Nishant's Blog.....

MAVERICK, The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace By RICARDO SEMLER

2008-07-10T14:40:00.003+05:30

Author: Ricardo Semler

Reviewed By: Nishant Kumar

About the Author: Mr. Ricardo Semler is the CEO of SEMCO SA, the company originally a shipbuilding supplier, now produces more than 2,000 products including dishwashers and digital scanners, as well as diversifying into banking and environmental services and managing non-core business of multinationals such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Apart of a successful business man, Mr. Ricardo Semler also writes books. His first book became the bestselling non-fiction book in the history of Brazil. He has since written two books in English on the transformation of SEMCO and workplace re-engineering: Maverick, an English version of "Turning Your Own Table" published in 1993 and an international bestseller, and The Seven Day Weekend in 2003.

Review: Maverick is book written by Mr. Ricardo Semler on SEMCO, the company founded by his father Mr. Antonio Curt Semler. It is one of the most read an inspiring management book. It is a story of how Mr. Ricardo Semler led his company business from an autocratic industry structure to a democratic industry structure. This book describes how he changed the company’s hierarchical structure to a three level structure. SEMCO is a Brazilian manufacturing company, formed in 1952. After 10 year of its start up, the company has grown to 110 people and had annual revenue of $2 million per year. With the start of ship building industry in Brazil, SEMCO became a major supplier of marine pumps. Ricardo took control of SEMCO at an age of 20 and by that time ship building industry had stabilised with a lesser demand of products of SEMCO. Since the dependence of SEMCO on ship building industry was too much, the company was exposed to a lot of problems like lack of market for its product. The other issues which young Ricardo faced were that he was in disagreement with the way of thinking of the company senior management. As a result of which he fired most of the senior management and went on hiring a completely new team which has similar thinking like his. He started acquiring companies and progressed for a few years. His work style was in synch with other CEOs which generally put the management in central position from where they can watch out activities going in the company. But, with time Ricardo realized that the company was not doing well and the employees of the company hardly cared with the company’s success or failure. This thought process going inside the company’s employee worried him and as a result he got stressed. He was advised to do some changes in the company which was a source of his stress. Semler decided that he will bring a change in the company where the employees will work hard, will be innovative and also will work freely without getting stressed. The employees in the changed company will work hard, set their own goal and standards. They will be not be watched upon by their boss which is a source of stress among the employees. Every employee will bill themselves as per their own calculated value and they will have the complete freedom to hire and fire their managers.

The book describes SEMCO Company and its progress through the company owner himself. Thus the reader gets to know about the actual happening of a company and the changes taking place through a man who himself brought upon this changes. Throughout the book Semler describes the way the company SEMCO evolved from a conventional business model to a niche model which brought SEMCO again to success and limelight. He changed the company from a management run company to a worker run company. He introduced the concepts of industrial democracy and corporate reengineering. Due to his radical ideas he was able to turn around the fortunes of the company and make it an ideal of organisation structure for other companies. On making his changes functional in SEMCO, SEMCO grew six times of the one he took control on. The employee productivity is over seven hundred percent. There is long list of people across world who wants to join SEMCO. Executives from world’s best company like Nestle, FORD and GM visit SEMCO to get inspiration and learning on how to run the company is similar line. This book is great source for budding entrepreneurs also who wants to run a successful company and think about the workers welfare at the same time. What Semler did was to install a culture in SEMCO where worker feel a sense of pride in living life, to lead their life and also the company. In a car accident, when Semler was out of office for few months the company did as good as when it was running with him. This was the magic created by the owner of the company.

Key Ideas Highlighted by Ricardo Semler through Maverick

A. Company Philosophy

· Business Focus: SEMCO focused on four principles of business, Manufacturing, Selling, Billing and Collecting.

· Use of Good Common Sense: They didn’t applied any rules like dress code, travel restrictions etc.

· Transparency: They made public every strategy, salaries etc. Also employees were encouraged to ask everything going on in company.

B. Company Management

· Corporate Hierarchy: They have slashed the layers of management from a big number to a small number of three. They consider management layers as deadlock creating situation wherever it becomes tough going on top. Main layers in new management are: Counsellors, Partners, Associates, and Co-ordinators.

· Reduction of support staff: They have reduced support staff by 75%, somewhere eliminating complete departments. They encourage that each employee should take part in all operations of department.

· Reverse feedback and evaluation: Employees are encouraged to evaluate managers through questionnaires. They are evaluated on technical ability, competence and leadership aspects. On employment of new managers, employees take interview of candidates and decide whom they want to follow.

· Optimum business unit size: At SEMCO it is believed that larger centralised organisations breed bureaucracy and alienation. Hence no business unit exceeds size of 150.

· Open Management style: Company believes in open management style and reducing barriers between employees. They propagate no walls in offices and people are separated only by plants. Employees should be open to each other on their thought process.

The prime focus in running SEMCO is as follows:

A. Business Focus: At SEMCO, everything focuses on the four business activities that make the company money:

· Manufacturing

· Selling

· Billing

· Collecting

Anything that isn’t directly associated with these four activities is deemed a distraction and is eliminated if at all possible.

B. The Use of Good Common Sense: The abiding corporate principle at SEMCO is that employees and management are expected to use their common sense. Therefore, there are no dress codes, no regulations on travel, no internal departments to check if employees are obeying the rules, etc.

C. Transparency: SEMCO makes public all corporate information -- from salaries to strategies to productivity statistics and profit margins. Employees are taught how to read financial statements. Employees are free to question managers on any aspect of the business at any time. Employees can talk to the media whenever and wherever they like.

Many companies allow office workers to decide what hours they work. Relatively few extend this same courtesy to factory workers. However, in SEMCO every factory worker still works 8-hours per day, but can arrive at any time between 7 and 9 am, and leave accordingly. At SEMCO, strikes, while not encouraged, are considered to be part of the democratic process at work. During strikes, no one is punished or fired for striking and no records are kept of who went on strike and who did not. The police are never called to break up a picket line. Benefits continue to be paid, as if the worker was absent and the rights of those who choose to work are respected. Employees are encouraged to move on to another job within SEMCO every two to five years. It stops them becoming trapped in a job and encourages the development of new skills. SEMCO employees are encouraged to take a 2-month sabbatical every couple of years to learn new skills, redesign their job or to rest. They are told to imagine they have hepatitis and have to take 2 months off to recover.

The company decided that its profits would be allocated:

-- 40-percent for taxes

-- 25-percent for dividends to shareholders

-- 12-percent for reinvestment

-- 23-percent for profit sharing with the employees

Each business unit then decides how to allocate the profit share amongst its employees, which in practice always ends up being an even split, which makes profit sharing more valuable to those on lower salaries than on higher salaries.

C. Democracy in the workplace:

The Company follows a policy where there is democracy at all levels of the hierarchy. Each and every employee is free to express their opinions without any fear of expulsion. The factory committees in the Company look after the labour and the union relations. There is a system in the Company which gives preference to those employees who work in their Company and deliver 70% of their goods to promote to the next level rather than someone from the outside. There are manufacturing cells in the Company which allows access its end products to all its employees irrespective of their domain. The Company also follows a satellite program which allows its employees to become owners in their own domain. This provides an insight into the owner’s perspective. The Company also allows the employees to work at home which makes them productive.

