Learning and Teaching

How does a student learn his lessons? When is his learning complete? When can it be said that he has acquired full knowledge? Who is a good teacher? These questions beg for an answer at times. Old world wisdom and modern scientific studies throw up a lot of common issues and also conflicting view points.

This sloka from Mahabharata's Udyoga Parva summarises learning and its components:

आचार्यात् पादमादत्ते पादं शिष्यः स्वमेधया | कालेनपादमादत्ते पादं सब्र्म्हचारिभिः ||

Aachaaryat padamaadatte, paadam shishyah swamedhaya. Kaalena paadamaadatte paadam sabramhachaaribhihi.

"Learning is divided into four parts. A student derives a quarter of the total knowledge from his "Guru" or teacher. He acquires another quarter of knowledge by his own intelligence and self study. When he studies with his other classmates and friends, he learns and gets another quarter of the desired knowledge. The fourth  part of the knowledge is taught to him by time in due course!"

The above saying is very consistent with our own experiences in life. A teacher can at best be a guide to a student and he can never take the total responsibility of imparting the full knowledge to the student. Without the co-operation and whole hearted participation of the student, all his efforts are a waste. Similarly, all efforts at own study without a "Guru" or a teacher could also be incomplete. There may be very exceptional self-taught scholars and some may claim to have learnt everything without the support of any teacher. Even they should be indebted to some source or sources from which they derived the knowledge they posses. Full benefit of the learning process is available only when the efforts of the teacher and student complement each other. There is a need for a combined physical, mental and emotional involvement in the process of teaching and learning. The need is for mutual respect and affection rather than fear and tool of punishment. The tool of punishment, when used injudiciously, may even become counter-productive and develop a sense of revolt in the student. It also does not mean that there is no need for discipline.  All efforts at teaching and learning are futile unless there is a certain degree of discipline in both teaching and learning efforts. True success is achieved when a fine and practical blend of these ingredients of affection, trust, effort and discipline is reached in adequate proportions.

The teacher can at best show the direction in which the student should or could go. The actual path of journey should be traveled by the student himself and it cannot be shifted to someone else. Further efforts to learn, after the initial teaching or introduction to the subject is made by the teacher, are to be by student's own efforts at assimilating the part or whole of the subject by contemplating and concentrating on the issues identified for learning. Importance of self-study can never be over emphasised and forms the corner stone of learning efforts. As the student rehearses the subject or topic in his own mind, more and more vistas open and the deeper and hidden meanings unfold to his advantage.  He would thus now be the owner of one half of the full knowledge.

The value and advantage of combined study with the fellow students and friends has been

highlighted in the third part of learning. While self-study is all important in its own place, exchange of perceptions and appreciation of various aspects of learning jointly with other students does have its own contribution to the process of learning. This type of atmosphere gives a sense of belonging to the student and he/she will also reap the benefits of the insight gained by the other students while learning from the teacher as well as during their own self-study.  Some parents quarantine young children in the guise of studies and preventing them from bad influence of other students. This mistaken notion of preventing them from unwanted interference also denies them the pleasure and benefits of exchanging thought and finer points of learning. While it is necessary to keep an eye on the activities of young learners and save them from bad impacts, providing for a healthy and complementary interaction with classmates and friends is equally important. This is a per-requisite of completing the learning process.

The final quadrant of learning is indeed a long drawn process and would never end! Mere bookish knowledge is no real knowledge and may even land the student into trouble unless it is coupled with worldly wisdom. Life teaches many lessons and often the hard way. Anyone who has acquired the other three quadrants of learning to a reasonably acceptable level and willing to learn the lessons from life to complete the learning process will succeed in life. He will also earn the capacity and eligibility to teach others and can display the potential to be a good teacher. There is no end to the lessons of life and the learning in the fourth quadrant will continue till the person's last journey. In that sense the process of learning will never be complete and the best anyone can achieve is near perfection and never perfection.

Maharshi Veda Vyasa has condensed all this wisdom in this small sloka. Not for nothing they say, "Vyasoochistam Jagat Sarvam". There is nothing that is not discussed or mentioned in Mahabharata and anything we see or learn is the leftover of Veda Vyasa!

