying type and if he were to mention that he was planning a road trip, that too on a bike, to a hilly place, probably his mother would take the next flight from Bangalore and land up in Gurugram to prevent him from going. Better to talk to mom and dad after returning from the trip.

---------------

Saturday morning at Kanatal camp site

Akshay was thankful that the past two days were largely uneventful in terms of adverse weather. It was sunny and since the place was at an altitude, the weather was cool and nippy in the morning; but progressively warmer as the day progressed. It was a new experience to make tea or coffee and breakfast (mostly maggi noodles) before heading out for a trek. The sights were awe inspiring and since they were the only four campers in that area, they were largely left to themselves to enjoy the place. The site was a grassy land on a rise and even if it were to rain, the rainwater was not likely to cause any harm within the tent. Gan was anyway a pro in these matters and chose the place wisely.

The sun had just risen and Akshay saw that the others were also just getting up. But when they looked eastward, they found a building that resembled a small house that hadn't existed even yesterday evening. It was impossible that this building had been completed overnight.

The four of them decided to walk about a kilometer to check that out. Was it a shop? Or was it a cafe? Seemed to be a small restaurant. Could they escape the obligatory maggi noodles and instead get poori or aloo paratha? Akshay was the first one  to enter the cafe, with the others maintaining a safe distance behind him. Amy was busy taking photos of the morning sunrise, the building that had come up last night and a video of the three folks ahead of her. She was a 'photo-nerd' and had already taken a lot of photos over the last two days. In between she also took some selfies with Gan and Vicky with the building as a backdrop.

Akshay didn't find anyone inside the cafe. He looked around for a few seconds and then called, "Anyone here?"

Suddenly, the other three almost lost their balance. They were a good hundred yards behind Akshay. The cafe vanished in front of their eyes and with it Akshay too!

------------------------------------------------------

Note to readers: This story can end here with the suspense. Or it can be expanded. What do you think I should do? Please comment below.

 

The Cost of Values - 2

 I have been writing blogs that are generally events or my experiences. 

I have hardly ever attempted to write a story. 

However, for a change, I thought I should write a story - 

not a short story that can be completed within a blog post; 

but a 'serialized' story that I will continue every week. 

 

CHAPTER - 2

 

In case you happen to reach here without reading the earlier part of the serialized story, 

please go here........ Chapter-1

Prema rose from her sleep with a start. This was getting to be a usual occurrence of late, much to her growing consternation. She had been getting dreams of her college exam days or school monthly tests. She would awaken with a cold sweat; but feel relieved when she woke up to realize that now she is rid of those exam days.

Coffee was ready and she never forgot to silently thank Ramu for that morning ritual that he had taken upon himself many years ago. Today was a relaxed day and while sipping her coffee she turned on the TV to catch the latest business news. As a senior manager in a multinational company managing the finances and accounts, she took time to understand the economy and the way the policies were announced by various governments in the region. The weekly roundup was her favourite show since she did not find enough time to catch the news on a daily basis.

Prema took the newspaper from the magazine rack and started reading the news. She had her views on America, Russia, China, and India's foreign affairs with the Western powers, and engaged in a heated debate with her colleagues on how the Ministry should engage with those powers. Discussing with Ramu was futile, since he kept his views to himself on political matters - she suspected that it was because she was passionate in her views and rarely, if ever, acceded to contrary opinions. Ramu was more interested in tennis and cricket and watched the telecast of matches involving India and he had his strong views and opinions on team selection. Prema did not engage in those trivial matters. The world was her playground.

She was expecting a call from her son or daughter since they called up every weekend; but they hadn't called yet. Even if there was no call on any weekend, this did not cause any anxiety to her since it was quite possible that Akshay and Deepa were away to their friend's place. Even during their growing up years, Prema did not interfere in their studies, check their progress in class, supervise if they had done their homework or not, or signed their progress reports. Ramu took care of those matters and being very patient with their children, Prema realized that grooming their children was best left to the most competent person in the house! As a career oriented person, Prema routinely requested her parents or her parents-in-law to come over to take care of their grandchildren when they were young.