D. Concepts and ideas:

The Company follows certain concepts which are:

· It allows the employees to clean out all the unnecessary documents with them as that will result in more concentration and less distraction.

· The Company is a strict no to corruption in any form of it.

· It uses a head line memo in its meetings which results in less wastage of paperwork and direct point discussions.

· The Company does not include any restrictions for those who joined it for the first time and allows them to practise in all the 12 departments.

· The Company hires certain group of people who are solely meant for the purpose of innovation. If the Company makes profits, they are given special incentives.

The main idea of the SEMCO Company can be captured from the following lines:

Each Company should trust employees as its destiny.
Employees should be treated as adults rather than children pestering them with rules.
Each Company should provide flexibility to its employees. They should abide by their common sense rather than rule books.
Employees are more productive when they work in an environment suitable to them.
The motto of a Company that wants to be successful should be sharing information rather than making money.

This book will be an inspiring factor for those who believe in the fact that potential of a person can be increased if he is put in a relaxed condition. This book is a must for all who wants them to be successful as well as democratic in ideas. No wonder this is one of the most sought after and read books among the students who have aspired to be great business leaders of tomorrow.

A Marriage I witnessed.

2008-06-07T23:55:00.001+05:30

Yesterday I had an opportunity to attend a marriage ceremony. It was my father’s friend’s daughter marriage. I was eagerly waiting to attend it as it was long back when I attended someone’s marriage.

At 6:00 in the evening I started to dress myself when my mother stopped my progress and told me to wait as my dad was still in office. Dad came home at around seven and declared that we will be going to the ceremony by 9 as the Groom’s sides are going to come by that time only. Finally we started from home by 9:30 and reached the venue by 9:45 PM. The Groom’s side (BARAT) was still unavailable. Someone said that they will be coming any moment. The girl’s sides were competing equally with them as I saw some workers still decorating the stage. Wow, so much for the last ten days preparation.

Dad asked us to proceed for the dinner. It was usual procedure as the whole eating out and marriage stuff goes parallel. The dinner was buffet system and there were n number of counters starting from waste Golgappas to garam jalebis. Well I left the starters as it was the time to enter the main course with full force. Damn! It was a veggy party. But the food tastes good and I had a nice thirty minutes of selecting, eating and repeating this procedure few times. In Desert though , there was some kind of mismanagement. There was only one Ice Cream and one rosogulla counter and Demand was exceeding supply with a big margin. I fought for my Ice Cream and finally managed to get a semi solid cold stuff.

By that time I heard few shots being fired somewhere near and that means our groom is in close range of his altar. Altar I checked which means a place where sacrifices are made. How true. The groom was a short guy having a small pot belly which he was trying to hide. Though he was going to be free for just few minutes of his life, he stayed calm throughout the proceedings. Some Pandits performed pooja and finally the bride also came. GOD! She is looking so beautiful and loaded. By loaded I meant the tons of gold she was wearing. Anyway everything happened smoothly and by some divine power of pundits, both of them became husband and wife.

But as far as I am concerned, this marriage did make me feel that one day, which is not going to be an era, I am going to be on altar too, sacrificed.

Falling American Dream

2008-04-26T01:27:00.002+05:30

Year 2007-08 has witnessed a major fall in the value of dollar. Comparing to Indian rupee, it stood at Rs 50 once and now it is swinging around Rs 38. This pattern of dollar depreciation is hurting most the Indian workers in U.S. getting paid in Dollars, along with that it is also applying a brake on American Economy. I will not be going in details of how this will affect the worlds market in general or its impact on Indian Economy. What I am going to put down will be the real facts about American Population living in the so called most powerful economy of the world.

The distorted picture we get of Americans living in mansion and commuting in chauffer driven limos is not what actually happening in States. The United States has a population of 300 million. Thirty Seven Million are living in poverty. A figure of around Sixty million are floating around the Government rated poverty line. Now this means that one third of the United States population lives under or near poverty line. Isn’t this disgraceful?

Now what is exactly an American dream? From my point of view, an average middle class United States citizen dream is to get a decent job which pays enough so that he can live a comfortable life. Their entire dream is to live a comfortable life and not a luxurious one, contrary to the image the rest of the world is having about an American counterpart.

Adding to the problem is the lifestyle they follow. While an Indian boy thinks and start planning about investing in market, real estate and saving for future as well the very first day at work, Americans saves nothing. They live in the present, they spend in the present. Their credit card balances dwindles at a threatening level. All this because of careless fiscal policies by U.S. government. If a small NGO in India can create a job opportunity of ten thousand a year, I don’t believe that U.S. Government is making a earnest approach in solving the grave problem of unemployment.

Instead of taking steps to erase its internal issues of economy and joblessness, what the White House is worried about is IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN. During the last year of rule in India, the budget always gives something pleasant to Indian mass to appease them. Similarly the U.S. Government somehow finds way to destroy a nation or at least crumble its infrastructure and people to appease its people. For how long can they sustain themselves by selling weapons? They must take lessons from the AFGHANISTAN episode where they had to fight their own weapons. WAR leaves living dead and economy cripple to whoever involving in it. A very simple message to US Govt to see into such issues. Don’t wait before it becomes irreversible.

All I wanted to Speak about CAT

2008-04-09T16:04:00.002+05:30

I have read all the success story in PG forum and dreamt of writing one there. Now when my quest has come to a halt with a mixed bag of feelings, I know I can put in some words which could guide future MBA aspirants. They can avoid making mistake which I made and paid at the same time.

History:After doing my B.Tech in 2005, I was pretty happy with the software job, though my parents used to poke me for an interest towards MBA. I had none that time. But finally I succumbed to the pressure from my parents and sat for CAT 2006. I appeared in no other exam and filled no other CAT score related institute. I went to the exam center and was ammused totally by the pressurised face guys at the center were making. “What the heck?” I knew CAT is the toughest exam in the world, not only because of the test quality but also because of the number of aspirants appearing in it. I really felt sorry for the guys present there. I gave the exam came out, relaxed, having no idea of how the test went.

Change in me:Finally the result came and to my utter surprise I got 94.2%ile, which by no means I thought I will get. Though it was not enough to get call from any of the IIMs but it punched me right where it hurts the most. I learnt a few very important lesson.

Had I prepared for CAT I could have scored better?
Had I applied in some of the colleges like TAPMI, I could have got the call.
Why didn’t I applied for SNAP, NMAT, XLRI etc?

Then and there with my CAT scorecard in hand, I decided that I will go for the kill next year.

2007 Preparation:I knew from my 2006 result that my weakest link is English section as I scored some 76%ile there. Also to refine my techniques I joined T.I.M.E.. I attended the weekend classes religiously. Grasped the methods and shortcuts taught there. But due to pressure form office, the volume of my practice at home was very low. But I thought I will manage with the classes and AIMCATs. I was so wrong.