Three Friends and Five Rotis

Those were the wonderful days when human beings had time for other human beings.  No Televisions and no computers.  Everyone had a lot of time to talk to others and listen to them.  Small towns and villages did not have  hotels and lodging houses. Though they were available in big cities, in much smaller numbers than today, an average man could not afford it.  There was the concept of "Last Bus" and no night buses plied on short routes after sunset.  Anyone traveling had to get home early.  If the last bus is missed for some reason or the other, to get back to own town or village  was not possible.  It was then a walk to the friendly relative or friend's house for a night's stay.  A carpet for a bed and a bundle of clothes for a pillow was always available to the guest after sharing the night's meal with the family.  Housewives knew that there could be a knock on the door on any evening and a guest would be welcome with a smile.  With a smile always though no one taught them in a B-School to serve with a smile.  Inclination to serve as well as the smile were both inborn qualities.  Something was always kept in the reserve for the unexpected guest though refrigerator was unheard of.  Whatever may be the financial position, families always had something to offer to the guest and make him as comfortable as possible. The guests too did not expect much and were happy with whatever was offered to them.  Children did not have their own rooms or play stations and they could not lock themselves in their own world.  They had be moving around and the guest was free to interact with them without taking an appointment.  Elders were more knowledgeable than children and there was no danger of the kids asking them questions about things they did not know.  Life was far more simple and enjoyable without the pressures of modern life.

The time between supper and going to sleep was generally used by the guests to test the children about their studies and general knowledge.  Jawaharlal Nehru's favorite flower or Mahatma's liking goat milk was a more common subject to start with than Aaishwarya Rai Bachan's daughter's name or Sachin Tendulakr's 99th hundred.  The most common question to start with was  "Which is heavier? One Kilogram of Cotton or one Kilogram of Iron?".  In the initial days boys or girls would answer "Iron".  After being interviewed by one or two guests they knew both were equal.  In case of girls, it was presenting their talent either by singing a song or a little dance without any music accompaniments. The questions used to be tricky for that age and everyone had fun and when the child answered correctly parents felt proud.  Good answers were often rewarded by a small coin though the elders would forbid accepting them.  Children fondly hoped that the guests would insist on giving the coin despite their protests.  A coin in hand would be very handy when the cut fruit or groundnut vendor appeared in the vicinity of school the next day.

One of the favorite questions of the guests used to be "How many horns does a horse have?".  The answer would naturally be "None".  The guest would insist that the correct answer was "Two".  In our mother tongue, Kannada, Horse is "Kudure".  The guest would explain the logic. "When you write the word Kudure, Ka kombu ku, da kombu du, raketva re, there are two kombus you see!"  (ಕ ಕೊಂಬು ಕು, ದ ಕೊಂಬು ದು, ರಕೆತ್ವ ರೆ - ಕುದುರೆ - ನೋಡು, ಎರಡು ಕೊಂಬು ಇದೆ!)  Oh, this is quite tricky, the boy would feel.  When the next guest arrives, we were ready with both answers. Just like saying, "I have both answers. Take whichever you want".

An elder friend reminded me of how mathematical problems and questions of fractions were taught by these guests to children.  One such problem was of "Three Friends and Five Rotis".  Three friends, Ramu, Bheemu and Somu decided to go on a picnic to Nandi Hills.  There cannot be any picnic without something to eat.  Ramu and Bheemu lived with parents whereas Somu was living alone.  Ramu and Bheemu agreed to bring rotis and pickles to eat while resting on the hill.  Somu said he cannot bring anything but would pay some money as his share and the money could be divided between the other two.  They reached the top of the hill and opened the packets brought by Ramu and Bheemu.  They found that Ramu had brought three rotis while Bheemu had brought two rotis.  Being good friends they divided the three rotis equally and enjoyed eating them.  Somu later gave five rupees as his share which was to be divided between Ramu and Bheemu.  How many rupees should each get?

The first answer would be three rupees to Ramu and two rupees to Bheemu.  But that is not the right answer.  It requires some more thinking.  There were five rotis which were divided between three friends.  Each got 5/3 rotis or 1 and 2/3 rotis.  Somu gave five rupees.  Therefore, cost of 1 and 2/3 roti is five rupees or each roti cost three rupees.  Bheemu contributed only 1/3 roti to Somu whereas Ramu contributed 1 and 1/3 roti.  Ramu's contribution was four times that of Bheemu.  The proper way to divide the money between Ramu and Bheemu is to give 4 rupees to Ramu and 1 ruppee to Bheemu.

