September 2010
Biodata
Name
Shankar
Family role
Father to two children / Husband to my wife / Son to my parents / Brother to my siblings
Official role
Business in Gulf - owning a contracting company - into all civil works!
Daughter
Aparna - Std. 8th student - currently on stage - participating in School Youth Festival - finale.
Son
Adarsh - Std. 5th student - sitting beside me. Munching popcorn watching my daughter's dance performance on-stage.
Wife
Maya, a home consultant - sitting adjacent to my son - Munching popcorn ....... ditto.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Papa, are you sleeping?", that was from my son, who was sitting next to me who awakened me from my sleep using his shoulders.
I opened my eyes and looked around, with a jolt. I realized that I was one among the audience in that dimly lit auditorium.
Adarsh laughed sarcastically seeing my desperation.
Lucky me, none must have noticed me sleeping. Did I snore? If so, it would have been a big shame, not only to myself, but to my daughter also - who was one among the three girls performing a Group Dance on stage! But, on the other hand, I must appreciate my capacity to have a peaceful nap in spite of the huge quantum of decibel in the air.
"I was not sleeping. I was enjoying the dance, especially the music with closed eyes, dear! What a song these smart girls are dancing to! ....", I tried to convince my son with my own blunt justifications and cover ups, but in vain.
"No, Papa. Don't lie, I was watching you for sometime and even told my mother about your sleep", he continued his part of arguments.
"If Maya come to know about my slumber, and that too, during our daughter's performance, then that might lead to a war kind of crisis at home later", I told myself and started planning my defence mechanisms.
"Sit quietly and watch the programme, and dont disturb others", I took out my military mode and ordered him by giving a retaliating pinch when I was almost certain that I'd lose the argument battle completely.
I looked around again. Maya, who was just two seats away from me was enjoying the dance programme and hopefully, she must not have listened to my arguments with my son.
What Adarsh said was also true. How can a father sleep when his daughter is battling for a coveted prize?? Wasnt that shameful to sleep sitting on the third row from the stage?
Shameful!!!
So, I decided to fight.
I fought against my eyelids.
I fought against my eyelids and ensured that they are not meeting each other, ending up in another round of slumber.
But, I lost the battle.
I lost the battle again, just after a minute or so.
I fell into a nap again, amidst the loud music and dance steps on stage.
But, soon after, I was caught off guard by a dark fellow (oops, sorry, another parent who was sitting next to me) - perhaps, after hearing my glorious snoring!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
But, I cannot be completely blamed for. If I am not mistaken, I have been deprived of sleep for more than a week now. (I am almost sure that the case must be holding good for parents of most of the children who were taking part in the Youth Festival Finale!!).
The ordeal was kicked off by virtue of a phone call from my daughter when I was busy in a business meeting, or, rather, a livelihood discussion with one of my clients. I very well remember that, because I was almost winning a coveted time-based, prestigious contract when I attended that panic call from my daughter.
On an excitement tone, she told me as soon as I picked up the call - "Papa, we are selected to the finals of our Group Dance... I am so happy, Papa".
Since I was in the midst of that crucial discussion, I had to ask Aparna to speak to me a little after. When I resumed my discussion, I got another call from Maya informing me about Aparna's and her team's selection to the Youth Festival finals. Maya also seemed to be equally excited.
Having learnt arithmetic or geometric progression in school, considering the possibility of another energy-packed call from Adarsh also on the same subject, I switched off my mobile and focussed on my livelihood discussion!
After a while, my client patted on my back and told, "Congratulations, Shankar. I know, its hard, but you need to speed up this project as we want to see this center ready in two week's time. Starting tomorrow, we will meet up every night at 8 to have status meetings to monitor the progress of work on a daily basis. Agreed?"
On my affirmative nod, the meeting concluded and I was equally excited to have this prestigious project in hand ! I knew, it was tough - going to site early in the morning and pushing myself for the evening meetings and coming back home fully exhausted!! Alas!!
I switched on the mobile and saw seventeen missed-call notifications - nine from home ; six from Maya's mobile and two from my staff !!
I drove back home. I had a feeling that something was waiting for me!!&^%$#@!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In contrast to my timid expectations, on reaching home, I was greeted by Maya with her special palak pakoda. She was happy for Aparna and the same happiness reflected in Adarsh's face too. I could not stop my feelings towards the palak pakoda, and of course, being a hungry soul, I gulped four or five of them, dipped in tomato sauce. I could see the trio looking at me while I conducted the pakoda-swallowing-exercise.