A slight insight paper wise:Quant: Strongest of the three: I believe I am fast and good in quant. There are some portion where I can always score and more often than not, I always got percentiles in Quant in higher side. So this was the part which literally I skipped preparation. This was a risk which I will suggest you not to take. DI: I was ok types in DI. My accuracy was set dependent. Some sets type I developed a liking and scored heavily and lost marks in other types. DI needs practice guys. Give it the max time. It pays off.English: Like I told you that I am genious in Quant, like that way, I am the most stupid guy to prepare for CAT as far as English section is considered. I was average in RC but other part like sentence correction I sucked a big time. I gave time to this but I made one mistake. I often tried to do sets which were somewhat interesting. In all I didn’ gave enough attention to the subject I was dumb at. Please avoid such scenario.

D-Day:I gave the CAT 2007. Quant was the sitter as usual though I have heard of it being tough. DI I attempetd twelve question and stopped there as I thought it will be enough seeing the trend. That was a blunder. It wasn’t enough. English as usual I gave max time in paper and came out with mixed reaction. And yes, before the exam I was as tensed as anyone and not a cool dude like last year.After that I also gave other exams like JMET, SNAP, IIFT, XLRI, NMAT.

Results:CAT result came and I got 95.5%ile, an improvement of 1.5%ile. My hope for IIM calls were crucified then and there. SNAP I got good marks and got the call from best two colleges under SNAP. I got decent marks in JMET. I was screwed totally in XLRI. Also in mid I missed IIFT by 1 marks. NMAT I got good marks and Rank.

Analysis:I did the analysis and found out that I am doing good where quick fire quant and logical question comes in bulk. So in case I could not click any of the college, I know which all forms to fill for next year. PresentI managed to get 5-6 calls of which I attende 4. Two I left because I was confident to convert NMIMS and SCMHRD at least. SIBM PI was not good and IMT everything was OK types.Another mistake here. Don’t assume that your PI was good. The invigilators might have something else in store for you. I thought I will get pakka call from SCMHRD. I received a solid kick from them as well as SIBM. Finally converted NMIMS and going for it. Guys Dont commit the same mistakes like i did. Please keep that in mind and you will sail through the storm easily.

Guys Plight.....

2008-02-27T11:21:00.001+05:30

Guy: Mom, I have to tell you something, there is a girl in office.
Mom: Go Ahead.
Guy: Her name is Payal. And…
Mom: kab se chal raha hai ye sab!! (From when all this stuff is going on.. )
Guy: ??...??
Mom: Look!! your dad and myself have thought about your future. We have lots of expectation from you. I will mail you one of the proposal coming our way for you. She is there in Pune in your office itself.
Guy: But Mom…
Mom: And Mrs Tiwari said that this girl is a gem. She respects elders, have a good job and her family is well respected in our place.
Guy: But what about Payal, I like her.
Mom: Ok, I believe she is from our caste.
Guy: Not exactly but she is so nice. And..
Mom: What, not of our caste, what a disgrace you are trying to bring…
Guy: Listen…
Mom: I don’t want to listen to anything, if you love me and your family do as I say.
Guy: But…
Mom: I don’t want to hear anything. Forget her.

I believe this has happened with lots of guys… whatever we say that our country is developing, will be superpower after n number of yrs, but the mentality set for something never changes. LL

Politics, Elections, The Government – A Lost Case

2008-02-04T17:13:00.000+05:30

India is the largest democracy in the world, and it means that our government is nothing but the image of majority of Indians. It means that we are heard, we are represented and of course we can trust someone who is trying every second to place us in synch with other developed nation, to bring respect to country on global platform and who tries to bring peace and harmony to a multi religion country. Sadly, except India being the largest democracy, the other statements are far from reality. The system which was thought to curb the disadvantages of monarchy has failed itself. Though there is nothing wrong with the system theoretically, but politics and political leader have let us down.

When we speak of personalities like film stars, sport stars, politicians, entrepreneurs, who are frequent visitors in newspaper and other communication channel, whom we generally select as our ideal? Politicians will be loser there and why? When we think of someone as our ideal, we likely want us to be like them. Due to depleted image the politicians carry, it’s very unlikely that they can be some one’s hero. What led to this scenario, I will discuss later in this article. First let me build a foundation on which I can justify my criticisms.

Religion which symbolizes the faith one follow is used actively in politics. While one claims to be a savior of another religion, others don’t miss to catalyze the fanatics of religion to fix the vote bank. Godhra incident, Babri mosque case and the current one to join it is Ram setu. While Archaeologist and Religious head is fighting with their facts and judgments, political heads are busy plotting ways to maximize their count of votes. And this has nothing to do with a common man. A common man does not burn trains, instead he the one present inside. A common man is not one who demolishes Babri mosque, but he is the one being killed by the riot which follows. And a common man will be least to worry about the setu which might have religious back ground. He has other problems like inflation, unemployment and poverty to face. The complete mockery of ram setu case was made by Tamilnadu’s CM Mr. Karunanidhi who went as far as throwing mud on character of Ram, to support breaking of Ram Setu. A more justifiable approach would have been to say that “Ram setu if approved will create new trade route between Sri Lanka and Chennai.” Of course he knows about it but takes a path which plays with the religious sentiments of common man.

When in Karnataka the government is toppled, the politicians are giving excuses of the functioning of the current government. I wish they had a look and thought on the election cost in a state level election. What a pity, when a significant number is still below poverty line, money is poured in to an untimely election.

Next to come was nuclear deal closure confirmation by UPA Government. The confirmation to U.S. is still to be given but how the Congress has succumbed to pressure put on by Left is not a mystery. It’s all about the love of being in Power. A Government without a spine to act on its will is a black mark on Indian political and electoral system. Though if the act to close the deal came as inference after looking at next election cost which might not be favorable to India and its people, then it might satisfy my soul. I honestly doubt it though. It’s just the power and pre election poll results which might have left them with no options but to close the nuclear deal. And after reading some of the clause of the 123 Agreement between India and U.S., I was left in no doubt that the deal was in favor of India more than U.S. Then why it is going to be closed?
We have already crossed 50yrs post Independence era and the picture of a developed India is far from being a reality. Was the time not enough or are we lacking in resource? None I guess. Still a lot is expected from our leaders. I hope they take India on path of prosperity which is long aspired dream of every common man.

Our P.M. and the nuclear deal.

2008-02-04T17:12:00.000+05:30

From last 2-3 months, India is dealing with US to sign the Nuclear Pact, which according to majority in Parliament, will suit India’s step towards Nuclear Globalization. Now I am not an expert to comment on pro and cons of this step. Why I am writing this is to put our dearest of Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh under our scanner. Going back in 1993 when Mr. Singh was Finance Minister in Mr. Rao regime, he openly disagreed on various financial issues related to nuclear deal and his act can be stated as anti nuclear. Thanks to Mr. Vajpayee Govt. which washed the dirty spots and brought glimmer in India’s dark nuclear history.