Was it not a fine way of teaching fractions to school going kids?

She will go as She was

It was one of the saddest days in our lives.  Our dear mother showered her love on us for a long time and had just left for her heavenly abode that day.  We were waiting for the arrival of her elder sister from Bangalore before the final step of consigning her mortal remains to eternity. All her sons and daughters and grandchildren were engulfed by sorrow and not many words were spoken around.  Our father had lost his wife of nearly six decades.  They had seen difficult days, good days and very happy days along these years.  He was sitting on a chair lost in deep thoughts.  The years they spent together was probably unfolding in his memory like a film.  He was not actually crying but one could feel the sadness by just looking at him.

The body was readied by my sisters for the final journey. The last offering called "Baagina" was kept ready for the husband to offer to the departed wife.  A well meaning neighbor asked for a piece of turmeric.  She wanted the piece of turmeric for tying around the neck of the body and removing the golden "Maangalya".  It is common practice to remove all the gold items from the body before consigning it to flames.  She was only reminding this trend.  All such gold items are material wealth and valuable for the living.  But it has no value for the dead.  Why destroy it?  Wiser people remove these items much before the end comes so that there is no embarrassment or delicate issues to be sorted out when the final moment arrives.

"She will go as She was", my father all but shouted in a clear voice and continued, "Nothing will be removed.  Whatever she was wearing will go with her. When I see her for the one last time, she should be the same as she was".  The neighbor was taken aback but she was not the one to give up an issue without some more argument.  "I have only suggested what is generally done. That is the common practice.", she replied mildly.  "What you suggested is right and fine. But that will not be done with my wife today", he replied her in a soothing tone.  "She will go with her ear studs, nose stud, Maangalya, bangles and the silver rings on the fingers of her feet. These five were the ornaments she wore as Muttaide, the five beautification aids or whatever you may call them.  When she is herself gone what to do with those things?", were his words of finality.  "Those people in the crematorium will take the gold pieces from the ashes", she said.  "What somebody does after she is consigned to flames does not bother me" he replied as the final verdict.  The issue ended there.

A week later things had calmed down a bit.  My father was telling all of us about the highlights of their long journey in life. I seized the opportunity and raised the issue.  "People take out all valuable items and the gold items are generally given to the daughters or daughters-in-law.  Is it a wrong practice?", I asked him.  "It is not at all a wrong practice and I did not suggest anything like that.  It is one's personal choice.  Many people remove these gold items and give it to the unmarried daughters. Those who are economically weak should better take the ornaments out and use them as it makes more sense for them.  All our daughters are married and even some grand daughters.  We do not need it. People also say that an unmarried daughter should be got married within a year so that the departed soul gets the punya, benefit of that action.  What punya you can you give to a departed soul?  Each soul has to carry its burden on its own shoulders.  This getting the unmarried daughter within a year also has a reason.  It is probably more for some fast action and ensure that the daughter is married that year itself rather than passing on the punya to the departed soul.  As the mother is no longer around to press for it, such a system may ensure the required action.  All this kriya or karma that is done is only for our satisfaction and peace of mind.  No one knows whether the soul will know of this or cares about it.  We all join together and remember the departed person and his or her contribution to our lives. That appears to be the basic purpose of these karmas. Rest of it is pure Tarka (Logic) or belief", he said.

"Then why should we do all this kriya karma? Why waste resources on these things?", I asked.  "Where is the wastage? You invite all relatives and friends and have a feast remembering the departed member of the family and society.  it is an occasion just like birthday. Only difference is that we do not respect the laws of nature when it comes to death.  During kriya karma you bring many items and distribute them among the needy in memory of the departed soul. Those items are used by the receivers in their daily lives. Nothing is a waste. When you give a set of footwear to someone walking barefoot it is not a waste.  But when you give it to a person having four pairs already, then it is a waste. So also with a bed.  It is to be given to a person sleeping on a floor and not to someone who has four cots in his house.  As far as performing kriya karma is concerned, it is one's choice. It is like two brothers going out of the house and arguing about whether it will rain that day.  One believes it rains and carries an umbrella with him.  The other brother does not believe it rains and goes without an umbrella.  If it rains, the one with umbrella is protected and the one without it will get drenched in the rain. If it does not rain the one who took it out  has only the problem of carrying the piece with him. I suggest you do the kriya karma as per the tradition of your family, just like keeping  the umbrella for no one knows for sure what happens after death or whether there is another world or not. Just like whether it will rain or not", he concluded.