Akshay was three years older than Deepa and had a keen interest in chess and debating. On both he was active and had won competitions within their school and in inter-school competitions. Deepa was an extrovert and played badminton and cricket. To help with their passion in their hobbies, the grandparents came in handy since they would take the children to the training centres without fail.

Prema was extremely conscious of her health and did not miss the yoga classes every weekend that were held in the terrace of her yoga guru. But before going there, she needed to take care of Ramu's breakfast. Today would be dosa and she quickly prepared a few; ate a couple while other dosas were getting ready and changed into her yoga gear. She then picked up her car keys, locked the door, and took the elevator to the basement.

Prema opened the car door with her remote and glanced around to see Ramu walk towards the lift rather unsteadily. When he came nearer she thought she saw Ramu was not his usual self. Probably the long walk had tired him, who knows. Generally he would walk for about an hour on weekends, but today his walk was quite a long one. She thought she would inform him about his breakfast and approached him before he neared the elevator. It was then that she saw his ashen face.

"Ramu! What is wrong? Are you OK?"

To be continued next Sunday - 23-July-2023.

 

The Cost of Values - 1

 I have been writing blogs that are generally events or my experiences. I have hardly ever attempted to write a story. However, for a change, I thought I should write a story - not a short story that can be completed within a blog post; but a 'serialized' story that I will continue every week. 

I remember the serialized stories by accomplished writers in Tamil weeklies like Ananda Vikatan that were very popular decades ago, but have lost flavour since. Let this story be a serialized blog story! Hope the readers like the attempt and the story too!

----------------------------

CHAPTER - 1

Ramu decided that he would restart his morning walk on the first of the month and well, that day had arrived. He woke up at 5, as promised to himself, prepared coffee for himself, his wife, and the maid, and finished his morning ablutions and rituals. While sipping his coffee and admiring the view from his 15th floor balcony, he wondered whether he could delay resuming his walk by one more day. Such thoughts assailed Ramu often enough - not only in such mundane tasks, but also in important project activities and that had created quite a few problems for him in recent times. During project review meetings, he would get questioned about this; but his explanation that those activities couldn't be taken up on the planned day because of resource non-availability or some other constraints, would be accepted. Not without any reason, for Ramu was a diligent manager and projects under his watch would always get delivered on time and within budget and customers were always happy with Ramu and his management style.

Today was one of those days when Ramu felt lethargic and wanted to delay restarting his walk. Was it hot? Absolutely not. He lived in Bangalore and it was the first week of August, when the weather was balmy, the sun, though up in the sky, was being prevented by a blanket of clouds from peeping out and bathing the city in its warm glow. It was one of those mornings when even a conscientious person would be tempted to let go and relax, probably read a book, or do crossword, or attempt the Wordle of the day.

With some effort, Ramu conquered all the temptations and set out. Prema, his wife of 27 years, was still asleep. His two sons were in US, and the mornings weren't any longer the 'peak hour' in terms of 'traffic' at home. Things happened at a leisurely pace and the rest was well earned by Prema. Ramu remembered the hectic buzz at home when his two children - a boy and a girl - were young and in school. The morning hour from 5 am to 7.30 am when the school bus arrived at the gate, were called 'peak hour' by Ramu and many of his friends took that term and referred to the time similarly in their family circles. The preparation of snacks and packing their lunch boxes was the task specially delegated to Ramu by Prema and not without any reason. Ramu was good and accomplished the tasks with patience and sometimes inventiveness. If the vegetables to go with the roti were not ready that day, he would apply jam on one roti, and a bit of tomato ketchup on another; roll the roti and cut them into bite sized pieces and arrange them neatly in the tiffin boxes. The children, while having their breakfast, would observe these and Ramu would hope that they imbibed some of these qualities later in their life. Now his mornings were more relaxed and most days since he worked from home, the commute to workspot and back missing, the 'peak hour' had become a 'relaxed hour'.