Why we Indians are put in dark about all this nuclear deal? Irony is that, much of the information about this deal, which our media provide comes from U.S. Govt. And I am not only person to crib about it. In parliament there have been multiple sessions for this with uncountable number of questions fired on the Congress for its stance on this deal. But the questions were fired on deaf ears. What ignited the already pressure mounting inside me was the two statement given by our honorable P.M. to left party and the Parliament. The words were something like this “The Nuclear Deal will go on, whether you like it or lump it.” To the Left and “The Nuclear deal is closed and is not re-negotiable.” May be the opposition is not ready to understand, but it is his duty to at least make people aware of what’s going on in International arena. If he has failed in this then what is the use of being called the largest democracy in the world, where the people’s representative were left unanswered. May be the congress must have felt the heat when dealing with high profile country like U.S. or they might have thought that showing back to such deal is against India’s ethics. But why has our P.M. not remembered the U.S. walking out of a pact with India in 1971 when it was not agreed by their opposition party. Obviously they could have retained their stance but they chose to put their intelligence above their personal grudge, and obviously such issues of national interest should go with people. Now our P.M. who might be the best Finance Minister India had in years, but definitely he is not walking on the same roads in his new role. But all’s not lost yet. Instead of giving petty excuses or politically scrambled answer in future, he can pour some of his time to rethink, to discuss, as that’s the way how such issues are solved.

(With deepest of my respect for Mr. Manmohan Singh.)
-Nishant Kumar

Commitnment !! ??

2008-02-04T17:10:00.000+05:30

“Baby, it’s not you, it’s me!!”. You say this and you are just another commitment phobic case.

10 hours back I decide to write something about it, and at that time lots of ideas were popping up and all of them had an example to prove it but not now. It is situations where you have been shown a map few hours back to a treasure and now you just have it in shreds. But still I am not here to tell you about my depleting memory or my other problems. I am here to write something about a problem which is not as serious as Global Warming but has been present on this planet from ages. The problem is about commitment when you have feelings for someone and which is greater than all other issues in your life or at least you think so. Only person who was immune to this was Adam and against his defense I can just say “As if he had a choice!” There are many factors which leads to commitment issues and this are just like any other problem in life. If we can think for days before investing a hefty amount in shares, to buy a car, which college to go for higher studies, then why not here. But most of the above stated issues can be figured out or logically deduced, but in case of commitment problems, the story is somewhat different. I will get into that but let us reach to very cause of this problem.

There are many reasons for Commitment issue. The most important is the fear of losing all the freedom one is enjoying now. What all things we usually do when we are not committed. We can go for night outs, beer after beer, always single and looking, move around with friends and the problems we face are; which bar to hit next weekend, do we go for trekking or sleep all weekend. The common topic is bashing the present government though some of us might not know the name of vice-president of India, cursing office life and the miss management of resource going on, teasing some of the friend who always has to report to his better half. We can talk on anything and complete knowledge is seldom required. Just put some statistic (might not be correct) in your talks and look at the admiration in the eyes of your friend. So life is cool as a bachelor and the main reason behind is a no worry happy all syndrome. And this is where we are hit when we even think of commitment. Forget night outs, friends especially girls, “Drink beer to death” slogans, freaking bike ride and many more. From single and looking, you transformed to committed and strictly not looking. So my point is that it’s not a surprise how our life going to be post commitment. And this knowledge brings a feeling of fear in our mind and many of us thus settle for no commitment and just hang around forever. Only a handful can disagree with this and they are really lucky ones.

I thank few of my friends who gave me ideas and their example on this topic. So the next factor is your priorities which can be career, college, dance class etc. When you start saying excuses like “I want to be president of this country before I commit” or “She can wait man, I have to achieve so many things in life”, then you are a victim of this factor. You will always have something to achieve something or the other and you can’t just ignore someone just because of your over hyped dreams. Definitely if you passion for something is too time consuming then you are not yet ready for commitment. But try not to stretch yourself or your partner, stating this for long. It might not work for long and finally one will get hurt and both will walk different ways.

Another factor is a feeling of being not ready emotionally for this huge event of life. I will say that it’s pretty fine to have fear of not being ready, you are going to take one of the most important decisions of your life and this is not a easy task. Here you have to think about your future and a lot of question will show their ugly head now and then. If you have a hard past where you saw some of your relative getting all this wrong then it might also give you negative ideas. Do get prepared for it but do not over evaluate yourself. To tell you the truth, you can’t be ready technically for commitment. It’s a completely new thing and with experience you will gain your confidence in it. Of course this is not only your side of problem, this is happening to your partner too and is quite natural too.

There are other factors too like need of space, getting bored too early and too often, fear of losing your partner and jealousy. My answer for all this is problem is patience. If your partner is not ready have patience and evaluate your relationship at that time. You can then be more ready to accept it. As for jealousy, I will just say “It’s high time for you to grow up”. If you have a feeling that your partner might cheat on you then this might happen but once committed you have to trust her with your life.

Committing to someone is after all not a horrifying idea as it is made to be. It is wonderful experience one has to have in his life. Like every decisions in your life, it is associated with doubts, instinct and fear. It’s not like you are giving up your life after commitment, it’s just another way for living life with its own merits and demerits. If you don’t overdo your earlier habits you can still keep them. In return you will have a person with whom you can share everything, can trust her decisions blindly. So with its positives and negatives I will conclude that getting committed is a risk but once you have done your evaluation it’s a risk worth taking.