"Papa....", Aparna literally dashed towards me, after a brief 'run-up' (like the one you see in cricket) to present a wonderful hug. It has been one of her habits to display her happiness to me ever since her childhood. She also gave me a painful pinch on my cheeks, as a part of her 'buttering strategy'.
"Tell me, what do you want? Why so buttering today?", I asked.
"Papa....nothing... nothing....."
"My dear, I am seeing you for many years... There is something to be sorted out... I am sure... What's that? Don't give me surprises!!", I was not convinced.
"Nothing, Papa. I am so happy... Do you know, Preeti's group was boasting that they would get into the final round. But, you know, we have won.... our Devika teacher is too good"
"But our final would be against Vidya's team... thats going to be tough, because Vidya's teacher is from Kalamandalam. So we decided to have rehearsals till next Thursday. The final is on Friday... Can you please drop me, Priya and Saritha at teacher's house for practice? I have given them my word already!"
It was like a bombshell to me.
I bursted out. "What? I cannot. How can you finalize something without asking me? I am busy for the next two weeks. What about Priya's and Saritha's parents? Can't they pick you also ? ", I changed my tone. I told them about my busy schedule the coming weeks because of the prestigious contract I was awarded.
"I tried you many times to talk about this, but your phone was switched off. Priya's father is on tour and Saritha's father doesnt have a car.", Aparna responded.
After an in-house melodrama, I was awarded another 'contract' to pick these three young dancers from three corners of the city and drop them at the teacher's house located at the fourth corner of the city!!
My scope of work in this new 'contract' also included selecting the song for the dance, copying them to CD, making four copies of the CD (three to the dancers and one to the teacher), assisting in shopping of dancers' dress materials, taking them to the tailor, following up with the tailor and delivering the stitched dresses to the dancers!!
Oh! I forgot to say, Priya's dresses that were stitched were not at all fit for a dance programme and hence one day, I had to run twice to the tailor, couriering the dress material (along with Priya), for alterations!!
To maintain my high blood pressure throughout the week, my mainstream contract was also keeping me on toes, thanks to my wonderful foreman, who never used to turn up on time! Alarmingly, my routine for that busy week was somewhat in line with the below 'configuration' : -
Getting up at 5.00 AM
Going to the work site at 6.30 AM
Chasing the foreman/supervisor and transporting him to the site by 9 AM
On site till 5.30 PM
Picking up Aparna
Picking up Saritha
Picking up Priya
Dropping them at teacher's house at 6.30 PM.
Client meeting at 8 PM.
Missed calls from Aparna informing to pick them back, after the rehearsals at 9.30
Reaching teacher's house again at 10.30 PM ~ 10.45 PM
Dropping Priya
Dropping Saritha
Reaching home by midight
Dinner
Bed by 1.30 AM (oops, the next day!!)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Competitions over.
After an anxious wait we could finally see, with an extensive grin, the Miss (?) of Ceremonies, the 'MC' who appeared on stage. Before starting any words, she scanned the entire range of audience and intermittently glanced through the papers - probably the results that she carried in hand.
Her deliberate silence kept the anxiety-meter running for both participants and their respective parents.
As in every event finale, the Third Prize was announced first. Aparna, Priya and Saritha who were sitting together literally locked their hands with one another, to ease their tension. As soon as the MC finished announcing the Third Prize, I could see them standing up from their seats with mixed feelings.
From their body gestures, I understood that they were tensed because they did not get Third Prize.
At the same time, I found them relaxed also because the possibility of them grabbing either the Second or the First Prize had become more visible.
In a similar pattern, the MC announced the Second Prize. Much to Aparna's surprise, the Second Prize went to Vidya and her team. Aparna was relieved because her strongest competitor had cleared her way.
I was watching Aparna closely. The tension was building up as the chances of her team becoming the best was just 50-50 away. She appeared restless as she was still in her dance costume.
Aparna made a silent prayer. She glanced at me requesting me also to pray for her.
Again, the MC looked at the audience who were holding their breath. On another bursting note, the MC threw aloud - "And, the First Prize for Group Dance goes to ..... any guesses??...... yes, you are right - Group C - Aparna, Priya & Saritha".
"Thats fantabulous!! ", I thought.
