He is there, but.....

The jackfruit tree is in one's own backyard. There are many fruits hanging on it. Some of them can be touched even while one is standing on the ground. One of the fruits has become ripe in the tree itself. It is time to cut it from the tree and bring inside the house. Even while cutting it from the tree, one can imagine the sweetness of the edible contents inside it. It is indeed mouth watering!

The fruit has been brought inside the house. It is now lying in front of us. The only thing left now is to eat it and savour its rich sweetness.

Oh, this not a easy fruit like banana. How we wish it was as simple a fruit as banana. Anyone can easily peel off a banana and enjoy its delicious part immediately. But jackfruit is not like it. It is a complicated fruit.

Its exterior is thorny and a little carelessness in handling would scratch our skin. A proper knife is required to cut open the hard exterior of the fruit. The knife should be sharp enough to cut the fruit. It should also be handled carefully as otherwise it will cut our fingers. First a knife has to be found and it is to be used skilfully as well.

While cutting the fruit, a lot of sticky substance comes out and soils our hands. We want the sweet part of the fruit but not the sticky substance. Cleaning the hand is also not easy once it sticks to the hand. How to prevent this mess? Experience has taught us that use of oil can prevent this mess. A layer of oil spread on the hands prevents the substance from sticking to the hands. Patience is another requirement to separate the edible part from other parts of the fruit that are to be discarded. Discarded part is to be disposed expeditiously as otherwise it would result in unbearable stench on the next day. Edible fruit part is to be taken out carefully and preserved properly for consumption after cleaning the mess and the hands. Oil was indeed required for separating the edible part, but not an oily hand while consuming the fruit!

Now we have the delicious fruit ready for consumption. A little honey would enhance the experience of eating the fruit. Of course, getting the honey and bringing it to the present form is also another task, probably even more troublesome than dealing with jackfruit itself. Honey is to be procured when the fruit is with us.

*****

The pot of Curd is before us. It was in the form of milk yesterday. The milk was properly heated and cooled. A little amount of curd was added and mixed well. After carefully preserving it overnight, it has now become curd. We want butter from it. We know from experience that butter is in the curd before us. It is not visible. The pot of curd is to be churned systematically before the required butter emerges from it. Churning stick and rope are to be found and used. Patience is required while churning. There is no shortcut in the process. The butter so obtained is also to be safely stored away. The period for its quality to hold is also limited. If it is to be preserved for long, it is to be heated carefully and converted to Ghee. Ghee can be stored for a longer time and used for many purposes. Both butter and Ghee were indeed present in the curd and in the milk before that. But they were invisible and presented before us only after due process and patiently working for them. Lot of effort, process and patience were the key.

*****

A voluminous literature and belief over generations claim that God is omnipresent. Believers trust the Lord created the universe. Everything around is his creation, they state. How to believe? Why to believe? If the Lord is present everywhere, why is he not visible?

A jackfruit grown in our tree in our backyard requires so much of effort, process and patience to get the taste of it. The butter and ghee available in the milk and curd also required the same effort, process and patience for them to present before us. 

Even if the Lord is omnipresent, should he not demand some effort, process and patience before presenting himself before us? Would we care for him if he was available easily and effortlessly?

*****

What about those who do not believe in the existence of the Lord? They have no problem at all. They can continue their efforts and patience in finding other things in life! There is no escape from efforts, process and patience whether one believes in His existence or not!

Work, till retirement!

A group of children were playing at the foot of a small hill on the outskirts of the village. There was a small cave on the hill and the children were advised never to go near it.  While playing, the ball with which they were playing flew and fell near the entrance of the cave. One of the bold boys went near the cave to fetch the ball. He ventured to go near the mouth of the cave and stood there for sometime. Other kids too mustered courage and went near him. The group slowly went inside the cave. They did not find anything interesting there. While retreating, one of the boys saw a big egg lying in the corner of the cave. The children had never seen anything like that and decided to carry it to the village to find out what it actually was. The village headman saw it with other elders around, but nobody had seen such a big egg in their lifetime. It was kept on the stone slab in front of the big banyan tree. In a few minutes, it became the center of attraction in the village. A large crowd gathered around it and each one gave his own version about the egg.

