Gadgets and Knee Brace

I am bed-ridden with a ligament tear on my left knee. That is what the doctor has diagnosed for now; there will be a thorough check-up after a few days. They are suspecting something far more worse but they cannot conduct the tests now since my leg is not "ready" for it. Encouraging!!!!

I will have to keep my knee in a brace for the next 3 weeks. While coming out of the hospital and before getting the brace, I was thinking that it is not going to be too bad; at least it is better than getting the leg plastered. Well, I was right but only marginally. I can take out the brace in the night but throughout the day, I have to stay in one position as the knee brace does not allow the leg to fold. I had mistaken the knee brace with something that Yuvraj Singh used to wear when he injured his knee. That thing was cool....this is not.

What is helping me in these boring times is my collection of gadgets. My bed looks like a control room with all kinds of gadgets, wires, adaptors around me. I have my laptop and data card (thus this blog post), mobile phone, a portable DVD player and tons of DVDs, a portable Sony Playstation with 6-7 games CDs, Sony Walkman, Samsung Galaxy Tab, SLR camera, a Super Zoom camera, tripod, battery chargers, adaptors, 4 hard disks, 3 pen drives and accessories/wires around me. My knee brace is killing me but my gadgets are fighting hard to save me. Till now, the gadgets are winning but it is a close contest. Two more weeks to go so you never know. 

Old Beggar

Fatima and her kids were excited and were getting ready for the movie. They did not want to get late even by a moment as such opportunities seldom came in this family.

Fatima lived with her husband Salim and their 6 children in a small village. The family had limited resources as Salim, a government school teacher, was the only earning member in the family. In the household with 8 members and meagre income, watching a movie was a big deal. Naturally, everyone was getting ready on ‘war-footing’. However, with 5 females, the party was running slightly late.

Salim had called two cycle-rickshaws. Four elder kids ran and boarded one of the rickshaws. Fatima was busy in ensuring that the house was properly locked. With every passing moment, the group was becoming increasingly anxious and agitated.

Finally, Fatima stepped out of the house, much to the delight of the advance party. Just when she was busy in locking the front door, someone came and stood near her. Fatima turned and looked at a pale-looking, old beggar. The old man looked extremely helpless. He was wearing dirty, torn and smelly cloths. He was obviously homeless and it seemed that he had not eaten in days. Yet, he had a smile on his face.

He asked in a soft voice, “kucch khane ko dengi? Do din se kucch khaye nahi hain(would you give something to eat. I have not eaten in two days)”. Fatima was really agitated and she angrily said, “arre abhi to hum sab cinema dekhne jaa rahe hain (we are all going to watch a movie)”

The old man did not show any disappointment on hearing this. He just shook his head in a manner to say he is sorry for disturbing them at a wrong time. He looked concerned that the group may miss some precious minutes of the movie because of him. He stepped back a little as if to give way to Fatima. Just when Fatima was crossing him, he managed a smile and said “hum yahin intezaar karte hain, aap log cinema dekh aaiye (I will wait here, you all go and watch the movie)”

Fatima kept walking but these words had hit her like a thunderbolt. Confused, she boarded the rickshaw. The two rickshaws started to crawl. Fatima looked at the old man, who was getting ready to lie down on the verandah. He was barely able to walk properly and was struggling to get down. Fatima kept looking at the old man till it was possible.

His words kept haunting Fatima. She closed her eyes and started to think that here is an old man who is hungry and is waiting on her doorsteps for her to return from the movie and give him something to eat!!! Would it not be cruel on her part to keep him waiting for another 3-4 hours? What has made the old man to wait on her doorsteps? After all, she gave him an agitated response. Yet he sensed that he will get something from this door. What if he cannot wait any longer and goes away to try somewhere else? Will she be able to ever overcome that guilt? What if the old man does not survive? She opened her eyes and decided that she must give the old man something to eat right away. She ordered the rickshaw-pullers to return to the house. The children could not believe their ears!!!

As soon as they reached the house, Fatima got down and went running to the old man. He was lying still. Worried, she bent and shook him. The old man opened his eyes and smiled. He asked “cinema khatam ho gaya (Is the movie over)”? Fatima smiled and said “haan, cinema khatam ho gaya (yes, the movie is over)".

