They should not have shown them doing it before marriage

My wife and kids got down from the car and went to the counter to get the tickets. We had booked online tickets for the movie “2 States” in the multiplex closer to our house. I drove the car to the parking lot and after parking it started walking to the counter. My wife was ready with the tickets in her hand.My kids were standing next to her.

I looked at them and found that my son was not pleased with the turn of events. I could understand. He wanted to go a English 3D kids movie but  was vetoed out by a 3:1 ratio as me, my wife and my daughter wanted to go to “2 States”. I went to him and told “Look we have been going to movies of your choice many times. This time it is of our choice. You know this movie is based on the book of my favorite writer Chetan Bhagat. I promise you to get  coke and pop corn in the theater”. He smiled as his strategy had worked. He started jumping and we made it to the cinema hall.  I looked at my daughter and said “Chetan is from IIT and IIM. You should take him as a role model”.

“Do you need to study at the IIT to write a book?” She replied. I had no answer but did not hide my admiration for this guy.

The movie started and all of us became engrossed in it as it was interesting.  

The canteen scene started in the movie. The leading lady walked into the  hostel canteen.

There were three aunties sitting in front of us. One of them started “Chitra you see the heroin. She is so beautiful. South Indian girl in a Hindi movie”.

The aunty next to her said “Lalitha she is Alia Bhat and she is not a south Indian”.

“I know” Lalitha added “The character she is portraying is that of a Tamil girl”.

After few minutes the film became more romantic and the focus shifted to the hostel room of the heroin and the pair started kissing one another and other intimate moments followed.

I immediately covered the eyes of my son with my palm. I released my hand from his eyes only after the scene was over. I hoped no such scene would come again in the movie.

Soon it was interval and I walked out of the hall with my son. He dragged me straight to the counter where pop corn was being sold. I stood in the queue. In front of me the aunties were standing and I could recognise them by their names as they were so loud while talking in the movie hall.

“The movie is good and I hope it will remain interesting till the end” Lalitha told.

Chitra replied “Agreed the movie is good. I have only one complaint.

 They should not have shown them doing it before marriage”.

Chitra look back at me. I was puzzled and startled by the statement made by her. I immediately responded “I do not know. I did not do it before marriage”.

Chitra blushed and started telling Lalitha in Tamil and was laughing. I could understand that she told her friend that I was naughty.

I cared a little and bought pop corn when my turn came and went back to the cinema hall with my son.

My prayers were answered and the rest of the movie was fine and humorous. Once the movie was over we walked to the cellar where the car was parked.

 On the way back home I shared with my wife the remarks made by the aunties about the movie . I told her “Look in India movies play a very important role in our lives. People associate themselves with the characters in the movies. They expect the hero and the heroin to be perfect and cannot digest any wrong done by them. The ladies at the cinema hall were happy about the movie but could not digest the pre marital relation and the intimate moments the lead pair had”.

I continued “Have you observed  Hindi and south Indian movies? In many cases the hero is confronted by about dozen well built thugs who get royally beaten by him. I do not understand why these thugs come one by one to be beaten by the hero. Why can’t they talk amongst themselves and charge together on him?

Let us talk of  south Indian movies. I asked one of my close friends why our heroes were dark. He told me that they should look one amongst us and so they were dark in complexion. In such a case what about the heroines? Why are they from north India? Why do we expect our heroines to be fair and fairer?

I remember as a kid I went to watch movie of a famous Telugu hero in a twin theater. I found that there was a crowd gathered outside the theater and they were protesting. They were protesting because their hero’s movie was being screened in the ground floor screen and the rival hero's movie was being shown in the first floor screen. Their argument was that their hero’s movie was being screened below the movie of the rival hero.”

We came closer to our house. I then parked the car in the portico and we entered the house. After dinner we went to sleep.

Few months passed and the movie “2 states” was being shown in TV channels. The entire family of ours was sitting in the drawing room watching it.

The inevitable happened. The kissing scene in the hostel room of the heroin was next. I took the remote in my hand. My son ran into the bedroom. I got up and going into the bedroom asked him why he did so.

He replied “Dad anyway you are going to either close my eyes or change the channel. I felt it was better for me to run into the bedroom and come back to watch the movie once the scene got over”.

Obsolete? A Rendezvous

                        

I looked at the navigator and it was pointing to the first right turn after about 500 meters on the freeway. We had started from Pemberton early in the morning and were on the Vasse highway. I took the turn and slowed the car as we had entered the muddy track leading to the next spot of tourist interest. Since the speed had come down from 110 kph to about 20 kph, I opened the window glasses. The green trees, fresh air and a typical wet fragrance of the Karri forest made the drive memorable. We were driving in Warren national park located in South Western Australia. We were in company of my good friend Arun and his family from Perth.