One of the villagers suggested that they take it to the oldest man in the village and seek his opinion on it. The old man was now sick and bed ridden. The village headman carried the egg to his house as the old man could not come out on his own. The old man saw the egg and was excited. He said that he had heard about such a thing from his father, but he himself had never seen it. He suggested that the item be taken to the nearby village where his father stayed with his brother. His advice was duly carried out and the egg was taken there. No need to say that the entire village followed in a procession. When they went near the house and called out, the father came out to meet him. They were surprised when they saw the older man walk to them on his two feet clutching a stick for support. He was in much better health than his son. He examined the egg and said that his father had mentioned to him about such a thing when he was young. He said that it was not an egg, but possibly a corn. He was not very sure and advised the group to take it to his father who lived in another village, on the other side of the river. 

The headman and the group now proceeded to the village on the other side of the river. When they went to the house in which the grandfather lived, his great grand daughter told them that he had gone to the forest to bring firewood and forest fruits. The group waited for his arrival and found that he walked without any support and carried a big bundle of firewood on his head!  When the egg was shown to him, he was thrilled and danced holding the corn in his hands. He told the group that this was the type of corn his father grew in their farm and he grew up eating bread made from such corn in his childhood. He got the corn crushed and bread prepared out of it. A small piece was served to all the villagers.They found it extremely tasty and nice to eat. The grandfather told the gathering that due to bad practices in growing crops, the size of the corn has come down over generations and reached the present size. He also said that due to the loss of nutritious content in the corn, the food is never tastier now as it was when he was young. He mentioned that the strength humans derived from such corn is also not seen nowadays. The group which had seen the three generations of men that day did not require any more proof for what the old man opined!

*****  

     

I have a colleague Professor who is a bundle of energy even at age sixty-three. The energy with which he gets into a class at 9 in the morning can be seen when he comes out of another class late in the evening.  While we were having lunch last week, he mentioned that he was availing leave next day as there was a cataract operation scheduled at the eye hospital. I wished him a "happy operation and get back quickly".  He smiled and said that the operation was not for him but for his father!  Wow!  He said his father is now 96 years old and has developed cataract problem and is being operated next day. I asked another foolish question. "Is it the first cataract operation?". He again smiled and confirmed it. At the age of 96 years his father travels alone in the train from their village to Bangalore, a journey of about four hours. He does not travel in autos in the city and comfortably moves around in the city buses. He does not like to waste money by hiring autos. He can squat on the floor and sit for hours. This is indeed something to learn from when people much younger give up trying and often say that they have become too old for many things.

*****  

One of the leading Public Sector Banks recently celebrated its 108th "Foundation Day". A big function was arranged in the city to mark the occasion.  In the midst of various tastefully crafted cultural programs, an eminent educationalist was honored. The distinguished gentleman, Shri M N Raju, replied to the felicitations and his words deserved their weight in gold. Shri Raju started working at the age of 9 and never went to a school as a child. He worked as a helper to a carpenter and supported his family as a young boy. He later worked in a school for over 20 years and during this period availed only four days of leave. He later founded the first education institution on 15th August, 1974. MNR group today has 41 institutions in India and abroad in which more than 42,000 students study. The institutions impart skill-based education and has learning from "KG to PG".  Shri Raju works even today for the fraction of a salary paid to his professors in the institutions.

Shri Raju had a question for all the assembled audience in the function hall.  "What are you going to do after retirement?', he asked.  He also replied the question himself. "God has given us this wonderful tool called human body. It has enormous capacity. Use it to the fullest extent and pay back your mite to the society. Remember, there is nothing called retirement at 55, 60 or 65.  For a human being, there is only one retirement. That is the final retirement, from this world. So, it is "Work, till that retirement", he concluded. 

******

The above two instances reminded me of the story of the big corn and the three generations. This was the story I had read as apart of my schooling in the seventh standard. Everybody may not able to preserve the agility of the body or the mind like the two veterans mentioned above.  But that need not preclude one from trying on those lines.  Try, we must.  As long as possible.......

