A lesson taught by young Satish.

Satish, is the gentleman who distributes milk in our residential area. A simple guy, always ready to accept blame heaped on him, to a fault. When I'd just taken up the duties of the president, the caretaker had told me about the perpetual struggle he'd to undergo to collect his monthly dues from the residents due to the 'come laters', accompanied with bizarre excuses. Sample some:-

             "Come later,
                              (a) sahib is sleeping.
                              (b) we don't have change.
                              (c) is this the time to come? The child is sleeping.
                              (d) don't you see that we're going out?
                              (e) don't you see that we've guests? Don't disturb us.
                              (e) you can wait for a few more days. I'm not really happy with your work".

The poor guy could not come up with an effective response to such tepid bureaucratic nonsense from the residents. An outlet for bakery products, that he'd begun, sank without a trace because he couldn't resist customers who insisted on credit and he seemed to be all at sea as he didn't know their names and feared asking them at the time of transaction!

The first thing that was introduced was to collect his service charges through the monthly subscriptions paid by the residents. Satish had regained his ear-to-ear grin and had leased out the bakery premises to an efficient young lady who was adept in dealing with the customers.

Yesterday, Satish was asked to supply another packet of milk because only one coupon had been honoured while the other seemed to be missing. Probably a mistake made by his understudy? And when Satish was queried, he promptly provided the second, tending an apology too in his unique style. It was soon after he'd left that the elusive coupon was found stuck to the previous packet obviously due to the wetness thanks to its retrieval from the freezer, prior to distribution.

I'd called up Satish, to apologise and to give him the coupon. And I couldn't resist but ask him as to why he'd not put across his case strongly that he hadn't found the coupon. His answer to that was profound and made me really small and I quote, "Sir, my explanation would be interpreted as acting smart to cover up my mistake and in any such argument, I'd end up being the loser! There's no point in fighting over trivia, after all, it's just a packet of milk. I want to maintain a good relationship with everyone".

The lump in my throat was pronounced.

Tailpiece.

1. Satish has had not much of a formal education but the lessons that he has learned from life and that too at such a young age is tremendous.
2. Sorry Satish for the faux pas. I'm convinced that I'm a boor and thanks for your valuable lesson on humility!! I shall narrate the episode to everyone during our next get together only to ensure that they know of your intrinsic worth.

Back home.

Palai, my saarthi, had done the trick. We'd left by about 9 for the airport and the road had some real narrow stretches, thanks to the metro rail work of Madras. How our man managed to reach the airport by about 40' was something that had dazed me completely. He could speed even while driving bumper to bumper, almost giving one the impression that he'd shove the rear of the car in front of him to suit his convenience and the motorists who'd a whiff of his driving skills didn't seem to mind, in fact they seem to be deferential to his prowess.

Incidentally, going back to the metro work in the city, I happened to read in the TOI that the tunnel boring machine's activities have been causing cracks and massive damages to the buildings enroute. But the 'Madrasis' - the people living in the city, I mean - have taken such happenings very, very sportingly as they feel that the coming of the metro is ultimately, gonna be a boon to the city as well as for all of them. This positive attitude of the people of Madras is their 'usp'!

Devinder Singh, who was specifically assigned to take care of me was a tall, handsome sardar from Gurdaspur. The smile on his face seemed to be there forever and in his olive greens, he looked smart and he has a heart that can't hurt even a fly as I understood his persona over the last eighteen hours of our association. And to let you into a secret - never did I feel embarrassed for being short statured as he gave me a crisp salute when I left them towards the departure lounge of the airport. I've already stated elsewhere that I hate being 'looked down upon' by women and by people who look up to me!

The flight was uneventful and short. And after a quick bite of lunch, I was back at work trying to finish up the backlog as the clock has started ticking towards my farewell opera. Today was one when I wished that a day had indeed more than 24 hours. Ramesh Rai, from Gopalganj of Bihar, was my saarthi for the day and boy, he'd scorched the 34 km distance from the airport to my home in record time. I'd congratulated him earlier because he's of a rare species and lucky to have married his lady love at the tender age of 23! I said a quick prayer to my god for safeguarding him and his wife because, I'm convinced that they deserve it. As I left him and got into the lift of my block, he was grinning from ear to ear and gave me a fond farewell.


Tailpiece.

Am I sounding too mushy. Hope I am not!

Off to the Coromondel coast.