Opinions may differ on arguments, logic and philosophy part.  But he was right about one thing.  When he saw his wife for the one last time in front of the electric furnace, she was as she was all her life, for him.  Just as I saw my mother for that one last time, as she was since my birth. 

Why not Today?

Many of us want to follow the rules. To the letter. Even if the spirit is lost sometimes. A G Gardner's famous essay "All about a Dog" sums up this approach brilliantly. There are some rules which should never be broken. Otherwise it may compromise safety of life and limbs of persons. But there are many other rules which are not that sacrosanct. Breaking them would not amount to much violation and may even achieve the welfare of the majority.

I was directed to join the Bank at its Hubli branch fifty years ago. Chitradurga is half way to Hubli from Bangalore. My uncle and his family were living in Chitradurga in those days. I went to Chitradurga and stayed with them overnight and proceeded to Hubli on the next morning. The four hour journey after breakfast took me to Hubli just before lunch time. I checked into a hotel, had lunch and went in search of the branch. The idea was to find the place in the evening itself so that there won't be any delay while reporting on the next morning. I reached the branch when the business hours had just concluded and the employees were proceeding for lunch. I sat down on one of the chairs kept outside the counter in the banking hall.

A few minutes later, an elderly gentleman walked in and asked me what I was waiting for. I told him that I wanted to meet the Manager. He said he was the Branch Manager and asked me follow him into his cabin. He asked me whether I had lunch and when I answered in the affirmative he asked me to sit on one of the chairs in front of his table. I hesitantly sat down and handed over the letter of offer from the bank with instructions to report at Hubli branch. He enquired about my arrangements for stay in Hubli and whether I needed any assistance. He called for a file, verified my papers and said they were in order. I thanked him, got up and was about to take leave of him. "Where are you going?", he asked. "I am going back to my hotel. I will come in the morning and report for duty", I said. "What is so special about tomorrow?" was the next question. I did not know what to say. "You have come to join the Bank. Then, why not today?" he asked. "If permitted, I will join today itself" was the reply. "You have entered the Bank for the first time today. When you go out, go out as a proud employee of the bank.  Give your joining report and get to work without any loss of time", he ordered.

He called his next in command and instructed him to take my joining report and assign me some work. Branch Manager was himself ready but the others had their own reservations since it was already afternoon and more than half of the day was over. He understood their hesitation. "This boy has come all the way from Bangalore to work with you. He may serve the bank for thirty or forty years. What difference will half-a-day make? Why waste a day? Put him on the job. Make him work till the office closes today. Let him start learning from today. If you so desire, record that he has joined in the evening and pay him salary from tomorrow". The others complied without a murmur. I was put on rolls on the same day and paid salary from that day itself. I worked till close of office and went to Hotel thereafter.

All bank work was manual in those days and a good handwriting was an asset for bank employee then. Branch Manager had a very good handwriting and one could never find a mistake in any work he did in the bank. He had his own methods to check the working of different sections and correcting them whenever necessary. After observing my handwriting for a few days he called me once and advised me. "You have a very good handwriting. Keep it that way. It will take you far in life and career", was his advice. He was enquiring about my stay and food arrangements from time to time. He gave me some books on Banking and advised me to read them thoroughly. I worked with him for for about one year before my transfer to Bangalore. He retired shortly and remained my well wisher till he left for the next world.

His words "Why not today?" keep gently reminding me the importance of time and to have wider perspective in life than mere letter of the law or rules and look to compliance of their spirit as well.     

Police Verification Report

Ugadi always brings back the memories of my first visit to the Police Station. My first visit to the police station was exactly forty years ago. It was for the purpose of a Police Verification Report, popularly known and called as PVR.

PVR was, and probably still is, one of the basic requirements for absorption into Government service. A reference is made by the department or the employing authority to the police station having jurisdiction over the permanent address of the candidate to be absorbed into government service. A clean report is a must for completing the formalities and verification of antecedents of the person seeking employment. PVR references are many times lost in the maze and volume of work in the police station and police have many other priorities in their day to day work. Any delay in receipt of PVR will result in delayed confirmation in service. PVR is even now a requirements for issue and renewal of Passports.

