Modern Columbus in Search for Spices

We were indeed surprised to see our friends! They were on a six month's tour of USA, where their bachelor son was working in a software company, but within a month they were at our door steps

What happened? Was it some emergency medical problem…..? Was it the cold climate…? We were anxious.

“Don't worry. In America your friend simply refused to move out of our son’s house......” my friend’s husband said.

Contrary to his statement my friend belonged to a distinctive genre. Like a genie she would present herself at my house for any outing request ere my cell phone lost its heat!  Both of us had travelled in the Bharath Dharshan special train covering North India. Last year it was to Kolkata to my friend's house during Durga Pooja where we visited umpteen number of Pooja pandals getting blessed copiously tasting varieties of chats on the streets of Kolkata uncaring for the tender stomach lining!  And it was when we were planning for an artistic experience to Shantiniketan that their son sent a ticket to the USA and they were off for a six month sojourn.

"It is a big story indeed...." my friend's husband started.

"Our son was extremely happy to see us after a long break.  He wanted show us the wonders of his adopted country especially his mother and as an inaugural treat told his mother “Ma, today we are going out for dinner to a renowned restaurant  and guess what ?! It is your favourite item.... fish and more fish! You are in for a surprise!" he said. In my wife’s imagination the authentic Karaikudi's and Amaravathi's type of restaurants should have been doing a Russian ballet.

"Will you please stop ......" my friend told her husband, the narrator "I will continue the story from here lest you provide a very distorted version of the whole happening."

She continued the episode, "As we entered the expensive looking restaurant I witnessed plenty of fish tanks and appreciated the great ambience this  fish  restaurant had created! We took our seats ably assisted by the attendant who handed us the menu card which said

"PICK THE FISH OF YOUR CHOICE FROM OUR TANKS"

"Mum and dad please come and choose the fish you like."

Our son lead us towards the tanks. I was under the impression that the fish in the tanks were similar to the fancy ones some homes have and this high end fish restaurant indeed deserved such a decor. But now I didn't like the idea of choosing. Innocently ordering something off the menu was one thing but being asked to exercise an executive decision over which creature should die tonight in the interest of my palate was entirely different and definitely not up my alley!

 I called my son aside and told him to pick any fish he knew well and I wanted it to be fried.  You know in our (Indian ) culinary custom the process of cooking  fish consisted of  a long one of cleaning the slices, removing the scales properly, rubbing it with salt and turmeric powder and washing it again  and then adding adequate masalas and allowing it to soak till the masala atoms  engulfed the tiniest  atoms of fish and cooked in slow fire. So I guessed from the time of catching your chosen fish with a little scooping net and taken to the kitchen for preliminary procedures and then to the frying pan would take at least an hour. But it was not to be. Before I could say 'jiffy' the server brought before me a big plate of assorted vegetables, leaves  and boiled potato on which a whole fish sat glaring at me with its big eyes like a haughty king in a royal procession! I shuddered! One sliver of that fish unto my mouth was enough to remind me of my early months of pregnancy and taking my son’s hand for guidance I ran to the rest room where my innards were somersaulting towards my mouth!

"And then it was the turn of the lamb chops experiment  which my son said could equal in taste of  her own gastronomic  specialty." The husband continued. "But in the plate was a huge chops which my wife said was beef, nothing but beef! "

"Ma in this place this sort of cheating is impossible. They would seal the restaurant  for ever if they were bluffing." my son said "You know America is a real fertile country. Look at the people here. We look like Lilliputians in their midst. So too are their animals. I can very well vouch that it is a lamb and not a cow." Nervously I poked the stuff but again it was a marathon race to the rest room.

"I didn't vomit." I declared triumphantly "But it stinks."

"Would you try some salad?"

"Only goats eat leaves."

"Some vegetables?"

"Am I a patient to eat boiled vegetables!?"

"So this vicious circle of varied American food brought on to the point of starvation except when we were lucky enough to locate an Indian restaurant....." her husband went on. Our son had taken a long leave to take his spirited mum around the country. But in mid-American plains, spending the nights in the motels, where do we locate her choice eateries? Like her daily morning prayer her first request to her son turned out to be finding an Indian place for at least one meal!

 I wondered if Columbus had such a fervent intention when he was on his search voyage to find out India as my wife! His search for India landed him in the Americas . But my wife landing herself in America was trying to find out the taste of Indian spices in this far away land!!" Her paradise turned out to be the vegetarian Saravana Bhavans and their ilk." He laughed

"You are very right "I intervened" The intention of both Columbus and my friend carries a great similarity where ever their search was. Columbus wanted to find the sea route to India for its valuable spices and so too is my friend....!!"