As my flight was delayed by yet another hour, it was becoming amply clear that the additional time was adequate for squeezing in enough work that needed to be done. Lekha and mom had kicked off by a quarter past 7 towards Guruvayur and subsequently, Palakkad. Savitha and her mom had fetched up for work at their usual time.

I'd left home by a quarter to 11 and we're speeding by comfortably by the airport-seaport road. Vincent, our saarthi, had a fund of anecdotes to regale us with! But what I was really enthused was by his unique idea to release our country from the wretchedness caused by our political dispensation and to quote him, "Sir, our entire country must be given on lease to some other and just like the Britishers had ruled us, we must be taken charge off to deliver the targets set by them and we shall deliver".

A crazy yet thought provoking statement. And he was speaking from his bitter experiences, beginning with a six year's hard work in Trichy in Tamilnadu, another six years in Bombay followed by twelve years in Saudi Arabia. He was the third sibling and the eldest son out of eight siblings and his mother had carefully utilised the funds provided by his bank balances to nurture every one of them. The beauty was that he did not bear any grudge or ill will towards anyone of them despite the fact that two of his nephews had taken him for a ride and made him lose a substantial amount of his savings! He was running his car as a taxi for an agency that was exploiting him and his counterparts.

What was intriguing from his narrative was that the owners of the taxis along with the drivers were being exploited while the agents and the middlemen earned their 'cuts' without doing an iota of work. What are the trade unions doing about this exploitation?

The sight of the Coromandel coast was as elegant as always. And Devinder Singh, along with Palai, were waiting with the vehicle - they'd been there for more than an hour as the flight was late.

The evening's farewell in my honour was a fantastic affair and I'd tried to keep the crowd amused with my anecdotes! The narration - for a change - flowed without any interruptions!!


Tailpiece.

A short yet heavy trip! And my last, in uniform!!

Persuading mom.

This morning I'd taken my mom for a review by her doctor of her overall physical and medical status. And this time it was just mom and me as we hurtled towards the clinic to keep the appointment as my man, Friday had gotten late. He had, however, joined up later. I was reminded of the first time, about three months back when I'd taken her to meet with the doctor.

Hardly able to walk, I'd taken the services of two of my boys to help me in transferring her from one place to the other. The doctor's correct prognosis and mom's readiness to follow his instructions along with the medicines have done the trick. He's thrilled with the progress his patient has made and as usual, they're in conversation, totally oblivious of me. He's expressed his desire to see her once in two months.

I'd wanted to have this review done to day as mom was being shifted to my sister's place at Palakkad for the next one month or so as we go through the throes of shifting berth to our house at Guruvayur from Kochi. As we got back into the car, I saw mom tell Joginder and Bijoy that all they needed to do was to walk with her as she could do it herself. She'd another appointment soon after with her dentist to have the stitches removed, post extraction.

And much later, as I helped her pack her personal effects she had wondered aloud as to why she couldn't be with us while we're shifting and I'd to explain to her the tremendous strain that she'd be subjected to in the process. I'd to keep going over it many a time that at some point, I'd lost my patience and howled at her - I'm bad and continue to be so, you see! And then told myself that I couldn't afford to lose my cool and definitely, not at mom. But knowing her, I know that she'd never hold that misdemeanour of mine against me. And I was unable to convince her on the thoughts behind my decision.


Tailpiece.

As she got up after watching her favourite soap on the television, she'd given me a list of 'dos' for the morning before I went for my walk:-

    - "wake me up after the puja room lamp is lit
    - switch on the geyser for about 10' as I need warm water to bathe
    - should I've my medicines then and so on and so forth......"

And as she turned in, she said almost inaudibly, "I shall miss this".  

Another day wasted.

Today was marked by a 'hartal' called by the Left Democratic Front to show their angst on account of the implementation of the Kasturirangan report. The report, in layman's knowledge and as per my understanding, lays stress on avoiding the use of the western ghats for habitation and the wanton clearing of forests towards setting up human settlements.

A very sensitive issue that has political overtones as the existing 'settlers' constitute a strong vote bank for the state-centric Kerala Congress parties. It goes without saying that those parties were the first to take up arms against a recent diktat - regarding the implementation of the report - from the central government. The LDF also seems to be smelling victory in dislodging the present government by wooing the Kerala Congress, over to their side! The clamour by the district level functionaries of the Muslim League today for leaving the United Democratic Front must have given a further impetus to the LDF's thinking!!

The church having made certain strong observations have also complicated the matter.