5 long year and i still remember thosed days - CAT 07

2008-02-04T17:09:00.000+05:30

5 long years and I still remember those days. I was 24, young and energetic and with all that was required to face those monsters! What I am going to write in next few sentences is not only my story but of all those living soul who were present on that day to face the battle. The battle, for which we prepared, got ourselves trained, sharpened our sword and strengthened our Armour. It was the battle of wits, will power and strategy and as many of you might have guess, I am talking of those days when we used to prepare ourselves for CAT-07.
Personally, I wanted to give a fight; to tackle the most dreadful of questionnaires. Of course risk was there but I knew it was a risk worth taking and what lays for me after the battle is won. The world will never be same for the fighters. Winners for all they are going to achieve and for those who lost they can face anything in this world after going through that day.
Now going in details of how and what I had done for preparing myself for that eventful day. To start with I joined TIME, India’s premier coaching institute for CAT. Contrary to my feelings for classes and lectures, I religiously attended all the TIME’s lecture. First few weeks because I had paid a hefty amount to them and after that the nice view I got to see in the class. Man! With all this seriousness about preparation, you can never suppress those hormones in your body. And the beauty lies in how your IQ and hormonal activity adapt or rather try to adapt when you become fond of any particular soul of fair sex. Well back to a serious, hard working guy who was ready to sacrifice anything for CAT. Whatever one might say about me but I know that I had worked hard from my perspective. Perspective is one of my favorite words from English vocabulary. It comes to my defense more often than not. And why not, in a fact based argument, a fact becomes your fact once you add the magic 3 words “In my perspective, blah, blah and blah”. Just give it a thought; you might have yourself used it many a times. I will not go in deep on perspective as I need a few hundred words to complete my satisfactory explanation; let’s skip that for time being. Well again back to our main topic, I don’t know why but I have a nasty habit to deviate from main road.
So I attended the classes, took leave from office to study (will come to it after some time). Also on weekend there were mock test. The coaching institute expected us to give those test seriously. I was only serious about the result and thus used to study only the day after mock test results were declared. Few of us, though studied hard. My other moments of study came because of inspiration from such living beings. And the less time I gave to my study never worried me as I was a firm believer of quality study. “Quality Study” which my parents termed as an excuse rather than philosophy but I never disagreed more. But all these talk vanished in thin air when I realized that I had just 2 months for my preparation.
So what was my strategy for the coming two months?
First of all I decided to stick with few motivated souls who might not be great with trigonometry but have enough motivation to climb Mt. Everest without a pick axe. Motivation alone might not have helped so I had to make peace with books and practice papers. Along with that, I felt the most important factor in CAT will be how well you keep your nerve. Till date I have got clue on how to control that. Any situation of truth where I know that the results might have significant effect on my life, one thing is sure that I will panic. So I left this issue in my basket of unsolved mysteries and moved on with my preparation. Apart from these, a constant surge for knowledge which ranges from politics to education, business to movies and many more and sources of all these being newspaper, some of friends who miraculously have zillionth time knowledge than me and internet of course.
Now all these preparations were necessary as I was going to study for the first time in my life, not that I was a character who hates books and exam but more often than not I was either lucky or made through narrowly after having a look on required text. But in CAT I knew, my tricks will fall flat and I needed to do some homework.
Day after day, as the CAT came closer, my confidence level decreased. My friends were in same state as mine. I cursed myself for not taking CAT seriously year before when the paper were easy. Suddenly I became a firm believer of GOD. Though a part of me still hated the other part for being such an opportunistic fellow but my argument for this is “why bother GOD when things are under control.”
Now coming back to my earlier statement where I said I skipped office to push some extra time for my preparation. The real reason was something else and I could figure it out only after taking more than half of my leave. Usually we slept late, television, gossips, newspaper, movies or energy drinks the prime factors. Hence I could not wake up early enough to catch the bus. Even if I was half awake, the evil side of mine involuntarily explains the other side that I was going to study for CAT the full day. But most of the day was spend on what to eat for breakfast, lunch and what all is coming on television which led to pondering over what all I am missing by going to office. A guilt feeling usually come by evening and that time, my friend, is to enjoy the worldly pleasure of playing, roaming here and there or eating again. Gist is that the whole day is spent on adding unnecessary calories. What a waste!!
Time flew away and next day we had our CAT. I had already located my center and decided to reach there 2hour in advance. My argument for this was another philosophy of “familiarity of space”. It means that I will have enough time to rest my adventurous self after doing important rituals before exam like having tea at the nearest stall, smoking(smoking do relaxes your cell.) and checking for number of pencils and admit card. Of Course I gave a confidence look which can only come as if I have prepared the question myself. Though inside of me was shivering as if I was roaming around in a jungle with a fear of encountering a tiger any second.
Next two and half hour went by swiftly. Paper was easy but was so for another two lakhs examinees. After the final bell I submitted my OMR sheet and came out puzzled on how to react. How was my test? What about my friends? I should not have left permutations and combinations. All this thought explode in my mind one after another. Also a thin line of relaxation came in as if I was free from the burden of CAT. I didn’t want to check my answers. All I wanted was peace, where I can think of my last few months, of course my curious half was poking me to call my friends and check their status. That night I could not sleep.

After 1 month.

Pity that most of us failed in that battle but that was not unknown to all. I was lucky that my battalion cleared the end line. And now at 29 with a family of my own, elder Sandra gone to play with her friends and Ayan still sleeping in his cradle, I am enjoying the steaming cup of coffee with my Wife. This world has given me enormous amount of joy and pleasure, enough to make me forget any hardship I had faced earlier but not that day. I cherish those memory, laugh on the silly jokes we shared, how we cried on others failure and smiled on tiniest of achievement. Such is the memory that I am proud to say that “5 long years and I still remember those days “.

The Village Girl III (Last Chapter)

2008-02-04T17:01:00.000+05:30

The guys were still there when I saw her running towards us. She came near the gate and walked toward the place where I and Ajay were standing. Obviously an awkward situation as Ajay is thinking I am tired and she thinks that I am ready to go to the pool and the offer for the pool I had already rejected. I wished I had the power to vanish but I had none so I was just on mercy of my luck. Ajay was looking at her and me in succession and was expecting anyone of us to answer him. I would dare not say anything and let her lead the scene.

She: “What?” (And she did that in style and attitude.)

Ajay: “Where are you going with that bag and all dressed up?” (I hate Ajay now for creating a situation where my intervention is a must. But I will take one more chance, as he was not looking that aggressive. It might be just a brotherly question.)

She: “I am not going anywhere. Are you? You can go, any far place also where mom has told us not to go. I will not tell mamma about anything. You can trust me on this.”

A very smart answer which brought Ajay into back foot for which he was not all prepared for. Anyway it didn’t look like he was going to create any problem and what Twinkle said now; she might have saved for future threat.

Ajay: “Thanks baby, I am not going that far though. Hey I forgot my cap. It’s on my bed. Can you bring it to me?”

I can smell something here as I have never seen him wearing a cap though he played all day under Sun. Twinkle left for the house and she might take two-three minutes to come back either empty handed or with some cap. The other guys were busy watching the tadpoles in the village drain at end of road. There was complete silence between me and Ajay. While he was looking at me with a strange kind of look, which I can’t term as furious, I was just moving my head in random fashion as if I was completely mesmerized by the beauty of my village. Finally Ajay’s patience made its call and he broke the silence.

Ajay: “So you want to add something to it?” (Clearly it was not the perfect time to joke.)

Me: “Hmmm… yeah… Ummm... I seriously thought about it when you said I should go and talk to your sister. So we planned to go the temple to pray to God and talk a little bit. I was unnecessarily angry with her.”

Ajay: “Why were you angry?”

Me: “She told me a coward.”

Ajay: “Yeah, she said that to me many a times too. What does she thinks of herself. She is good in studies and that doesn’t mean she will say anything to us. We will not talk to her.” (At last Ajay found out the shoulder where he can keep his head and abuse his sister. But he got that all wrong.)

Me: Nope! We will give her some more time to improve and she is a girl yaar. Give her some benefit for being that. (After I gave him that guy talk he looked convinced though still angry.)

By that time Twinkle came running again and as I guessed empty handed.

Twinkle: “There was no cap. Go and look for it yourself.”

Ajay: “I think I can do without it today. You guys go to the temple.”

She: “Temple!!” (I had to interrupt now.)

Me: “But you guys are also coming there.”

Ajay: “No, they are busy catching tadpole and I am also planning to join them.” (It was not a pleasant idea to watch anyone catch tadpole but never mind; it was working my way.)

Ajay: “Bye and take care of my baby sister.”

She: “I alone can take care of myself and no need for you irresponsible guys to worry about me.”

Ajay was about to say something but he stopped and left to join the gang of boys near the well. We also walked towards the temple which was ten minutes walk from my house. There was a small bag on her back, a pink one with shape resembling to mini mouse. A little bit of nervousness was gripping me. I guess she was also in similar situation as we both were walking unusually fast.

She: “Where are the chocolates I gave you?” (I didn’t say anything but pointed my fingers towards my tummy giving her the most satisfying smile.)

We reached the pond in a few minutes. Village women were already marked their areas where they were busy washing clothes and few of them just gossiping and walking around. Some buffalos were swimming in the mid of the pond. Though I can swim comfortable in the swimming pool but was not sure about the same about Twinkle. We were in search for some location where we can settle down and plan for the next few hours.

