Like father, like….

 

As much as she admired and loved her dad, there were umpteen things she didn’t like in him. Not his character, but certain characteristic behaviours. She hated him for chomping his food noisily, dip his hands into sugar and salt bowls instead of using a spoon, using any available towel to wipe himself up. Or even just wipe on his clothes! There were a lot more of similar but less irritating kind too. Even as a growing kid she would show her annoyance at these. “Why do heroes come with flaws?”, she would groan many a time. She wondered why her mom - who was so refined in her ways - never bothered to correct him.  She was glad when she stepped away from home to study, and later to work. 

Years passed, but her reactions to her dad’s quirks didn’t change. She soon found love in the new city, and with parental consent married too. As luck would have it, she found her husband too ate noisily, slurped his drinks, and barely ever noticed that he was using her towels instead of his. “How does it matter? They’ll dry out eventually, right?”, was his reaction. To top it, he barely cared about the clothes he wore, and she had to take over his wardrobe choices on a daily basis. 

“How did I not notice any of these during courtship days? Is this why they say love is blind?”, she chided herself, as she clambered on to bed after the post-dinner chores. She had read somewhere long back that daughters invariably find matches that resemble their fathers. She had scoffed at it then. Today that memory brought a smile. She hugged her husband to calm herself. She had a lot of learning to do. Or was it unlearning?

Conscience Keeper

I was getting ready to head to work, and it was going to be 9:30 am. I hurriedly finished my breakfast and got my shoes to wear. My father who was finishing his morning puja quipped. “Looks like your driver has arrived late today”. 

That wasn’t the case though. I had seen him arrive as usual at sharp 9, just before I headed for my shower. 

“No, pa. He arrived on time as usual”. 

Papa said with a triumphant smile, “Not bad. You can still notice things”. 

He was as usual, ribbing me for being late to work. 

These conversations are a routine at home. As they say in Kannada, ‘ನುಂಗಲಾರದ ಬಿಸಿ ತುಪ್ಪ' for me (‘hot ghee in the mouth; cant swallow, can’t spit’). By any chance I return early from work - because there was no more work to attend to, or because I wanted to head somewhere, he quips, “Have you taken a half day off?” Mind you, it will be almost 5, and yet this sharp jibe finds its mark. 

My dad was in the State Government and worked for 41 years before his retirement. And, he took pride in his work. I remember my childhood when he would bring work home during weekends, and toil through Sunday to finish it all. No wonder, he finds my attitude towards work as lax. 

Even when my dad is away (or I am posted away from home), I feel his piercing gaze if I am heading late to work, or if I leave anything unfinished at the office, or arrive home early, for even any valid reason. He without doubts is my conscience keeper. 

Vortex

 

Every time he remembered his ex he was racked by guilt.  He had broken up with her over what she thought weren’t solid grounds. ‘You just want to dump me”, she had said. It wasn’t true - at least in his mind. She was talented, attractive, young, and extremely besotted with him. But in her devotion for him, she barely ever paid attention to anything beyond him. That was a concern. He loved her, but he also wanted her to pursue her talents and career - which she barely bothered about any while she was with him.  To her, the world began and ended with him. He had wondered earlier if his decision to part ways also stemmed from his belief that she would totally be dependent on him financially. He had decided to let go of that thought realising he would never be objective. 

Even after breakup, they stayed in touch. They had bumped into each other at some social dos too. She had even once asked him if there was a chance to get back together. He had answered in the negative.  One fine day, it all changed.  He had received a message from her saying she wants to take a break from her past, and hence cutting off people from her life. That included him too. “So long as you’re happy with what you are doing”, he had said. He wondered if it stemmed from her inability to get over him, and that was the beginning of his guilt. “Did I wrong her?” A year passed by, and it became two too. He had changed partners. But, the guilt stayed.

********

This morning, while browsing his social media accounts, he saw her pics and videos. He wondered if she had chosen to lift the embargo. It wasn’t so. He was seeing her in the uploads from other friends. He saw her with another man, dancing. She radiated happiness. He felt happy too, for her. And relieved for himself. He didn’t have to feel guilty anymore. 

He also wondered if he made himself more important than what he was in others’ lives. Like the world revolved around him! 

Years and Counting

 You are like fire and I’m water

You bring hope and I cause despair 

You are a hopeless romantic

And I a cynical realist

(Or is it a real cynic?)

Yet we met 

Sparks flew

Day turned to night

And night to dawn 

You stayed on

And on we have gone 

Ahead and around 

From a night of pleasure 

To a life time of treasure

An Incident of Accident

 Yesterday, while entering the office premises, my staff car met with an accident. A biker rammed into the side of the car just before it was about to enter the gate. 

My office is on the Suranjan Das Road (HAL road). To reach, when I come from my home via CV Raman Nagar, I have to take a right turn into the premises (the office is located within the premises of the DRDO lab, ADE).  My driver - retired and re-employed driver, Velayudhan - is a careful kind. He looks either side of the road, waits patiently for any traffic to clear and then takes the turn. Even if he’s turning to the left. He did the same this time too. When he turned, there was no vehicle coming towards us (from the left). As he took the turn and was moving towards the office premises, I saw a bike coming. My initial thought was he would slow down. Or, he might veer away from our vehicle and go. But, when he didn’t, I was apprehensive that he would ram into us. Just as I was thinking the bike was upon us, and it hit the car (the side I was sitting) resulting in the biker flying over the car, and sliding down and falling to the ground. The impact was huge. The passenger side door in the front was completely damaged, and the front glass lay shattered. 

My first reaction as the biker flew over the car was, he might not survive. Thankfully though - as he was wearing a helmet and also as the car had almost ground to a halt - he didn’t suffer grievous injuries. He was able to move after first-aid; he had only suffered dislocation of a joint in the arm and a few scrapes here and there. 

I still couldn’t fathom the reaction (or its complete absence) in the biker. Did he anticipate the car to move faster (and disappear in a jiffy)? Was he not paying attention to the road because of any given reason (speaking to someone on mobile, lost in thoughts, momentary brain freeze)? I do not know about my car driver, but I was completely shaken by the incident and the what if scenarios running through my head. 

One of the first things that happened after the accident was the gathering of the bystanders around the car and asking us to alight from it. Their body language was aggressive. If it weren’t for the fact that we were close to the office (and the security rushed out), the scene would have turned ugly. One could easily see their disappointment at the lost opportunity to turn an incident into a spectacle. 

The security at the road too had seen how rashly the biker was riding. The CCTV grabs also supported what I had perceived. Yet, the biker insisted that he wasn’t speeding. And doubled over by seeking compensation even though he was at fault. I preferred filing a complaint with the police and getting an FIR for the same. The lab authorities were hesitant to do so, as it would entail dragging of the case and delayed car repairs, visiting the police station and the courts several times, and so on. Everyone seeks an easy way out. That is India everyday on the roads in a nutshell. 

Have you been a part of an accident or witnessed one from close quarters? If yes, what has been your experience? Please share. Maybe with collective wisdom, we could bring in some changes.