I had joined Bangalore Telephones,  which was a unit of Post and Telegraph Department then. Other formalities were completed but PVR was not yet received. Head of the Establishment section told me that I should go to my native town and find about its position and hasten the receipt of the PVR. I took leave and went two days before Ugadi to my town for this purpose. Next day I went to the Police Station to meet the inspector and enquire about the status of the PVR. I had to wait for sometime before the Inspector came and the happenings there were somewhat uncomfortable, with the pleadings of those kept in the lock ups etc. The Inspector came in after some time and had more pressing things to attend to. After disposing off the more urgent issues he called me and enquired about the purpose of my visit. I told him about the purpose of my visit. He called for all pending PVR references and my case reference was fortunately sitting safe among them. He saw the details of my reference and verified some records in the police station. Now I realise it was probably some list of persons with criminal background. He asked some questions about my place of birth, educational institutions in which I studied and addresses in which we resided during those days.

"What sort of a student you were? There is no mention at all of your name in the records", he said in a tone of admonition. I was taken aback. "Why?, I have all my marks sheets and degree certificate. There should certainly be records of my studies there", I answered. He stared at me for a moment and said, "I am not discussing about college records. I am talking of my records, which means police records". Though it was actually a matter of relief, the way he said it made me anxious about my PVR. Some other urgent thing came up before concluding my PVR and I was asked to wait again. After sometime he again called me and had a final look at my papers. "So, you are the son of one Pattabhi Ramaiah. Does your father not know that he has to come to the Police Station and sign for getting a PVR? Go home and tell him to come here in the evening to sign the papers". I was dispatched home with those words.

I told my father about what the inspector told me and added that I did not like the way in which he referred to my father. My father said that the police have their own way of dealing with things but he also did not know of any rule requiring him to go and sign in the station for a PVR.  However, he agreed to come to the station in the evening to sort out the matter.

Our evening visit to the Police Station was somewhat different from my earlier one. The inspector was not there but the writer (a constable who attends to record keeping and receiving complaints) told us that he was expecting us and politely offered us chairs to sit. The inspector came after some time and stared at my father.  My father also looked at him and they warmly hugged each other. The Inspector was none other than his schoolmate Samba Murthy. I had never seen him but heard the stories of the exploits of Samba Murthy and Pattabhi duo in their school days. They were experts in tree climbing and knocking off ripe fruits from the trees in the neighbourhood! They had not seen each other for three decades and the reunion of two thick friends was watched by other policemen and visitors in the station.

Samba Murthy wound up his work for the day and asked us to go with him to his house close to the police Station. My father willingly accompanied him and I too joined a step behind, now happy in the knowledge that my PVR will have no further problems. He introduced us to his wife and she served us "Obbattu and Holige". Obbattu and Holige are two sweet dishes made from Dal-Gud (Jaggery) and Coconut-Gud specially for Ugadi festival. Usually one of them is prepared but here we had both of them and that too two days before Ugadi. My father enquired about the special occasion and for making both of them on the same day, two days before Ugadi. Samba Murthy informed that his two sons had come home from distant places and had to go back that day and could not stay for the festival.  "Pattabhi, you know very well that for us it is Ugadi when the children come home. Yesterday they were both here. One likes Obbattu and the other likes Holige. My wife made both. We celebrated the festival yesterday itself. To my good luck, your son came to the station today and thereby I could see you after over three decades. Remember our Ugadi days when we were in school. How we enjoyed our Obbattu!".

I was given a second helping of the items and I had no complaints. But I was worried that my father had not signed in the station. When finally leaving Samba Murthy's house I reminded my father gently about the signature part. "Young man, the signature requirement was only to make your father come and meet me and taste these sweets.Your PVR is already on the way to Bangalore. Do not worry about it. I wish you a rewarding career as a Government servant", he said.

I did not continue in the government job for even six months. I later joined the bank and had to go to Police stations several times on official work, always fortunately on the right side of law. And Samba Murthy was always remembered on each and every one of those visits.