The other side of the pond though not being stepped was not that crowded. There was a huge tree whose branches were quite low on that side of the pool. The bank was usually clean as the ladies use the area to spread the cloth for drying. We decided that tree’s shade to rest ourselves.
After we had placed our selves near the tree, I had no ideas to spend the rest of the time.

She: “Let’s climb that branch.” (She was pointing to a branch which I doubt will sustain the weight of two kids. But I agreed.)

Me: “Yeah let’s go. But be careful, follow me and hold the branch tightly. Don’t slip because if you will fall, you are going to land directly in the pond. “(Though the pond’s bank under the branch was not deep enough but still why take the chance.)

She: “What we are going to do there?”

Me: “I will show you how to swing upside down with the help of legs.”

With that I started my adventure to climb that tree. The branch was very low and I was able to catch it without even jumping. As I proceeded with ease, I looked back and saw to my amazement that she is also doing the same with equal comfort. Now I was just above the bank of the pond and the branch being thinner than at start was swinging a little bit making my life less easier than before. I looked back to see if she was doing ok but she looked scared. In a few minutes we both were seated on that branch enjoying our new found friendship.

She: “Show me how you are going to swing.”

I have done that before many times so without any hesitation I used my knee joint as a hook and started swinging just like a bat.

Me: “eee…. Uuu…. Hhh……. It’s easy.”

She: “Yeah.”

But before she could try anything, God had some other plans for me. While I was trying to get back to my original position, somehow my hands slipped and my knee joint became straight and with a great splash of water I fell in the pond. I was shocked. As I have told earlier the bank was very shallow and I came out within minutes, completely drenched in water. I looked at her. She was not laughing this time.

She: “I told you to be careful. I am not going to try it anymore.”

Me: “Yeah, I am fine. Get down. We will walk in sun and that might dry me soon. Don’t tell my mom!! Ok?”

She came down in a few minutes and we walked towards the temple. It was not at all comfortable walking all wet.

Me: “Do you play video game?”

She: “No, but Ajay like it very much. Hey, I have brought some more chocolates. Do you want to have it?”

And before I can respond she handed me one. I saw her bony fingers and nails longer than what was permitted in our school. In my school we get canned if we sport longer nails and girls usually complain against such rules. Anyway, we reached the temple and prayed for a little while. I feel she was closer to God as she had a long talk with the almighty. After that we sat on steps and talked for a while. In mid of our conversation I stared unusually long in her eyes.

She: “What?” (I guess I over did something?)

I simply walked to ward the same tree I climbed and fell. I was in no mood to converse in any uncomfortable zone. She followed me. We reached the last step together when I spoke again.

Me: “Do you run?”

She: “Not unless I am chased by anyone.”

Me: “Lets race to that tree. Whoever wins will get your chocolate.”

She: “But that’s not fair. They are already mine.”

Me: “Ok fine, but I am not going to lose you see. So they are going to be mine. Right?”

She: “Let’s decide that after we finished the race.”

Me: “One…. Two….. Three… Go…..”

And I started not very fast. She was just few steps ahead of me I guess. The tree was still some distance from us and I can catch her anytime. She was running as if she was a born athlete. I started to catch up by running fast now. But what amazed me is that the distance between us remained constant. Now I panicked. I was running at my top speed but still behind her. She reached the tree and had enough time to see me running towards her. I was embarrassed.

She: “So Rahul, What do I win?”

Me: “You win nothing, I let you win.”

What she did next I was totally unprepared for. She jumped at me, caught me off guard for such a move and pushed me on the ground. I was lying on back the next second and she was giggling. I laughed too and acknowledged her win. God! She is strong. Better I should watch what I say to her as she is not going to wait for Ajay to muscle me down.

After that we played some game, ate some bananas and mangoes she had brought in her bag and simply lied down on the grass for a long time. It was time to leave for home now. We started our journey for home and none of us spoke a thing in between. I am a bit choosy in making friend and that day I knew I have found someone with whom I can be friend my whole life. She was smart, beautiful and intelligent. If she can hide the fact that she runs faster than me and can pin me down in less than five seconds she can be my friend. We were at our gate from where we started. I was completely lost in her thought.

She: “What are you thinking? About me.”

Me: “Naah....” (She didn’t look disappointed.)

Me: “So what are we doing tomorrow?”

She: “I don’t know about you but I am going to the pond again tomorrow.”

Me: I hesitated to ask “Umm…. Can I come with you?”

She: “Of Course! Stupid.”

And she left for her house. That was the best day I had in my life.

After that, it became a normal routine for us to spend the day time together near the pond. Friday came and it was her last day with me. I was sad, unusually sad and it didn’t took her long to read my face.

She: “We are going to meet next year also. I promise.”
I just smiled.

She: “Do you want to say something?”

She looked straight in my eyes and that sent a chill in my spine. Tell her all you want to say. No I should not. We are just friends. But she might already know about your feelings so you can speak. No I should not.

Me: “Nothing. But here’s my home number. Give me a call and tell me your number then.” (I was already having my number on a piece of paper and I handed it to her.)

She: “So I should call you and tell my number to you then.”

Me: “Yeah.. You got it right.”

She: “Why can’t I give you my number now?”

Me: “Yeah you can do that too.” (Mission accomplished. Within myself I gave a big sigh of relief.)
She was smiling and writing her number on another piece of paper and handed it to me. We looked at each other for another few minutes saying nothing. She broke the silence finally.

She: “So that’s it then.”

Me: “I guess so.”

We returned home. Why didn’t we have one more month to spend in village? Why did I waste lots of time not talking to her and taking care of my ego? Lots of unanswered questions were coming now and again. We reached the gate again like everyday but today it was not deserted. Her parents, Ajay, Grand pa, my dad and mom were already present. I guess she had already told her parents about her plans of the day so they didn’t panic on seeing me with her. Her mother came to me and kissed on my forehead and said.

“Take care of yourself beta. Study well”

I looked at Twinkle. We didn’t speak that time but my heart bid her goodbye. It seems that the message reached her. I stood there watching as the dust settled by the car on which her parents left to the station. I was not crying but a single drop of tear volunteered to flow down from my right eye. That was painful.

Next we also left for our home. The day I reached, I gave her a call but could not reach her. I tried many times that day, the day after that and next week. But my call was not getting connected. Disappointment started to grow within me.

“Maybe her number has changed.” But how can it change at once.

My life continued as it had for last eight years. One afternoon when we were having lunch our phone started ringing. It wasn’t usual as mu dad usually get bugged from the maintenance guys under him. My father answered the call and returned in few seconds and said the caller wanted to talk to me.

“Who can it be?”

Me: “hullo...”

She: “Hi Rahul, Twinkle here.” (My heart stopped completely this time.)

She: “Are you there? (Few more seconds passed by) Ok take your time.”

She: “My phone was dead for last 2 weeks so was not able to call you. Dad got it fixed today.”

Few more second of silence passed away.

She: “Okay! I have to tell you something.”

At last I cleared my throat and said.

Me: “What?”

She: “That I like Ballu more than the Mogli.”

A smile came spontaneously that time on my face. I knew that finally our story has begun.

