Retiring to Become an Egomaniac

It was an  exhilarating experience getting up as he wished, sipping  his morning hot decoction coffee listening to Subrabatham of MS in Tamil and comparing notes of the superior melody of the Sanskrit version, and the dislike for Thiruvasagam by Ilyaraja set in western music style yet listening to it.. These melodies which have to be enjoyed early in the morning was on listened to later in the morning. The boss was relaxing!!

After years of being in service his retirement was what he dreamed of as a heaven of bliss.

He was lying in the bed brooding over..

At that moment the servant lady popped in to clean..

"I will put off the fan Aiya.” Making a statement she started sweeping.

"Ill-mannered brute... Should she not request my permission before she could start her work?  Could it have happened in my office? This threw open the Pandora’s box!

And the wife of mine gives her all sorts of concession. These people should be kept in their place.

How beautifully I managed my show?

His powerful connections, the reverential salaams, the compliant driver opening of the car door with his head bowed,  the attaché case reverentially carried by the peon  etc .. in short people waited for his command.

"Stop the lunch for this lady. Now that both of us retired we should make our finance go a long way.. understand?" He commanded his wife.

"mmmmm.. "  a neutral reply came from his wife. If she replied to reason out to him that getting a reliable person was a rarity   it would be no more than an angry exchange. She had to  bid  for the right time!

As days went by the boss felt that something was missing!

Like in the old clock  requiring it's wound up on every day basis to keep its springs sprite, he needed something revitalise him.

Missing the office?

Missing the colleagues?

Without a chance to exercise his authority he felt like punctured tyre!

Neither M.S. Subbulakshmi nor Ilayaraja fascinated him anymore!!

Sitting at home  he was gaining weight and hence he decided to do some house hold task.

One day Jana the friendly laundry man of the street was standing by the door.

"Amma  why are you sending Aiya (sir) to the market?"

"My dear Jana.. sir is retired now.. And he needs some exercise.. It's a good walk to the market."

"You are also retired amma.... and you too need some exercise and you can go to the market. Ask sir to go to the Besant Nagar beach instead."

But she knew that this man bored his fellow walkers with his own tales of glory that they tended to avoid his company.

"Why Jana aiya  bargains better than me.  The other day he bought a bunch of spinach for Rs.8 for which I usually pay Rs.10. You know in retired life every paisa saved is every paisa earned!"

"You are right. but at what cost amma?  He threatens the sellers with his big post and his powerful connection and says just one word from him to the right person they would be evicted from the place. These sellers who have to take care of the police on a daily basis did not want to be deprived of their livelihood too and give the vegetables  to him with a curse of course! It is not good amma.. scaring the poor! I is sad, Aiya is such a big man.”

"Thanks, Jana, I will take care of it.”

The other day one of his colleague along with his wife came home to extend the wedding invitation of his daughter.

One look at the invitation he knew that the girl did not study beyond high school.

"Has he saved enough for a big dowry for the girl? We had to toil and sweat for Neha.. oh my." 

The boss was shaking his head profusely thinking about the loads  he had spent on his daughter's wedding. He knew that this man is neither in a big post like him nor his wife is working. In addition the girl does not seem to have a college  education! And the demand from the boy's side should be heavy!

"Marriage expenses are always heavy my friend."

"That's true sir.... " his colleague said "but my daughter Diya is well employed with an American firm.

Boss could not fathom. A girl without a degree in an American firm..? May be a clerical job...

But to establish his American connection he said

"Remember the time I was deputed to America?"

"Yes sir.. definitely sir.. we all came to the airport to send you off”

"Mmmm... how well the Americans took care of me - Five star hotel. They were fascinated with my English. Those were the good old days”

Boss was gloating impressing the guests.

"You are very clever sir”

By the way what is Diya doing in the American firm..? A receptionist? she doesn't seem to have a degree...

"But sir today's children don't want  to flaunt their degrees in the wedding invitation. They think it is naff  to do so  and Diya is no exception. We struggle, beg, borrow to give them a good education and they don't give us the simple joy and pride we deserve by printing their degrees in the invitation. Generation gap indeed  sir”

"True.. true..” The boss concurred

Sir .Diya is a technical coordinator for the firm and flies to America on the monthly basis and it seems a room in Hilton is always reserved for her”

Boss’s ego was totally deflated. It is his wife who saved the day with her grace!!

The more he heard the stories of success from his friends and relatives' children  earning 6 digit salary on their first job which he could reach only before retirement, the more depressed  he became and the more was his  need to prove to the world that he was indeed a big achiever!

Standing near the gate of the veranda he would beckon all and sundry to be his audience so much so that the audience were prepared to take a long detour rather than go through  his street and listen to the repeats! 