 "It is very true." said the husband  At the end it was bread and a bottle of hottest Indian mango pickle which came in handy. But with this diet her stomach went for a sixer and she had to rely on ice creams, biscuits and their fellow beings. But after a while she refused to take them too "My mouth feel sour and funny ." she declared.

One look at her could tell me a big story, her healthy glow was gone and her enthusiasm to see places dwindled. I called my son and told him "Don't worry about the extra expense of cancelling the ticket and buying a new return ticket. Your mother's health is important." The boy was sad but there was no other option. He was holding her hand till we reached the check in point at the airport. "My dear boy" the  thoroughly upset lady said "Even in India there are many software companies offering big salary. Why should you suffer this horrible food in this God forsaken place? Come back home."

On hearing this pleading request, his glum demeanour changed and he started laughing." Ma I am working in a company where you can talk in  Tamil and joke in Tamil.  And if an American comes into our office  our standard joke is .."Hey some foreigner is coming . Go find out what he wants!!". We have Deepavali and Pongal holidays and restricted holidays for Avani Avittam for changing the sacred thread is also thrown in as a bonus! And you know ma, every day there is some Indian food on the lunch table and we bachelors get preference over the rest and most weekends and on festival days  we get together at one of our friends' house to enjoy Indian food and goodwill!”

His mother thought for a while and this time she happily called her husband " Next time he comes home his marriage is a done thing. ”She boarded the flight, a contended woman!"

"If you come across some a good girl please inform us" the husband said.

"Of course we will look for a well-educated girl from a good family." I replied

 "But the girl has to fulfill extras criterion too..." He laughed......" You very well know your friend is a post graduate!!" he said sarcastically and handing me a bag full of Hershey they took leave feeling great and contended in our own Indian soil!!

Behind the curtains

"This was happening in the almond rich region of North India" cried the newspaper. The printed picture spoke volumes.  Three or four old   toddlers were standing on a heap of almonds spread over a big room and were going around  in a cyclical motion. We have witnessed the prevalence of abundant child labour in our  poverty stricken  populated nation.  In  everyday life we see them as servers in the road side tea stalls, as assistants in the automobile repair shops, in mechanic shops doing welding works sans any protection to their eyes, in the cycle shops filling air and doing puncture work. These are just few examples only. Apart from these known and seen phenomena  do we know about the behind the scenes child labour? That the buffing work to the stainless steel utensils which make them shine like silver displayed in big shops are done by the child labour in a dingy airless rooms? That the match stick and cracker manufacturing centres do have children working by simply changing their age  in the papers? The examples can go on endlessly.........

But the newspaper picture denoted an entirely different category of child labour. Shall we call it "The toiling toddlers?" As I threw the whitish almond nuts into my morning oats porridge  the three pairs of tiny legs portrayed in the newspaper  seemed to stare at me with vengeance!

Why not an adult do this job?  Why a baby? The simple answer was that  this  job could not be done by an adult! The soft brown skin of the almond indeed needed a  light force to get the white nut as a whole  which carries the best price in the market. An adult leg would indeed spoil the show bringing forth just broken nuts!

“Ma buy some branded perfumes for friends or fine bone china for the house  which tourist would prefer to take home." my daughter said "why should you buy these almonds abundantly available in  India? In our own Chennai  the Mint street and beyond where   have  shops doing flourishing business in nuts and dry fruits!"

I had to make a little explanation to her for my  purchase!

Given a choice I would prefer to watch the super singers in the TV channels and especially the junior ones. With their  innocent starry eyes they always add value to the singing. But my heart bleeds for the little ones when they are rejected by the judges however comforting their words were. Sometimes they pathetically stare at the judges  even after their rejection without proper understanding. Could the judges think of a small gift along with their talks?

If the sadness at their rejection was one part of the story, the parents waiting outside in great anticipation look at the child as if he was good for nothing stuff.  The pressure they put on their child  was worse than  on a ordinary  child labourer, since the mental and  the psychological strains take a toll on the efficiency and self-confidence of the child.

The Lilliputian size of the modern family and literacy level of the parents pumps in lot of time and energy into the house hold and children become the guinea pig to the  avaricious longings of the parents and thus the focal point of all unwanted attention. That my child should be an all-rounder bringing in  laurels constantly fills their mind. A scholar, a sports man, a singer of great repute  and thus a money spinner becomes the sole criteria.

"I have “thoo toosans evedhi dhey” one in the school and then one at the “aunthi” miss house” (I have two tuitions every day, one at the school and the other auntie miss' house) with a sigh  a child of three blurts out.