Lord Ganesha and Auto Drivers

With another hefty increase in auto fares last week, it is time to remember some auto incidents. One good thing with the current increase is that it solves the problem of finding change to pay auto bills. Minimum fare at twenty rupees is much better than the earlier seventeen rupees. Three rupees were never returned and now we can be satisfied that it has been paid legally. A hundred rupee note is the minimum requirement to get into an auto and fare is always rounded off to the nearest ten rupees. This solves the problem of searching the purse for small change. Beggars who were beneficiaries of the refunded coins also do not mind now. Their minimum acceptance level is also revised upwards and anything less than ten rupees is likely to be returned with some bad words.

Autos are in great demand on festival days. Those are the days when people moving in groups, usually their own families, stand in street corners and hoping that a vacant auto would come their way. Auto drivers also have their own families and they also have their own Lord Ganesha to worship. They are fortunate not to be bound by the list of holidays issued by the Government or an employer. Their family also needs to move around on festival days and hence they work on that day without being paid. The net result of all these is an excessive demand against a poorer supply.

Sometime back I was waiting in a street corner with a friend, who had come from another city, looking for an auto. Many vacant autos ran past us but none responded to our hailing.  He was wondering what was happening. I told him that auto licenses in Bangalore were mostly given to Physically Handicapped persons as a source providing employment to them. As the license cannot be given away to blind persons, most of them were issued to deaf persons. He appreciated the idea and said it was a very good policy and should be emulated by other cities as well. But he also wondered whether it was not a hazard as the drivers would not be able to hear the honking of the other vehicles. I told him it was not so because even those with normal hearing capacity would end up as deaf in a few years due to the abnormal level of honking in the chaotic traffic. Why not start being deaf rather than ending as deaf?  The illogical logic also appealed to him and he appreciated the idea even more. He was to be in our city for a week and got used to the system of hailing autos including shouting with outstretched hands and twisting the whole body. On the last day of the trip I offered to walk him to the street corner for finding an auto to go to railway station. He smiled and replied, "Now I know how to catch an auto. I always shout two words before announcing my destination. Like 'Double meter Jayanagar' or Double meter Malleswaram'. All auto drivers can hear such hailing even if they are otherwise deaf or pretend to be deaf. Do not worry, I will find an auto easily!".

The day veteran Kannada Cinema actor Raj Kumar died was a a nightmare for people in Bangalore, especially for those who were caught in the traffic jam. The auto in which I was sitting was near Kantheerava stadium when government decided to move the actor's body there to enable the people to pay their last respects. We were surrounded by a sea of vehicles with nowhere to go. One had to move in any direction one could find some space to move unmindful of what his destination was. Hundreds of working people, including women and aged, had to walk for miles. My auto driver procured a xerox photo of Raj Kumar by paying ten rupees from a hawker and pinned it on the wind shield. He asked me whether I was a Raj Kumar fan and I said I certainly was since the age of six. We exchanged the names of films we had seen and both of us had seen nearly all his movies. He managed to drive on footpath and anywhere there was some space to go. After three hours of moving in every possible direction he brought me to our house. He politely refused my offer of a higher fare and said it was unfair for him to accept it on a day when his beloved actor died. "I would have refused even the normal fare as a tribute to him and gone home with the pleasure of having taken one of his fans home safely. But the extra driving has consumed all the petrol in the auto. I need money for tomorrow's plying. Hence I have to accept the normal fare much against my will", he said.

Back to Ganesha festival. Some twenty five years  ago I met two auto drivers who had totally opposite view points about the festival. Early morning we set out with our two small children to reach a house where the extended family was to meet to celebrate the festival together. Autos were already in demand by that time and we managed to get one after sometime. I asked the auto driver whether he would perform Ganesha pooja. He said his wife and children demanded that he should stay back that day at home for the festival. But he wanted to be on the road to enable people to move around for their pooja rather than stay at home. As a compromise his entire family got up as early as 3 AM and finished their pooja by 6 AM so that both their wishes were fulfilled. Once pooja done, family members wanted him to join them for lunch in the afternoon. He was ready but with a rider that he will be back again on the road after lunch. His real goal was to serve as many devotees as possible to move around and celebrate the festival.