(The End)

The Village Girl -II

2008-02-02T10:53:00.000+05:30

That night I hardly slept. The internet guy was killing me. Next day I woke up late; late than usual late and with a big headache. My eyes were swollen as if I have cried whole night but I didn't. Part of me was telling me to talk to twinkle and sort things out and the other part was suggesting me not to as that would be too early. I was still observing my face and those swollen eyes when my mother called:

Mom: Sweetie, see who is waiting for you to wake up since morning. (I told mom not to call me with sweet laden words, at least In front of strangers, but mother are mother, you can be He-Man but for your mother you are always a baby in your diapers.)

Me: Coming mama. Give me ten minutes.

I expected some elders whom I didn’t knew might have come to visit me. So I took my own time to clean and dress myself so that I can prepare myself to bear the lecture of whoever has come to visit me. I was still thinking of twinkle indeed and the next thing after encountering some alien relative and devouring few kgs of mangoes, I will go straight to the back yard to meet her.

Mom: Rahuuulllll……….. (At least she should not scold me verbally in front of some strangers.)

Me: Comiiiiiinmmmggggg mama (Tit for tat.)

I came out and saw that relative and there were two of them. I could not breathe for next few minutes. Twinkle was seated on one of the chair eating the chocolate my mom might have offered her and beside that my mother was placed. In front of her, Twinkle’s mother was sitting. Both the elderly lady were knitting sweater for their respective cared to be most person. Somebody tell them; it is summer and still six months away from any chance of cold wave. I wished Twinkle’s mom and sat next to her.

Twinkle’s Mom: “So beta, twinkle told me you are quite good with making toys. What did you made yesterday?” (Oh I don’t want to fall into that tortoise-turtle argument again. If she says tortoise can fly, I am going to believe her.)

Me: “Tortoise, Aunty. But I am not really good at it. In fact I did it for the first time yesterday.” (God knows I felt a lot of new things in the last few days.)

Twinkle’s Mom: “How were your exams Rahul. I heard you are good at studies.” (It must be my Grandma’s idea to boast about my studies without talking me in confidence, because my parents will never do that.)

Mom: “He is doing ok with his studies. By the way, is that design you are knitting is done up two ways or down two ways?” (I love my mom as this was not the first time she had rescued me from a nasty situation.)

Twinkle’s Mom: “No, its two up and one down.”

With that my mother went into other technical details of that design and this made both of the ladies to be engaged within their knitting and themselves for next few minutes. I gave a nanosecond glance at twinkle. She was listening to the ladies argument.

Me: “Excuse me.”

I went inside my room again as I was feeling suffocated there. I need some time and air to be me. I went to that mirror which hung to the wall near to my bed and started staring at my face.

Me (Mirror): “So, what’s up sir? What are you going to do next?”

Me: “I don’t know, you suggest something.”

Me (Mirror): “You like that girl so tell her about your feelings. Perhaps, she might have seen some Hindi movie and link some parts of it with your story.”

Me: “But she might be already liking some guy with a weird name, she might put me down once she hear about my feelings for her”

Me (Mirror): “You are a genius fool as you know the result without experimenting it a bit. By the way look behind. She is here!!”

Twinkle: “Whom are you talking to?”

Me: “Umm... No one. I was just practicing my play lines.” (She doesn’t need to know about the stupid play I am going act in my new class.)

She: “Ohh, that’s cool. Which play? Is it some one of Shakespeare? I liked Merchant of Venice a lot and I acted as Portia in that.” (Who is this Shakespeare guy? I should rather not talk about him and let my ignorance about literature spill.)

Me: “That’s good. Well, I will tell you about my play but promise me you are not going to laugh on it.”

She: “Oh I will not Rahul.”

Me: “Ever heard of Jungle Book. In that story theirs a guy called mogli; he is human baby but was born and brought up by a wolf.”

She: “So you are playing mogli.”

Me: “No I am not playing mogli. He is some other guy and he got the part because of his long hair. I am his local guardian kind of thing. Actually I am Ballu the bear.”

At that point she started laughing and went pink to red and then purple. How could she. In fact being Ballu is next best thing to mogli in jungle book story. I had more dialogues to speak than the tiger who was villain of the story. But she was still laughing and by that noise, her and my mom came rushing in. Ohh why not call some more people and tell them there’s a bear in the house.

Mom: “What happened baby?”

She: “Nothing Aunty, Rahul just told me a joke. “

On hearing that both of the senior ladies went back to their normal chat.

Me: “I want to ask you something, who is this Internet, your friend?” (She started smiling.)

She: “You know what a computer thing is? It’s something to do with that.”

I was not completely satisfied but at least got relieved.

She: “What are you thinking Rahul?”

He: “Nothing.” (I was obviously thinking about you.)

She: “You know something; don’t ever try to hide anything from me. In fact you can’t do that from anyone. You are so readable. Only cowards try to hide what they want to say?”

I am not a coward. At that moment without saying another word, I stormed out of the room. I went to the same lemon tree where I watered my feelings for the first time. Some part of me was expecting her to come to me. I sat their till the time I felt very hungry. Then I went straight to my house, followed normal routine and finally slept. My heart was badly bruised that day. Next few days went away quite normally. I used to play with my friends away from my house. Ajay always joined us in whatever game we use to play. One day after the game was over, I and Ajay were sitting underneath the old banyan tree, and a conversation started between us.

Ajay: “you play cricket very well.”

Me: “Yeas, sort of, I started plying last year only. Previously I used to play…” (I was interrupted.)

Ajay: “What happened between you and twinkle? I mean why you stopped talking to her?’”

Me: “Nothing, I usually go out with you guys. Did she say anything?” (Ajay was stronger and getting beaten by the brother of the girl was not an idea I could neglect.)

Ajay: “My mom said you guys were very friendly, but last one week I hardly saw you anywhere around her. Go and talk to her.”

Me: “I am not going to do that and I don’t want to talk anything further about her.”

And I left him there, I was upset with her and more than that, I was not happy with myself. I just acted like a confused guys who don’t know how to work things out by talking. Probably she is right. I am just acting like a weird guy who avoids talking to hide his true self. Can’t I hide my emotions and what emotion it was which was nowhere few weeks back?

Someone was waking me up.

“Wake up Rahul. Look I have brought you something.”

Me: “I want to sleep some more mummy.”

“I am not your mom Rahul.”

I opened one of eye and saw Twinkle sitting on the chair beside the bed. I was sitting on the bed next second with a puzzled look on my face.

She: “Rahul.”

Me: “Ummm…. What are you doing in my room?”

She: “I am leaving this Friday. Where were you in last few days?”

Even I was leaving the coming Saturday and time will fly so quickly I had never anticipated. I was in deep thought of mine when she interrupted.

She: “I asked you something.”

Me: “I was with my friends.” (I was still angry with myself or I was over reacting. I will not let her read me this time.)

She: “I know, you are angry with me? I am sorry. I have brought some chocolates for you.” (And she figured my state of mind again.)

Me: “Give me ten minutes, let’s go and see that pond near the village temple. Meet me at the gate in ten minutes.”