But back to the present.... Ramu had a habit of walking alone and detested company. He preferred to listen to podcasts or songs on YouTube or Spotify and generally keep his mouth shut. That is why Prema and Ramu hardly ever went for their walks together. Suited both of them. Prema was gregarious and preferred chatting with friends and if there were no friends in sight, she had the capacity to make friends. In the society where Ramu and Prema lived, having moved here 5 years ago, Prema had made at least about 30 friends and Ramu by himself had 0. The only friends Ramu had were the husbands of Prema's friends.

He got a call from an unknown number. Generally Ramu disliked picking up calls from unknown numbers since most of the times they were marketing calls from some bank or insurance company trying to sell their products. However, on occasion, he needed to pick calls from unknown numbers since they could be from the client company by someone who had a problem to report. Should he pick the call or let it be? Wasn't the holiday well earned by him, he thought? If the person had a problem, he could call the office and someone would respond and redirect the call or let the concerned person know about the problem, whatever that problem was. But Ramu being Ramu, he took the call. Maybe he shouldn't have. That call was to change his life forever. What was the call about? Who was calling him on a holiday? Why?

To be continued next Sunday - 16-July-2023. 

 

Kapil's 175*

The day was June 18, 1983. Cricket World Cup 1983 hosted by England. England had hosted the two prior World cups too - in 1976 and in 1979 and in both World Cups, India didn't perform too well. So in this tournament too, nothing much was expected of India. 

But no one expected that the captain, all of 25 years old then, could upset the applecart. Most believe, including me, that the turning point for India came about on 18th June, 1983 in Turnbridge Wells where India played Zimbabwe.

It was a glorious summer day (as we are led to believe) and India was playing Zimbabwe. Two teams that were weak and didn't really attract the sort of spectators that other teams attracted then. The match was also scheduled in a remote 'village ground' called Turnbridge Wells. There were a few other matches being played that day and all matches were of 60 overs per side those days and all were day matches. BBC, the sole telecast provider sent in their camera and crew over to cover the other matches and there were no cameras for this match since it was being played between two lowly ranked sides.

I was employed in National Productivity Council (NPC) those days and had joined the Hyderabad office of that organisation in January that year. However, since we could be asked to join any team in any other site, I was deployed in Bangalore for about a month or two. It was on June 18th that I found myself in the client organisation's small office (pumping station of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) in the outskirts of Bangalore.

I had a team-mate from my PG batch who was equally a cricket fan and he had a small transistor radio. This came in handy because we could come back to the guest house and listen to the radio commentary. We both came back to our rooms around the time India started batting and realized with deep agony that India was reduced to a paltry score of 9 runs for the loss of 4 wickets and in strode the captain Kapil Dev. Soon it became 17 for 5. My room mate and I decided to skip the rest of the commentary and went for a long walk to the 'market' about 3 kms away. We walked slowly taking in the rural scenery and the balmy June weather near Bangalore; had some tea and snacks in a road-side eatery and made our way back equally slowly. 

After reaching the guest house and finishing with our dinner, we both went back to our room and turned on the transistor to hear that Zimbabwe were batting and India had scored 266/8. An unbelievable score. The commentators were oftentimes mentioning how Kapil Dev singlehandedly took India out of deep waters by scoring a rapid unbeaten 175 in the company of Madan Lal and later in the company of Syed Kirmani. 

I sorely miss not listening to the full commentary of India innings! It must have been one hell of a performance. Even now we hear people talk of Kapil Dev's batting and captaincy in the World Cup. It is widely believed by fans, critics, and players alike that Kapil Dev instilled a sense of confidence and self-belief to the team members that they could win from any position!