Reminding beauty pageant winners, Aparna also opened her mouth in surprise and covered it using her hands. It was a dream-come-true for Aparna and her friends.
Of course, a dream-come-true for the parents also, including Maya and me.
I looked at Maya with pride.
Maya looked at me with motherly pride.
The children who worked really hard deserved it.
I too deserved it, at least a sound sleep to compensate the lost ones !!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That night was filled with fun and frolic.
KFC, pizza, pasta, cold drinks, numerous phone calls etc.
Aparna was the focal point. She enjoyed every second of her happiness. We all too.
I retired to bed awaiting a good sleep, but the best was soon to come !!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Next day morning, while I was sipping my bed coffee, Aparna dashed towards me with her peculiar run-up to give me a 'loud' hug, ending up in my coffee spilled all over the place!
There was something coming up, I guessed and it was a right guess.
"Will you come early today? We will go to buy some gold or diamond gift", Maya replenished the coffee and started a fresh discussion.
"Gold, diamond? For what?", I had no clue.
"Papa, we need to buy gifts for the teacher. We will give diamonds", Aparna added.
I looked at both, Maya and Aparna. It was a two-fold attack. I was helpless. I escaped from the scene in the pretext of taking bath and getting ready for the office, though it was a holiday. Honestly, I was not against buying any gifts, but I was not comfortable with the short noticed approach.
After my shower, I skipped breakfast and left for the work site though it was not so necessary to pay a visit. I did that deliberately to avoid any immediate conversation on the ongoing, million-dollar topic. There were so many missed calls from Aparna and some SMS asking me the confirmation of the gift to be bought for the teacher.
I had to flex my muscles, throw away my ego and come home for lunch as I was very hungry. But, the topic of the gift resurfaced during our lunch.
'Yes, we will buy something. Wait for two days", I said.
"Papa, the other girls are buying the gifts today. I don't want to be the last one. Then the teacher might think that we were not interested in this.", Aparna was unhappy.
To buy some more time and to mitigate the pressure, I asked for their choices. The buy-in sought for from Maya and Aparna made them come up with their never ending list - gold, diamond, pendant, ear studs, silk saree, pearl, crystal, household items etc. etc., and lot more.
But, even after that exercise, I succumbed to the in-house pressure once again. As a sequence, I had to go with them that evening for shopping at various jewellers, textile shops and household stores. Both the lady members in my family were not satisfied with any of their 'findings'. After an unsuccessful trip, we all returned home by 10 pm.
The same story happened the next day too, after which I got terribly upset, frustrated, angry, dejected and dilapidated.
In an angry mode, I made my point very clear. I told the lady members in my family to spare me alone and also to leave the gift episode to my safe hands! I committed that the teacher would be gifted in a day or two, maximum.
Maya and Aparna left me in two diagonally opposite directions with their 'built-up' faces.
"Dont make faces. I will buy a unique and invaluable gift for your teacher, you watch and see". I told Aparna, but I was not sure whether she heard my comment properly.
Was that a hasty, costly decision?
Let us watch and see!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Buying an apt and unique gift for the teacher had become a prestigious issue for me. Especially because, Maya and Aparna were challenging my gift-selection-skills, sarcastically. They were broadcasting some of my inappropriate gift selections that I did in the past, perhaps as a tantrum to demotivate me from my promised one-man-show.
But, I was not determined to lose.
I set out on a mission to various malls and hypermarkets in search of a unique gift for the teacher. I wanted to exceed the expectations of Maya and Aparna. By hook or crook, I wanted to correct their derogatory remarks on my gift-selection-skills, deeply etched in their minds.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I forgot to say, I was not showing enough attention to my primary business! But, I could convince my client and eventually got the deadline extended by a week. During my physical absence, the foreman ensured his punctuality by not going to the work-site on time!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After a frantic search, I found something unique and valuable. The gift item which I discovered had the following properties :-
- Primarily, affordable to the buyer, as there was some "Discount Sale" going on!!
- Attention grabbing & conspicuous. (Because I had seen a similar one somewhere, sometime back, which pulled my attention then)
- Useful
- Inevitable & Inescapable
- Beautiful
- A show piece
- Anyone would love at first sight.
- Handy?? Not completely. So, none would steal it!!
- It gave light in darkness.
- Last, but not the least, I knew that it would be a decoration in the teacher's visitor room.
I decided to buy that.
No second thoughts.