She gave me the chocolates and left. I ate them all there itself. I dressed myself and went to meet Twinkle at the gate. She could be here any moment. But instead of her my other friends came.

Friend 1: “Hey Rahul, today no cricket.”

Me: “Nope, Tired a bit.” (She could be here any moment.)

Friend 2: “So come with us, we are planning to see some place around.”

Me: “Not today, next time I will definitely come. Bye.” (I was heavily impatient at time. Ajay was also there and I don’t want him to see that I have some other plans with his sister.)

Ajay: “Ok, in case you change your mind, come straight to the pond near the village temple.”

I stood there frozen on hearing that.

-to be continued

The Village Girl I

2008-02-02T10:47:00.000+05:30

My father worked in a Govt. Office in a small town. Once in a year, mainly during my summer vacation he used to visit his parents and we gave him company. By us, I meant me and my mother. My brother who is taller than me now was not present on earth at that time. I don’t remember the year but I was in 3rd grade. Like every year we packed for 1 month vacation to my Grand Father’s place which was a village somewhere in Bihar. One of the reason I liked my grandpa’s place was availability in abundance of mangoes. I was least talkative in my family especially with elders and they all knew it. It always worked as the less you talk the less number of rules are imposed on you. I slept after unpacking as I know from next day I have to be real fresh to eat those mangoes and play games.

Next day I had my breakfast and then I went in search of kids who visited the place like me and somehow, as my grandma told, I was related to them. My Grand Father being smallest of his seven brothers and one sister explains a lot. Anyway, I found them playing some game with squares and circles drawn on earth and a pebble which was supposed to be hit only by foot and one foot has to be in air all the time. Sounds tough but my childhood friends were experts in that game. I was introduced briefly to a new chap named Ajay. Later I came to know that his father worked in Nagpur and his family is also there for nearly the same time as me. We were playing when a soothing voice hit my ear, “Rahuuuuul, mummy’s calling.” I turn around to see her but only managed to see her back as she fled from the spot. Ajay too left. That day got over without any other pleasant surprises.

Next day I woke up late, and had a secret mission to find about that girl. I was just curious to know. First I thought I will ask Ajay but my instinct voted against that idea. Though later that day when I did not see Ajay with other kids, I asked about him to a friend. “He has left for 2 days to visit some place nearby.” Ouch said my heart and I heard it. Depressed for next 2 days, I ate lots and lots of mangoes. The morning after those 2 days I woke up very early as I believed in phrase “early bird catches the worm.” But I was not a bird and she was definitely not a worm. My mom was puzzled at my abnormal behavior but she never asked. Dear Lord! That day was so long. I waited and waited but no sign of her coming back. Finally, in the late evening Ajay with his parent came and they looked real tired. But there was so no sign of that lady kid. I talked Ajay in to telling me about his family and then I came to know that his parents had a twin of which one was Ajay and the other was that girl who had occupied most of my thought process for last four days. The day ended there.

Next day, I got up at my usual time and after going through the normal routine I was ready for any game. I went where my friends usually play but no one was there. I started my search the start point was always backyard of our house. I went there and what I saw just brought mixed emotion in me. I had seen lots of Hindi movie by that time and I cannot speak of other actors but she was definitely the female lead of my story. She was right there underneath the huge lemon tree playing with mud and earth.
The conversation went like this:

Me: “Hi, where is Ajay?” (Wasn’t that a very easy way to start?)

She: “Who are you?” (Not too happy with someone who saw her playing with mud and getting dirty.)

Me: “Ummm… you have put too much water in the soil and that way you can’t make a toy.” (As if I am a master of art and craft)

She: “Ajay has gone with other boys near the mango grove. Who are you?”

Me: “Rahul, Can I watch you making those toys?” (Man! She was giving me a look which can go either way; I thought she was going to say yes…)

She: No. (And she started to put some soil on the mess she had created by putting so much water)

Me: what is your name? (I was not going to give up that easily.)

But she continued with her work. My ego was badly hurt but I said to myself “Never mind my boy, she might have had tough day yesterday and you might be just a victim of over strained mind.” I had no other option but to leave and try my luck some other day. I turn around and hardly walked a few steps when I heard a familiar voice.

“Rahul”

It was her voice. I gave a puzzled look at her and my evil part suggested to me to leave and don’t go near her “She is one who was full of ego few minutes back. Let her come and beg for your time.” “Shut up” I told to myself and crawled towards her. But this time I had a dignified look on my face which told her silently to watch her words and Rahul won’t tolerate such disrespect again.

She: “I have always read about Indian villages and they are exactly the same as I had read. I am here for few more weeks so I will enjoy every bit of it. Do you know how to make toys, Rahuuul?” (My name was stretched and the puppy face she was making made my life hard. Though I gave little advice in what not to do while making toy few minutes back, I had no idea to make one myself.)

Me: oh yeah, I have made such toys many times. What is your name ummm…?

She: Twinkle. (Twinkle twinkle little star… twinkle as in handle, stars twinkle, do you? And many more phrases came in my mind and I was finding it difficult to hide my shining teeth.)

Me: Nice name. (Such an obvious lame line I could think to say, better if I could have used above phrase.)

She: Hmmm… So what are you going to make? (Boy, she means business.)

Me: let’s start with a tortoise.

I put more soil on the heap she had created, to make it little less muddy and more stable. I tore a big lump out of it and started to make a sphere. After that I dropped it on earth so that it took the shape of a hemisphere. All this she was watching me patiently. Then I took five more portion of soil though lesser in size this time. Made sphere of all of them and in similar fashion transformed them to hemisphere. Four of them I stick it to bigger hemisphere as legs and the fifth one as head. I saw panic in her eyes as it was difficult to recognize which is leg and which one is head. I ignored her puzzled eyes and with the help of a broom stick drew the fingers on the four legs. Though I was not sure as the fingers of my tortoise resembled human fingers a lot. I took two tine dark sand grains and stuck them to the head as eyes. Thus my tortoise is complete. She was smiling now and I was watching her pretty smile.

She: “Rahul, I want to tell you something.” (And my heart skipped a few beat. Wasn’t that too early.)

Me: “What?” (My mouth was filled with saliva at that moment and that made that what a little blurry to hear.)

She: “You don’t know how a tortoise look. You forgot its tail and their legs have fins.”

Now girl or no girl, pretty or not, no one can question my infinite knowledge in zoology. I think I had a good knowledge on animals and had a few big fat books on animals and reptiles which I had revised many times. I sometimes used to boast in front of my dumb friends that I grew counting crocodile’s teeth.

Me: “Tortoise has no fins in their legs, and for your information turtles look similar to tortoise and have fins.”

She: “Turtles! Are they not female tortoise?” (I was going to laugh on her face.)

Me: No twinkle, they are completely different reptiles. I have books at home where I have read about them. I will show you next year.

She: “No need, Internet will tell me.” (INTERNET!! Phew what was that, her boy friend? )

Me: “Who is Internet?”

She: “I will tell you tomorrow. Bye”

Me: “Bye” (So loudly that even I had difficulty hearing it.)

And she ran away. I was sad. I was not even properly introduced to her and I came to know about her boy friend. Hmm “Internet”, quite a weird name for a boy. At least for this night Internet was villain in my story.

To be continued