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of that momentous day today, I thought I should mention what I was doing on that day - or more honestly, what I didn't do that day!

Parakh (Hindi movie, 1960)

 

Yesterday I was keen on watching an old (in my case it would always mean 'black and white') movie. So was searching for an appropriate movie to watch. Stumbled (yes, that's the word) upon 'Parakh' on YouTube. When the movie had run for about 2 minutes or so, I thought I should try and find it on other OTT platforms and see if a better quality movie was available there. Checked out on Prime Video, Zee5, and Sony Liv; but no luck. So continued watching the movie on YouTube. I was not aware of the plot, director, story writer, or other characters in the movie. But one song is just memorable and I listen to that song quite often. It is among Lata Mangeshkar's favourites too. No wonder! The YouTube link to the song is below:

Link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTl3-F24thk

Suffice it to say that I could watch the movie for the song also just in case the movie didn't hold my attention! Anyway, this blog post is not about the song; it is about the movie! About 15 minutes into the movie, I thought the story is dragging and there isn't much to recommend about it. No wonder Bimal Roy's directorial venture is not so well known unlike his other movies like Madhumati, Do Bigha Zamin, Sujata, etc. Then a twist happened. The character in the movie whom I thought didn't have much of a role suddenly became an important character!

(No spoilers ahead) The movie is about democracy and a sarcastic though light-hearted take on how it is misused by various politicians. I was surprised that a movie made in 1960 is still relevant today. Probably more relevant now, what with politicians wooing voters with freebies and bribing them with money and favours before elections to vote for them. I was reminded of Cho's Mohammed Bin Thuglak, a commentary on the political landscape in India. In the stage play, before the screen is lifted and the play begins, there is a voice over with a comment thanking the politicians of the day in ensuring that the story and dialogues in the play, which hadn't undergone any changes, remained relevant when I watched it about 2 decades after it was written. The movie makers of Parakh could also be proud of the fact that after 6 decades the politicians of today ensure that the story remains relevant today!

In case you have time and are interested, you can watch the movie here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF269zCOSuM

 

 

 

Change; Improve; Become Better. Or should you?

If you are a lunatic or have been living under the proverbial rock, you wouldn't be far from accessing and using social media like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and myriad other tools that inundate our lives. I confess I am addicted to WhatsApp and Twitter. I was pretty active on Facebook for a few years, but quit. Really found that a difficult thing to do and not because I had second thoughts about quitting Facebook, but only because Facebook would not like to let me go! It kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to quit, delete my account, delete all the posts and replies, etc. I confirmed. It warned me that if I did so, I would lose everything. I know that and am prepared for it; that is why I have decided to quit you! C'mon, I have experience of saying 'katti' to my friends in my childhood days and did not talk to them for years on end, and most times for the flimsiest of reasons. So yes! Facebook, I am seriously not interested in continuing with my account. Please let me go! So what do you think Facebook finally did? The last pop-up message was that my account and messages, and replies, etc would be preserved for a few weeks in case I decided to reactivate my account. It was as if I wanted to end our relationship and Facebook, like a jilted lover, wouldn't let go. 

This blog post is not about Facebook, though having written that word, I became tempted to write something about my experience of ending my relationship with that social medium! In case you are similarly active on any of those social media outlets mentioned earlier, you may be inundated with various messages about how you should strive to be better; more efficient; more loving and caring; how change is not only good, but inevitable; and lastly we humans have achieved so much because individually and collectively we have transformed ourselves to be more effective and have always found ways to become a better person today than what we were yesterday.