All political parties assume postures, citing imaginary hardships being thrust on the people by the government's wrong policies - the paradox that they too constitute the front and enjoy the advantages of being in power is quietly stifled under the high decibel arguments that they rake up - to gain advantage when the elections come calling. Have the constituents of the UDF started feeling that to be with the Congress during the imminent Lok Sabha elections is gonna be disadvantageous for them?

The coming days will see quite a few political somersaults, much to the mirth of the general public!


Tailpiece.

1. As I was driving home after work, this evening, the realisation dawned that I'd a nice, uninterrupted view of the exit from the compound. Usually, the view is marred thanks to the numerous pick up trucks parked haphazardly on either side of the exit and they get miffed, all too often, when told of the discomfort that they're causing! And their counter is to ask for suitable parking space for themselves - yet another case of a 'heads-I-win-tails-you-lose' syndrome.

2. And one doesn't have to lament over the loss of precious man hours, zero earnings due to lack of production  and the overall loss to the state's exchequer again and again. Sadly, no one seems to care!

3. Lastly, I can bet that the report has not been read by the very same people who've taken up the cudgels against it. Why can't the report be put in the realm of the public domain so that everyone is aware of the pros and the cons that will also quieten the ignoramuses?

A quiet Sunday.

The day meandered with nothing much happening all through. But paradoxical though it may sound, there was a lot of running around to do to get things done. As the day to leave Kochi nears, tying up the loose ends have gained priority but the end seems to be nowhere in sight. And I want to go through it with the least of hassles.

Tomorrow will be a washout as the LDF has called for a 'hartal'. Most of the shops and allied services will be shuttered and no serious business will be allowed to happen because of restrictions in the movement of vehicles on the roads. Mom's review by her doctor and the dentist will, therefore, have to wait till Tuesday before shifting her to my sister's place at Palakkad, so that she doesn't have to go through the upheavals of our intended movement.

My boys had given me an emotional farewell in the evening at the Merchant Navy Club, near our workplace. There were nice words uttered and anecdotes recalled - that spanned the entire period of my tenure out here - that pleasantly surprised me. I realised that I was being minutely watched and followed all these days, weeks and months! I'm gonna miss them for sure and I hope that the kudos and the applause the team is receiving from all quarters will continue even after my exit because the efforts have been their's. I only happened to be at the till giving my inputs, when required.


Tailpiece.

How time flies? It seems that it was just the other day when I'd assumed command of this fine unit after coming in from New Delhi and it will be 63 days short of three years when I hand over the baton to my successor, this Saturday.

The only constant in life is change, they say and so be it!  

Opinion polls - a viewpoint!

Most political parties suddenly want the opinion polls on election outcomes to be pulled off. By insisting on such an option, the concerned parties seem to have lost the plot, according to me. The fact is that the polls do not make much impact in the thinking process of anyone as the ultimate choice of action has already been arrived at. I mean, you don't expect me to vote for a person - whom I do not support - just because the opinion polls shout out that he or she's gonna be the outright winner, do you? It's as simple as that!

The apologists go a step further. They say that the majority of the people are not knowledgeable, behave like a mob and therefore, get swayed by external forces and change their opinions(by doing so they seem to be questioning the people's ability to have opinions on any issue, whatsoever!) at the drop of a hat. Nothing could be further than the truth as the Indian people - be it the urban population or the rural masses - have time and again shown that they've an opinion of their own and taken appropriate decisions!

I've always had my own queries on opinion polls for the following reasons:-

 (a) the agency that conducts the opinion polls must be impartial beyond doubt. Otherwise, findings can be
      twisted to suit its thinking on the possible outcome!
 (b) the sample size is a critical factor because many psephologists have bitten the dust in the past with
      predictions that were wholly out of sync with that of the population that was quizzed.
 (c) do we have the tendency to give wrong inputs to chuckle with glee at the end, to have misled the
      opinion polls which turns out to be way off the mark vis-a-vis the final outcome?

But the polls really give ample impetus in the run up to the elections. They give the necessary 'masala' and generate interest in people to follow them. And what about the legal angle of our 'right to freedom of speech' as assured by the constitution? The election commission has a tricky problem to solve.


Tailpiece.

Had compered a function in the evening. Initially, I'd begun with butterflies in my stomach cursing the chief organiser for having zeroed in on me for the honour(or dishonour, if things fell flat?). But surprisingly, I found that the audience lapped up my PJs raising my confidence levels. Were they being nice to me, I wonder and no, I won't be able to tell you as to how I was because it's beyond my purview!