Ordered the Customer Service to pack it.
I pulled out my Credit Card and made the payment. Within seconds, I got an automated SMS from the bank confirming "deal done"!
The Customer Service packed the gift item gracefully and handed it over to me on a trolley.
I got a shock of my life when I saw the packing!
IT WAS PACKED AS A FULL, SINGLE PIECE - SPANNING AROUND 5 FT. IN LENGTH!!
"How will I get it transported? Can you please dismantle it?", I asked the Customer Support staff who packed it.
"Sorry Sir, this is a single piece. I think, you can take it in your car, if you keep it between the front and back seats", the response was fast.
"Oh my God! Gold or diamond would have been a better choice. I should have left this gift business to Maya or Aparna", I confided.
But my self-esteem lifted me up very soon. There was no time to think.
With the help of a manual worker (a.k.a laborer), I brought the 25kg. 'gift' to my car. By God, that didn't look like a heavy one, when I saw it from a distance, in the store!!
As suggested by the customer support staff, we tried keeping the gift in the car between the front and back seats. That was not feasible, simply because there was no enough space in the car!!
We tried keeping it in the boot, but in vain.
After many attempts, the gift became a pain to me.
I approached the Cashier and persuaded him to take back the 'painful' gift. They refused by telling me all sorts of logistical, policy related and management excuses.
After a debate, they agreed to "car go" the gift item, free of charge, within a week!!
Other than accepting their cargo offer, I had no other go.
You can imagine how difficult was my situation at home that week, losing my face!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Many follow-up calls had to be made to the shop (in good, bad and worse voice modulations), before the gift item reached my house. In fact, I was waiting the whole day to direct the 'shipment' to the teacher's house to avoid another trip. Since the shipment got delayed and came only by 8 PM or so, I could not get it transported to the teacher's house.
The 'gift item' was offloaded at my garage. On seeing the gift item (a prestigious one for me till a week back), Maya & Aparna screamed at me, reiterating my failure in 'gift-selection-skills'.
"Papa, you only go and give this to the teacher. I am not coming. Its shameful to carry such a huge gift. How can I look at the teacher now?", Aparna was again unhappy.
Maya supported Aparna and gave me a cruel look!!! She withdrew from the scene, like you see in some movies.
Adarsh was nowhere to be seen.
"I dont want anybody's help. I know how to take this to the teacher. You both don't have any aesthetic sense and thats why you dont realise the beauty of this. Moreover, how can you judge the beauty of this without seeing it?". Frankly, neither Maya nor Aparna heard me, as I was talking to myself!!
"What the heck is this?" How will I carry this to teacher's house tomorrow? Should I keep this here and buy another gift for the teacher?". Many unanswered questions haunted me throughout that night.
My ego told me, as always - "Shankar, you should not fail, come what may!"
During dinner, I tried my best to convince my lady members, but they did not budge. Their ego-gods must have told them to behave likewise, perchance!
Next evening, with the help of my labour staff, the "controversial, pain-gift" was transported in a pick-up van to the teacher's place. I escorted the pick-up van to guide the route.
The gift item was off loaded at the verandah of the teacher's house.
In a couple of minutes, the teacher opened the door in response to the calling bell.
"Good evening, teacher. I am Aparna's father", I greeted her.
"Yes, I know. What is this?", the teacher asked me with curiosity (or anxiety??) looking at the huge package.
"Nothing, teacher. A small token of Aparna's happiness. She and her friends are so happy as they got First Prize. They got it only because of your guidance, teacher.", I offered.
"No, Sir. Is this a small token?? Well, teaching is my profession and I did my duty only, nothing else. Aparna, Saritha & Priya got the prize, only because they performed well. I did nothing extra ordinary", the teacher was humble.
On my persistence, teacher agreed to accept our gift.
I took the gift inside her house and unpacked it to get her first-hand-response.
In contrary to my expectations, there was silence.
I looked at the teacher.
The teacher was looking at the corner of their hall room.
I also turned my face to that corner.
And, in came another shocker!!
The teacher was already having the same lamp shade!!
Only then I could recollect where I had seen the same lampshade earlier.
It was an embarassing moment!
I was speechless!
I felt as if the dancer's gift was dancing on my head.
I thought of taking the gift back and running away!
But, I could only smile at the teacher to get a smile back from her!
(C) Renjith P Sarada. 2010. All Rights Reserved.