So today, while I opened my Mozilla Firefox browser on my laptop, I got a range of links to articles and one of them caught my eye. It screamed in fairly bold letters, It’s Time To Stop Moralizing Every Daily Habit. What? Isn't that what I read everyday on my social media feed? Isn't that what every friend of mine wants me to do? I opened that link and realized it is a collection of various articles that have appeared in getpocket.com and you can find them here. Some articles that are embedded in the link are titled very provocatively as below:

1. Why waking up earlier isn't necessarily better! Did I get that right? Do you really think so? I have a habit of waking up at 5.30 and am now thinking of waking up at 5. And here is someone who wants me to wake up at probably 8. The author is lucky my father isn't alive; else he would have chewed up the writer. He hated anyone he saw sleeping after he had brushed his teeth! That was the limit of his tolerance for 'waking up late'.

2. There is no such thing as "junk food". Yes, you read it right. There is nothing called junk food. So what about "Super Size Me"? Is that a fake story? This is what is mentioned in the Wikipedia article about the movie:

         Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's food. The film documents the drastic effect on Spurlock's physical and psychological health and well-being. It also explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit and gain. 

So what should we believe? My advice: Avoid junk food like the plague, or better still like Covid!

3. You are not so bad: The case against Self-Improvement. Now this really got me thinking about what the writer wants to convey. Now I realize that this itself is a collection of various articles and you can find the links to them over here. One of them tells me "What it is like to get worse at something". Seriously? Another one goes "How to be mediocre and be Happy with yourself". I would be mad at myself if I didn't find ways to do things more efficiently and effectively over time. I have trained for that, dammit!

Do let me know if you want to change or want to be worse off!

Cheers!

 

Checkout

The following is based on real life experiences; though the events haven't happened 

on a single day or at a single store.

The checkout line at the neighbourhood department store was relatively quiet when I entered the store at about 11 on a summer morning. The air-conditioned store was a welcome relief from the heat wave sweeping the city, even though it wasn't yet the hottest period of the day.

I began to leisurely stroll through the aisles and sections looking around and filling my basket with the items that were listed in the WhatsApp message that the wife had thoughtfully sent me. Not one message, but about three. She too cannot remember all items needed in one go. It takes about a day for her to compile the list of items - even if the list consists of not more than six items! The list thankfully took me everywhere in the store and my slow walk around ensured that I was fairly well rested by the time I had collected all the items and approached the checkout counters. There were three counters that were operational at that time of the day, though the store had a capacity for six. But for a retired man like me whether it was one counter or all six, it would make no difference since I was in no hurry and probably my demeanour too didn't reflect any haste. The supervisor, or the person resembling one, beckoned two people behind me to another counter, so I was waiting for an even older gentleman to finish his billing. 

Each checkout counter has a bar-code scanner; but for certain items (especially the ones taken from the freezer) with condensation blocking the bar-code, the scanning is not so easy. Where are the startup guys? Why don't you design a scanner with relevant software that can scan through the condensed water on the package? Design ideas! lol. Anyway, with great difficulty comes great delay! The gentleman whose purchases were being billed was equally in no hurry, it seemed, since he waited patiently with a wry smile on his face. Finally with the billing done, the gentleman whipped out his phone and said could he make the payment through G-Pay. I was stunned. The man seemed to be in his nineties and was knowledgeable in using the UPI app to make purchases, while a relatively younger man like me was still stuck in cash and debit card! As he made his payment, I watched with amazement at the speed with which his transaction went through. It was totally anti-climatic. I thought I would have to wait for another ten minutes for him to pay cash after counting the notes about three times (as the elders are famous for) and for the counter person to do the same, and count and pay the balance. But this was done in like seconds.

My billing was done quickly since there weren't any items from the freezer (lol), but it did take some time for the card swiping process to be completed. I rushed out just in time to catch the gentleman who was ahead of me, before he got into his car (which he was driving, mind you!). I stopped him with a gesture; politely. He lowered the window and looked at me and after recognising me from the store, asked quizzically as to what I wanted. 

"I saw you pay through the UPI app that our country has introduced. Aren't you afraid of losing money through scamming?"