After driving for about 3 kilometers we could see a board on which was written “Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree”. We took a turn and slowly made it to the parking bay. We walked towards the Bicentennial tree which looked huge and magnificent.  The tree had a resting tower at 75 meters height with a first rest platform at about 25 meters height. The climb to the tower was made of about 165 climbing pegs.

The kids started climbing the tree fast. I took three steps on the climbing pegs. My wife asked me “Hey do you want to do the full climbing? “. “Of course” I replied. “I read that recently one person went up to the top and had a mild heart attack and it was very difficult to get him down. Later he was treated and heard that he has recovered now” she added. I immediately climbed down and jumped off the tree. “What happened?” she asked. “On second thought I think this is for kids, not for me” I said. She laughed “I think you got scared”.

I did not pay heed to her words and went to the nearby wooden bench and sat on it. To my right three elderly persons were sitting. I looked at them, smiled and greeted them. The person next to me returned the gesture. 

I looked around the place and could find about 100 tourists. It was interesting to see about 35 to 40 elderly persons in the crowd. I asked the person next to me “you all are from the same group?” “Yep” he answered and pointed out to the two buses parked. “We have come in the two buses. We are senior citizens and we have come from places around the Margaret River”. I nodded and started walking to the wash room. I came out of the wash and walked to the hand wash basin to wash my hands. The wash basin was fixed to a tree and there were some elders near it.

I smiled at them and said Hello. They greeted me and asked if I was a tourist. I nodded gesturing that they were right.

“You are an Indian?” One elderly person asked me. He was from the same group. “Yes I am an Indian and we have come from India. “ I said.

I was shocked when the elderly lady standing next to him asked me “Are you the chief of your tribe in India?”  Coming back to senses I said “I am neither a chief nor I belong to any tribe. I am an engineer and an ordinary middle class citizen”. She then replied a bit apologetically “Do not think otherwise. I have spent my entire life in a small place near the Margaret River and I seldom come across Indians. I have heard some stories about India and since it looks like you have come all the way to our nation with family on a vacation, I thought you must be rich and famous”. I told her “Things are very different in India now. We are a much better off nation, our affordability is much higher and many of us can speak and write very good English.”

“Hey I am Tom and I am a retired scientist and Physics has been my subject, first love and passion” the man standing next to her told me. I shook hands with him and saw my daughter coming towards us. She told “Daddy shall I wash my hands? It has become dirty since I was holding the climbing pegs to climb the tree”. “Sure, clean your hands” I replied.

 “Hey young lady how are you doing?” Tom said with a smile. She replied “Am doing fine”.

 “You should be about 10 years of age. Listen, I have some good science information for you. Have you observed the swirl of the water while it goes into the drain of the wash basin” Tom quizzed. We observed the swirl with lot of curiosity.

Tom added “The water while going into the drain swirls in a direction opposite to what it would have taken in India. You know the reason? You are now in southern Hemisphere. Your nation is to the north of Equator.”

Tom then introduced his friend Adam to us. Adam also a senior citizen owned a vineyard in the Margaret river basin. We started talking. I asked Adam about how he was finding life at his age.

He replied “I am obsolete now”.  

I was taken aback. I told Adam that I found their entire group to be filled with enthusiasm but what made his say so. I asked him if his children made him feel so. To this he replied that he was happy with them and they visited him almost every weekend. I then asked him if the state made him feel so to which his answer was in negative. He then added that new techniques of grape growing were introduced and he was unable to cope up with them. “Couple of decades ago we had pagers as important means of communication but now they are obsolete. My case is also similar and I have become obsolete” he said.

I then started explaining to him how he and his elderly friends were important for the society.  I told him how Tom had captured  my daughter's attention. We both looked at them. They were deeply engrossed in discussion. I added “Adam, my daughter generally does not speak to strangers. Today she is talking to Tom and enjoying his lecture on physics.” You guys can never be obsolete. Elders are like pillars of a society. Be it Australian or Indian. You guys have experience with you which is very important for society building. Why do you compare yourself to a pager? Pager is an electronic item and it depreciates very fast. You should compare yourself to wine. Like wine you become more valuable as you age.”

“You know Adam, what we do in India when we meet elders?” I said.

 Adam looked at me with curiosity and asked “tell me”.

I bowed and said “We seek their blessings”. He looked at me and said “You are a good human.”

The kids had started climbing the tree again. Adam said “Go and live your life to the full. Join your family and climb the tree to the top tower. Do it before you start feeling you are Obsolete”.

MY DAD DRINKS AND DRIVES

“Your son is good in academics and he is a very obedient boy.” the class teacher   told us. It was the half yearly parents & teachers meet and as parents we felt very proud of our son. The teacher added “We have the new CBSE directives where in co-scholastic skills are to be improved in the kids. We have continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) for high school students. We have started implementing CCE for your daughter as she is in the 9^th standard. For 3rd standard CCE is not necessary but we have some activities of similar type lined up for your son and kids of his age. We are allotting two periods in every week’s schedule for these activities “.