On the way back in the evening it was nearing 9 PM. We managed to hail another auto and I put the same question to this auto driver too. This man had a different outlook. He said his Ganesha was with the devotees whom he was carrying that day since 5 AM in the morning. You are the last passenger today. After dropping you I am going home. At home every one will be ready for pooja. I join them for pooja and we celebrate the festival now.  My family members have agreed for this arrangement".

Both auto drivers succeeded in satisfying the demands of their family members and yet managed to move a large number of devotees for their festival. It was nice to know that Lord Ganesha also got up very early to accept the pooja from one of them and also stayed awake late in the night to receive offerings from the other!

The "Red Eye"

Our flight from Seattle had taken off on time at 6 AM and arrived on schedule at San Francisco at 8 AM. The connecting flight to the east coast was to take off an hour and a half later and land in Philadelphia just before 6 PM. Our host there was to pick us up from the airport on his way home from work place. The schedule was worked  out meticulously so that one host could drop us at Seattle airport before going to work and another could pick us up on the way back from work. Of course, we had no work to do except travel and all timings suited us.

We propose and airline companies dispose. (Passengers of "King of Good Times Airlines" know this too well now after all the bad times they had in the last two months). As we came out of the aero-bridge and checked on the monitor for the gate number of the departing flight, it was mentioned as "Flight cancelled". By the time we reached the customer service counter of Continental Airlines, there was a long line with passengers from flights arrived earlier at SFO who were to take the same flight to Philadelphia, standing ahead of us. Being at the end of the line meant that we had little chance of getting any proximate alternate flight as those ahead of us in the line would have naturally opted for them. When my turn finally came there were still a dozen passengers behind me and probably hoping that I would take much less time in sorting out my plans than the earlier ones.

The lady at the counter was all smiles and charm. She was probably one of their well trained employees and placed on such counters to effectively stall irate passengers of cancelled flights. All her talk just meant that she wanted to help us but she was herself helpless. You can have all the smile but your work will not be done. You end up thinking how helpful she was but only you were unfortunate. She apologized for the delay but having myself trained our staff to handle such situations, I was interested in the next plan.

"Sir, The best thing I can give you is a seat on the same flight tomorrow"

I had to make a decision in a few seconds. Accepting the offer means spending a day in San Francisco. My two nephews living in that city would be already on the way to work and not a wise idea to trouble them. I put a counter question. "What if that flight is also cancelled?". She was a bit taken aback but replied politely, "That does not happen everyday, Sir"

"I do not want to stay here. Give me a seat on a flight to New York, Newark or even BWI (Baltimore)"

"I am sorry Sir. All those flights are also full. If you do not want to stay back, the best I can do is to route you through Las Vegas. But Vegas to Philadelphia is a "Red Eye". Is it alright?"

I did not know what she meant by "Red Eye". The red eye I knew till then was the infection of the eye making it look red and called variously as "Singapore eye" in Chennai,  "Chennai eye" in Bangalore and "Bangalore eye" in Mangalore. There was no time to ask further questions and getting educated. There were indeed better place and time to learn what she meant by a "Red Eye".

"Red Eye or Blue eye, I want to keep moving and reach Philadelphia".

She probably thought I was joking. Or more probably felt it was a show of annoyance, albeit politely. She put us on a noon flight to Las Vegas and later on from there to Philadelphia.

My wife, standing behind me in the line, asked me after we left the counter what a "Red Eye" was. They give such names to some flights to make us reject the offer, I told her.  Years of marriage teach you certain things. You should always answer some questions truthfully, if you know the answer, is the first of them. You should never tell the answer to some questions, even if you know the answer, is the second.  Bluff your way with a face saving answer is the third. This time I used the third.

The afternoon flight to Las Vegas meant that we had to wait for five hours in San Francisco.  The next flight left Las Vegas at 11 PM and arrived in Philadelphia at 5 AM. The simple journey of nine hours was finally completed in 24 hours. And then I went about understanding what a "Red eye" is.

A red-eye flight is any flight departing late at night and arriving early the next morning. The term red-eye is derived from the symptom of having red eyes which can be caused or aggravated by late-night travel. These flights generally move east from west during night hours. The flight departs late at night and lasts for three to five hours and due to forward time zone changes, lands at dawn. Passengers do not get sufficient rest and end up getting off the flight with reddish eyes. Business travelers use this as an opportunity to save time without losing a day in their busy schedule.

After all there is something more to the "Red Eye" than just eye infection!