"I have been using this since the last one year or thereabout; and have heard about some people who have lost money. I am careful and ensure that only a small amount is there in the account that is linked to the UPI. You seem to carry cash. Aren't you afraid of pickpockets?"

"(Sheepishly) Yes, I am. But while walking, I swing my arm backwards and forwards so that every few seconds the arm brushes across the pocket that I put my wallet in. So I am cautious too."

"That's smart! So if you are cautious by nature, you won't have any trouble with the UPI too."

"Thanks. By the way, please don't mind my asking....how old are you?"

"I am 92."

I went straight to another bank branch where I knew the manager with whom I had had an interaction earlier on behalf of my son and knew him to be a very helpful and resourceful manager. To open a savings account that I linked to G-Pay within a couple of days!

Nowadays, I pay the local store, vegetable vendor, milk vendor, fruit seller (on a cart on our road), and myriad other organisations through the UPI. I am cautious (touchwood) and hopefully am at par with the older gentleman who taught me a lesson on moving with the times.

Little known playback singers - Hindi film music

 

 

There have been many music composers who produced amazing songs for the few movies that they composed for. I have already written a blog on those less known music composers. In this blog, I will try and embed songs sung by little known playback singers. We may have known them as writers, lyricists, actors, or composers; but they could sing and we have some evidence of that in the form of a YouTube video!

 

1.  SUBIR SEN

 

Subir Sen was almost a clone of Hemant Kumar and one can be excused into thinking that it is Hemant Kumar who is singing the song.

 

 

Movie: Aas ka panchi (1961) 

Music Director: Shankar Jaikishen

Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri

Song: Dil mera ek aas ka panchi...... 

 

 

Film: Choti Behen (1959)

Music Director: Shankar Jaikishen

Lyricist: Hasrat Jaipuri 

Singer: Subir Sen and Lata Mangeshkar

Song: Main rangeela pyar ka rahi..... 

 

 

 

 2.  ANAND BAKSHI

We know of Anand Bakshi as a prolific lyricist and he wrote songs for Laxmikant Pyarelal and R. D. Burman during the 70s and 80s. But he sang some songs too!

Movie: Mome ki gudiya (1972)

Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelal

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Singers: Anand Bakshi and Lata Mangeshkar

Song: Baagon mein bahaar aayi.....

 

 

 

 

Movie: Charas (1976)

Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelal

Lyricist: Anand Bakshi

Singers: Anand Bakshi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi

Song: Aaja teri yaad aayi..... 

 

 

 3.  MADAN MOHAN 

Madan Mohan had a wonderful voice and in an interview Lata Mangeshkar herself has acknowledged that he could sing and tell the playback singers how he wanted his songs to be sung. This song of his is very popular!

 

 

Movie: Dastak

Music Director: Madan Mohan

Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

Singer: Madan Mohan

Song:  Mai re main kaase kahoon.....

4.  UMA DEVI

Uma Devi started her film career as a wannabe singer. She had a reasonably good voice and got a few opportunities in the 1950s. This song is the most popular. She adopted the screen name of Tun Tun after she started her acting career.

Movie: Dard

Music Director: Naushad

Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni

Singer: Uma Devi (aka Tun Tun)

Song: Afsana Likh rahi hoon......

 

 

5.  RANU MUKHERJEE 

Ranu Mukherjee is the daughter of Hemant Kumar and she did get some opportunities to sing songs. She possessed a childish voice and the following song went on to be a hit.

Movie: Masoom (1960)

Music Director: Hemant Kumar

Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi

Singer: Ranu Mukherjee

Song: Nani teri morni ko mor le gayi......

6.  POORNIMA 

(SUSHMA SHRESHTA as a child singer)

Sushma Shreshta as a senior singer would go on to sing many songs; however, as a child singer one of her most famous songs is this!

Movie: Bol Radha bol

Music Director: Anand-Milind

Lyrics: Sameer

Singer: Kumar Sanu, Poornima

Song: Tu tu tu tu tu tara.....