Though very little went into my mind I smiled and replied “Very nice madam, we know that our kid is in safe and good hands”. “Madam I have a doubt in the project work to be completed by this weekend” my wife said and she started discussing with the class teacher. They both became engrossed in the discussions.

My son looked out of the classroom and told his teacher “Miss, Can I go out and play?”  . The teacher replied “Oh yes”. He ran out of the class and joined his best friend Rahul to play in the ground. This was the best opportunity for me to go out. I got up and gestured to the teacher that I too wanted to go out. Coming out I stood below the tree next to the classroom and started watching them play.  After about five minutes they stopped playing and started talking.

I heard Rahul telling “My father drives the car very fast. I love sitting next to him when he drives. We go for long drives many times and visit tourist spots during weekends. I love my daddy”. My son replied “My Dad drinks and drives”. I was shocked to hear his words.

After about 10 minutes my daughter and wife came out of the classroom and started going towards the car. I called me son and asked him to step into the car. We then drove back to our house with me still in a perplexed state of mind.

It was afternoon and the time was about 2 PM. “Lunch is served” my wife said. I went to the dining table. My son and my daughter were already sitting on the chairs. I pulled the chair next to them, sat on it and started eating.

 After about 5 minutes I looked at him and asked to tell me when I had driven after getting drunk. He  replied with all his innocence that I had done it three times. The answer shocked all of us. Before we could say anything he explained “Dad I have seen a hoarding on the road. It is written - do not drink and drive. At signals when you stopped the car, you did drink water from the bottle kept next to you. You have not followed the rule. Instead you have broken it. This has happened not once but three times. Therefore I told my friend that you drink and drive. ”

I looked at my wife. We did not have any answer. I smiled at him and realised that he was right in his place as he interpreted the social message in the best way he could. After lunch I got up and sat on the sofa in the drawing room watching cricket match in TV. My son came running to me and said “Dad hope you remember that we have to go to Rahul’s house today in the evening “. I nodded gesturing that I remembered the same. I closed my eyes and started thinking.

We grow up and develop some cache wherein we identify and understand language automatically. We do not look for the exact grammatical meaning of words. Language upgrades from being a communicating tool to a much higher level and we start getting other meanings out of it. For us drinking and driving obviously means consuming alcohol and driving. We associate the word drinking with alcohol consumption.

For a kid it is pure grammar to the extent he has been taught. Drinking water while driving amounts to drunken driving for him. Also, the new age kid is growing in a world wherein he gets information more than what he can comprehend. The parents should keep a constant watch on the kid and discuss often to know what the kid is thinking.

“Dad, get up and get ready. We need to go to Rahul’s house” my son jolted me out of my semi-sleep.

It was an occasion which none of our family members wanted to miss.

After about 25 minutes of driving we arrived at his house. Rahul came out, held my son’s hand and both of them ran into the house. I could see about a dozen kids in the hall. All the boys then started playing with one another. I greeted Rahul’s mother with a warm smile and wished the other ladies who were sitting in the hall. It was a festive environment and Ranjeet (Rahul’s father) had taken care and the  arrangements were excellent. I sat on one of the empty chairs in the hall.

“Hello sir, this is not the place for you” Ranjeet remarked and pulled me out of the chair. He winked and I could guess that he had made arrangements for a cocktail party in the first floor. I followed him to the first floor. We entering the room in the first floor and were greeted by many familiar faces. Friends and some relatives of Ranjeet were already comfortably sitting on their chairs. One common thing was that all the people present in the hall were males. Most of them were having glasses of scotch in their hands. There were about dozen of them.

Ranjeet patted on my back and went straight to the corner where he had set up the bar. He took one glass having about 60 ml of scotch and added soda and water to it. He called me and offered the glass of scotch.

I looked at him and smiled. I gestured that I was not interested. He smiled back and tried to handover the glass to me. I said “I do not want to drink. I have to drive back home.”

“What?” Ranjeet replied. He looked amused. He started laughing and said “Come on man I cannot take this from you. I know that you do not mind drinking and driving”. I was not amused. I looked at him and told him that I meant what I was saying. He came closer to me and whispered in my ear “I know that you drink and drive and you have done it thrice”.

 I peeped down and saw the kids playing. I saw my son playing and laughing with his friends. He looked very cute but his innocent remarks had created problems for me. He told Rahul about drinking and driving in the morning and Rahul would have informed his father about this.

I turned back and found Ranjeet waiting for my verdict. His eyes were filled with expectations that I would take the glass of scotch from him. I was not willing to disappoint him either.

“Well Ranjeet, I cannot refuse if you insist.” I said and took a glass of water and drank it. I laughed and added “This would be my fourth case of drinking and driving”.