Invisible Barriers

In the calmness of the night, he was lying on his bed and was waiting for the right time. The eight year old was nervous but knew that it was the right thing to do. He was sleeping in the room with his grandmother, younger sister and elder brother. He thought about his father, whom he loved a lot. His father, a merchant navy officer, was posted on a ship thousands of miles away. He thought about his father and how much he missed him. However, at this moment, it was his mother that the young boy wanted to be with.

His mother had quietly finished all the chores and had gone to bed in ‘her’ room. Her room was just few metres away but still was very far away from him. He knew that his mother is in bed but she will not be sleeping. She will be missing a husband, who is thousands of miles away and she will be missing her children, who are just few metres away. However, it was the latter that seemed farther away.

The two rooms were separated by an invisible fence. Physically, the fence was not there but everyone knew that it is there. Tonight, he was planning to jump that fence. He was planning to hug his mother and let her know that he understands her pain.

Late in the night, he raised his head to check if everyone was asleep. It was difficult to be sure but tonight, he was willing to take his chances. He got up and moved stealthily towards the door. On reaching the door, he turned around and looked at everyone. He had a smile on his face which said that ‘I am going to be free’. With this smile, he jumped the fence!!!

He knew that his freedom would be short lived. He knew that he will have to return back to his bed before dawn. He was scared of getting caught.

As expected, his mother was lying on her bed but was not sleeping. He expected that his mother will be surprised to see him but he was delighted that she was not. His mother knew that he understands her pain and for some reason, was expecting him!!! He went and lied next to his mother. She cuddled him and it felt like the best place in the world. Soon, both of them were fast asleep. He had not slept like this in several months.

The next morning, he woke up to the chirping of birds. He still had a content smile on his face. However, he soon realised that it was slightly past the usual waking time of the household. He jumped out of the bed and bolted towards the other room. It was less than 5 seconds away but it was still sufficient to draw out the best and worst case scenarios.

Best case scenarios seldom found a place in that house. To his horror, the three souls in the other room were wide awake. He did not care about two of them but it was the third one that he was really worried about. Like always, his worries were not baseless. There was a massive cloud of tension in that room. The room felt like it was full of mourners. He could almost see his dead body lying in the middle. He quietly went and sat on the corner of one of the beds.

He knew that he had broken the unwritten rules but he did not understand those rules. He did not understand why his mother ‘was expected’ to sleep all alone. Nevertheless, he knew that he had broken the protocol and was expecting the worst. His sister and brother were sitting quietly....or probably mourning his death in advance!!! They had an expression on their face that read “we will be quiet as we do not want to get sucked into this controversy”. His grandmother was sitting on the bed and was staring at an invisible point of reference above the almirah. Her right foot was shaking like the tail of a rattlesnake, which was never a very good sign.

After around 15 minutes of deathly silence in the room, he started to feel guilty. He started to feel that he has committed a heinous crime. Another couple of minutes passed. He thought that instead of waiting, it will be better if he tried to calm the brewing storm. Nervously, he asked if everything is all right. What he did not know was that he was accidently stepping on the detonator. His grandmother kick-started the meaningless interrogation by asking why did he slip away in the night? Without a pause for a potential answer, she followed it up with more questions. Do I stop you from sleeping in that room? Why did you have to make me feel like a tyrant? I do so much for you and this is how you treat me? This went on for hours.

The ‘question and question’ session ended after a few hours, thanks to a bio-break for the grandmother. The other attendees did not need one as they were already shitting their pants. The morning session was followed by ‘flashbacks’ session in the afternoon. The stories had a common theme. They all reflected how much the grandmother loved and cared for him. However, he was not really listening and ‘feeling’ the stories. His mind was still stuck on “why”. He was indeed feeling guilty but he did not know why.

After the sessions, he went to his mom, who was sitting in her room. He looked at her with a confused look in his eyes. She did not say anything much. With pain in her eyes, she just said “mat aana ab...wahin soya karo” (from now on, do not come here....sleep there only). He could never forget that confusion and the pain in his mother’s eyes.