My child can write ABCD up to Z and from 1 to 100  is the false crown which  most of the middle and lower rung groups in the Indian society would love to wear. The pedagogical psychology, it is revealed that children should not be allowed to write till they are 7 or 8 as their fingers are not yet to be ready for that exercise.

 And if the child is able to recite the rhyme "Baa baa black sheep" they reach their crescendo!

Along with all these, their desire to get their children to  appear  in the TV  becomes a life ambition and thus adding one more feather to their cap! And what best route than the super singer programme with the lucrative monetary benefits as an add-on!

And the preludes to this programme  was not as pleasant as the end products appear to be. It is indeed the Calvary  to the child and we happened to be the unlucky witness to this whole process.

 My husband and I were on our monthly travel and stayed at the usual hotel. We love the place and  it's ambience and the walker's way just opposite  made a tempting option to stay in there.

As usual we were out of the room at 5.30. for a pleasant walk anticipating a  friendly accosting of the known faces! As we came to the portico  I was surprised that this serene place  the teeming with  people! The security guard came running and asked us to use the other gate since the usual one we use was locked. We looked around and could see a big crowd  outside the gate.  As we reached the walkers way  we understood that it was not just a crowd outside the  gate  but a big queue was extending beyond. The variety of the gathering was stunning! It consisted of father mother and child combination  or the child with a single parent and also grandfather grandmother and grandchild combo or the child with single grandparent. The whole show reminded me of the fairy tale story of " The pied Piper of Hamlin" wherein the  motley crowd of rats ran behind the piper enjoying his tune! 

Our Walkers way was also monopolised by people and food stalls and someone told us that  audition for junior super singer was to take place in the hotel around 10 in the morning. As we walked along amidst the crowd we witnessed an interview  with a grandmother who was there with  her grandson by the TV channel crew.

The request for an interview enthused the lady and she must have thought it might add value in her grandson's selection process!

"Can you wait for a minute?"  she requested them." I have brought some talcum powder for my grandson and I would use some for myself." She laughed. Talcum powder.....luckily for the grandma it was  the only makeup the previous Tamil generation  was aware of!

On that day we zig zagged through the populace instead of the salubrious trees and  peacock calls. The crew continued with their random interview which would make a proper prelude for the TV programme!

As we moved on we heard a frightened shout of a little boy who was holding his mother's salwar scarf tightly.

"Amma, amma, a wax doll is walking towards us...."

"Don't blabber.. shut up and practice the song..."

 Curiously we turned around  to witness the boy's wax doll indeed it was a crew member who did the interviewing of the people in the queue. In her heavy makeup of  mascara, rouge and bright lipstick and a  short frock and  high heeled shoe she could have easily frightened us, leave alone the poor child!

" Are you having a busy day today.....?" I accosted the staff gathered  in the reception area.

"Ma’am these people are crazy....... I have two young girls but neither my wife nor I would risk our children's life in this manner. Yesterday around midnight an old lady and her young granddaughter were knocking at our gate. They had started early in the morning from a village near Nagapattinam.  What with the crowded buses  they could reach this place now. They had come for the next day’s  audition for the super singer. Since our hotel was away from the centre of the city we wondered how they reached the place. They took an auto it seemed. We were aghast. What sort of risk they had taken at this hour? Anything could have happened to the young girl leave alone the old lady! Since we didn't have the right to open the gate  we had to wake up the resident manager and get his permission to let them in. In the reception area all the sofas were occupied by the sundry male crew members and  we found  a corner behind a sofa for them.  At that moment the old lady said that apart from the rice porridge they had in their house early in the morning they had not had any food through the day.   But we were in a dilemma as we could not go out during duty hours. We told her that there would be a food stall open in the  corner beyond the gate where she could get some food and till she came back  we would be taken care of her granddaughter .

 Ma’amm, we gave her a piece of our mind which she would never forget in her life."

"Hope she had learnt her lesson."

"I don't think so mam." another staff continued "the craze for fame and riches rules the roost! The irony is that of the thousand and odd children  being auditioned today only nine are going to be selected and added to this the rumour goes around  that the preferred lot of four or five children had already been chosen. For this  fake  audition these pitiable children should have been practicing with masters for months!  The pressure from the parents should have been sitting on their heads! And today the wakeup call should be very early for them to reach this place at four or  five in the morning!"

Sitting in the room I was musing. Can our children grow as healthy plants with just natural manure of good values and positive attitude? Why add up unwanted chemical fertilizers of  materialism greed and avarice to make them grow faster and bear just sour fruits? Do we realise that their mental and physical health is affected in the process?

p.s. I have taken away the super singer from my list of watchable!