When  odd invitations came his way for dinner he would witness youngsters coming in group  for dinner in those posh hotels in half trousers  without a hoot for any etiquette while he was meticulously suited and booted!!

"Who gives these uncouth fellows the money?"

They were loud too along with equal number of girls with big laughter!

One day as he was walking back from the temple along with his wife enjoying the ozone filled atmosphere provided by the  plentiful  neem trees a man accosted him with a salute said

 "Good morning sir, I am Raja Durai from the airport. Do you remember me sir? We used to admire you in your majestic coat and suit and my goodness you were so handsome sir. We used to watch you from a distance and you remember once I had the audacity to come close to you  sir to wish you good morning and  I was indeed in luck sir ... In spite of your heavy schedule you smiled and shook my hand..!  It is indeed a blessing and my fortune to meet you today sir..!  The man bowed his head and the man was exhilarated  with this recollection from his admirer. The boost from this unknown quarters perked him up and with a flourish he took out a 500 hundred rupee note and blessed his fan.  The man saluted him and in a  in a hurry jumped into one of the moving buses.

"Robber sir, real robber this chap. today he is in this locality and tomorrow he would be in the Marina beach with a knack to locate the right persons. and it is your turn today to make his day. He tried this with me once but as luck would have it I just had 10 rupee with me. Otherwise I would be right royally onto the trap like you " A  passer-by witnessing this show made a comment as he walked on that the boss was an irredeemable egomaniac.

The paucity of recognition for which he was aching made him a depressed man and it was his wife who smoothed things out  He started tumbling down the steep and irreversible slope which made him mentally and hence physically week!

Wheelchair  became part of his gear. He became an introvert lamenting his fate within.

"There is some problem regarding your account and the  bank manager requested you to come in person once." His wife who returned from the bank told him.

There was a big crowd in the bank.. He was diabetic  and had to have his food often. The delay indeed irritated him. The application form was properly filled signed and handed over long back . He was at the end of his tether.

"There seems to be some confusion." his wife who had gone in to find out the cause for the delay told him. "Now an officer is coming here to meet you."

"At last someone worth his salt is coming to meet me." boss thought.

"Good morning sir, nice meeting you sir. but sir. your signature seemed to have changed a bit sir."

Boss couldn't understand what he was telling. He was an expert  signatory and thousands and thousands of files  bore his powerful signature during his tenure!

"Come back again" he told him

"Sir your signature does not match the previous ones .. Would sir mind putting his thumb impression instead?"

That was indeed the last straw, it blew his lid!

Do you know who I am ? I am an old MA. mind you. old MA.  when most of the country was illiterate  and old SSLC was what most of the people paraded with pride! Do you want me to put my thumb impression? How dare you? I can sue you and take you to the court for your criminal assault on a person like me”

The realisation that there is no absolute power bestowed on anybody and the authority  one enjoys emanates from the positive vibrations and the motivation and the empowerment  accorded to the team  which in turn makes a good leader

Life is indeed  a positive experience.

To make it or break it is always within us, 

Bagging A Sustainable Future

"Amma if only all my customers fall in line with you I would save an amount of Rs.500 on a daily basis from two of my fruit shops in this market." said the fruit seller after his earlier unbelievable expression on seeing my cloth bags for the fruits!

But he continued "Amma do you believe that but for these plastic bags trading in general would take a big hit? People love plastic bags? It's not just fruits, flowers vegetables groceries why even medicines thrive on plastic.."

It is true. Crunchies kept in plastic bags retain their crispiness! Groceries remain fresh inside the bags! But the damages it causes to mother earth, seas and the oceans and the creatures there in  cause are innumerable!

Better be alone than in bad company!

People look down upon me  in the grocery shop as a strange creature when I bring out my cloth bags for various items.

 "Why carry bags when the shop keeper willingly provides you as many bags as you like?" enquired a lady.  As we started talking about plastics she was dumbstruck  and  revealed that  she was the headmistress of a suburban school and  fervently requested me to come over to her school to talk about the consequences of plastic usage. But her request remained just that. With  her heavy work load, her priorities might have changed! Hoping against hope I wished  that she had addressed her students in this regard and made at least her school a plastic free zone!!

 For the same reason I avoid supermarkets as much as possible. Packs and packs of varied items which could be easily be sold loosely fill the shelves! But still certain items have to be bought there and I too become a sinner in this regard.

I went to a very grand wedding reception.  The mouthwatering  mutton biryani was a great hit. Chicken gravy was delicious. Apart from the two ghee laden sweets  the high  quality ice cream was on the dessert menu. In short it was a sumptuous feast! The vegetarian feast was an equally grand one!

In India, especially in the south,  serving  a meal  to a guest in a  pristine green banana leaf is the traditional and respectful way and it is more so for a feast on this grand scale.