Did you Vacuum Clean Today?

There were two families living in the same street of the small town as we did, some fifty years ago.  The two families were headed by two brothers.  Their big ancestral house and other properties including agricultural lands was divided between them equally.  Elder brother occupied the eastern portion of the house and the younger brother occupied the western part.  Both were teachers by profession and commanded respect from the community, respect earned by their polished and courteous behavior.  The two families lived in perfect harmony and their children too had excellent relationship between them.  More importantly, the two wives, co-sisters as many would like to call, were like twin sisters.

Now a question may arise as to what is the purpose of this piece when everything is just perfect.  The two brothers differed in their views about sharing responsibilities of daily life.  The system of sharing routine work taught and practiced in the family were different.  Elder brother believed that the work should be shared by all the children at home irrespective of the nature of work.  All children, boys or girls, were expected to wash their respective clothes and clean their plates after taking food. Any child could be asked to attend outdoor work like bringing the items for daily use from shops.  The practice in the younger brother's house was totally different.  All indoor work was to be done by the girls and outdoor work was the exclusive domain of the boys.  A girl child would not be asked to go to the market for bringing vegetables or such other items.  No boy was asked to wash clothes or clean dishes.  This made an interesting study for me.  There were no such rigid rules in our own house; any child could be asked to do any work assigned to them.  Assignment of work depended basically on the nature of work, age of the child and capacity to carry out the desired purpose.  Both brothers were right in their own way though opinions may differ when the practices are viewed and evaluated in present times.

Much water has flowed under and over the bridge in fifty years.  Society and its outlook has changed enormously in this time span and there is little difference between men and women today as far as handling different jobs are considered.  Women are still discriminated against, but the spirit has indeed changed for the better. From running houses to flying planes and venturing into outer space, there is no bar and girls have been eminently successful in all vocations.  Many families are encouraging their daughters to take up professional jobs which were exclusive male bastions some years ago.  When both husband and wife are engaged in matching professional pursuits, sharing of work at home also becomes equally important.  Some men are excellent cooks, but the kitchen work still stays with the wife generally.  When the tasks are identified and apportioned, vacuum cleaning generally falls on the husbands side.  This provides an excellent chance to the wife to keep reminding the husband every week: "Have you vacuum cleaned today?"

One husband who was allotted vacuum cleaning at home did his job faithfully for several months.  But he probably disliked the job or disliked even more being reminded by the wife again and again.  There is a maxim in HRD: assign the toughest job to the laziest person in the team.  He will find the easiest way to do it, finish it fast and get back to lazying!  This young man could never be accused of being lazy. But he was innovative.  He found out an excellent way of getting the house vacuum cleaned - he did lot of research and found out about Neato.

Neato is a robot vacuum cleaner; only it does not look like a Rajanikanth model Robot. It looks just like a simple weighing scale. It is battery operated an is smart.  Armed with a 360 degree laser range finder, it scans the room, maps and plans its work and later systematically cleans the entire room.  Its sensors enable it to avoid obstacles like furniture, walls, stairs and even pets.  Its boundary markers tell Neato where not to go.  It can remove all the hairs dropped by pets like cats and dogs.  It takes care of itself and cleans all floor surfaces.  The dirt is collected in a dirt bin inside the robot and can be emptied.  No need for trash bags and recurring expenditure in buying such bags.  Filters provided in it can be changed periodically to make it more effective.  Its blades and batteries can be replaced. When the battery is replaced in the middle of the cleaning, it starts from where it left off and there is no need to set it again!

 

Now "Neato" vacuum cleans when the husband plays with his other electronic gadgets. He now has an assistant in "Neato" which is not a sweeper but a real vacuum cleaner.  He may be advising his friends (other husbands) to spend $ 400 to $500 on a "Neato" and avoid the frequent question form their wives: "Have you vacuum cleaned today?"

 

Of course, he may not know what the wife is thinking.  She must be thinking of another assignment for him to protect her right to go on asking that favorite question:  "Did you ...........today?"!