In the above reception  the leaf was green but it was not a banana leaf! It was just a pretense, a waxy banana leaf manufactured with a combination of plastic and God knows what other material!  The chicken gravy was served in shimmering white thermocol (Polystyrene) bowl while cut fruits with ice cream were served in bigger bowls of the same genre  and the ghee laden sweets in little plastic cups!! To crown it all there was a plastic bottle of water!

These bogus leaves and the thermocol and plastic cups are cheap. Accepted. But in comparison with the lakhs of Rupees spent on biryani and its cohorts, the banana leaves and the beautiful  paan  tree barks bowls and cups would have cost  just a minuscule of the whole expense!!

 Is it the penny wise and pound foolish  economy? Or is it the ignorance about  spoiling mother earth? Or is it the attitude that the food has to be good but never mind  about the receptacle?

The level of indigestion mother earth is going through is enormous! While our digestive system takes six to eight hours  to assimilate the food  the plastics we throw at this GRAND LADY takes 400 HUNDRED  PLUS years to become part of her system!

When we took leave after the reception I kept  my mouth shut  in this regard lest I spoil the happy occasion.

But  when they came home to extend another invitation in that large family I had a  cordial discussion with them which was taken in the right spirit and as an add on  they said that they would definitely spread this important message among their big circle!

For the wedding reception our friends went a  step further  and astonished us by gifting away saplings to the guests. With plenty of choice the guests were invited to choose as many saplings as they liked! What a satisfying celebration!

I cringe whenever guests come home with fruit laden plastic bags but never open my mouth lest it hurts their affectionate gesture! I collect them, store them use them reuse them and re reuse them but never ever throw them. My helpers are also trained to follow my dictum.

MY WASTE BIN IS NEVER COVERED WITH BLACK PLASTIC BAG. All my food waste become part of my little  garden. And only the dry ones go to the bin.

Last year we hired a service apartment for a family get together for three relaxing days of rest and recuperation and  blabbering around sweet nothings  goaded with plenty of selfies!! We consciously avoided gathering in one house lest it would  involve loads of cooking for the lady  of the house. The service apartment came with complimentary  breakfast  and we planned to get lunch and dinner from outside.

Early next day morning there was a call from the reception if they could bring in  our breakfast. Salivating we  asked them to bring it all. And there arrived a dozen plus of  pristine  white trays with the same pristine white covers filled with south Indian goodies!! I was aghast!

THREE DAYS OF THESE THERMOCOL TRAYS WOULD BE CAPABLE OF CREATING A BIG MOUND OF  MASS DESTRUCTION!

And imagine the end result in case all the apartments were occupied!!!

My nephew, an IT wizard, vouched by the tastiest lunch he daily had in the road side stall in front of his office and said that this would be his treat to the gang. True to his words it was steaming hot  appetising  food but there was a glitch! This luncheon feast was much more abominable than the morning breakfast since we had to face loads of individually packed polythene carry bags starting from rice sambar rasam curd and assorted vegetables and crunchies! And the thought that we are going to fling all these bags into the reluctant mouth of the terrorised  GRAND LADY was horrifying.  One cannot imagine the number of road side stalls in the city and the number of packing they do on a daily basis!

We sat and thought over this phenomena which proved to be an annoyance to the otherwise happy gathering!  We found a solution wherein, my niece who was hosting the show decided to tell her dad to look for a caterer who could bring the food in vessels and give a  happy ending to our horror story!

We can witness this  routine affair in any vegetable market when around eleven' o clock in the morning the shop keepers start packing their various vegetables into small polythene bags and  send them to vantage points in the city where commuters going back home weary and tired find an easy solution to their cooking needs. The bus stands and the train stations  are crammed with these bags vegetables or fruits and are cheap at Rs.10. Thus on a daily basis thousands of disposable bags are thrown into the dust bins and gutters.

For years when we celebrated our annual day in our  organisation where our meticulous planning made sure that the yearly gift to the staff was given in a jute bag and the dinner was served in stainless steel  and melamine plates covered with round cut banana leaves  and water in paper cups! (Even though we know that we were responsible for felling off trees we had to choose the lesser of the two evils). And the minimum number of guests for these gatherings of parents and other family members were around 750.

I was indeed happy when the Tamil Nadu government announced the ban of every day plastic from 2019 on! But the proud announcement is just one part! Sub clauses of concessions  allowances and grants should not submerge the boat!

Your own experience and your effort to safe guard mother earth however small it might be is welcome as a precious add on to this blog! Reducing the usage of disposable plastic  starting from our own house will have great effect on sustainable ecosystem .

My cloth carry bag accompanies me wherever  I go.