Sharmaji's Scooter

The Holy Book says that the Almighty created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh. There's no mention of how did he fare on the day after the Sabbath, when the newly created world was trying to rise on its unsteady legs and in its eagerness was toppling over its own little feet, creating an unprecedented chaos. God must be harassed out of His senses on His Monday, but for His infinite patience and composure. Like the Almighty, Sharmaji never lost his composure amongst the chaos and ruins which Mondays are known to bring invariably since the beginning of time. Newton's 2nd Law of Motion states that 'A body at rest or motion will continue its current state, till an external force is applied.' Monday is that external force, which causes the change. 

Sharmaji was a Class II employee of Indian Railways, who took the world on its own terms with a cool aplomb of an Indian yogi. He never raised an eyebrow over the inequities and obstacles which life erected in his path with a clockwork precision. He always laughed and believed that laughter is the only magical incantation, which can exorcise the demons of trouble. According to his son Pranay, who didn't much believe in this incessant merriment in face of adversity, it seemed that laughter simply welcomed the troubles. 

This was a usual Monday and the world was in a sleepy and reluctant chaos. Sharmaji's wife was busy in the regular chores of a housewife like preparing breakfast for the family, laying out clothes for Sharmaji, preparing the school bag for her daughter - who had to leave in 10 minutes - locating socks for her son, who had joined a new job and was hurrying to leave etc. The little house was resembling a battlefield with associated cacophony. Chaos reigned! All this while Sharmaji was standing before the small altar, peaceful and resplendent in a bath towel and was reciting arti to various small gods on it. Suddenly, the light went out. Power cuts are a regular part of life in a small town. As per some crucial regulation of the Electricity Board, the power cuts can be done only when it's most inconvenient to the consumers. The cacophony and bustle was doubled with everyone shouting with increased urgency. Sharmaji increased his voice, thus contributing his own share. An enjoyable time was being had by all! 

Whenever I see a housewife bustling in a kitchen and trying to bring order to the chaos, I believe that God must certainly be a woman. The fact that in spite of our wholehearted and earnest efforts of pushing the world off a cliff, the world still continues to function on all four cylinders, is a decisive vote of confidence in the favor of the Almighty being a woman. 

Sharmaji and Pranay finally left for their offices. Pranay was grumbling as he did not want to be late for his new job. Nothing could induce a sense of urgency in Sharmaji, who went sedately to his Bajaj Cub scooter and tried to start it. Bajaj had been one of the most successful automobile company of yesteryears and the Cub was one of its earlier models, which was phased out soon after its launch. There was a ritual to start a Bajaj scooter. One had to pull the choke and then tilt the scooter to its right side. This caused the petrol to flow in the carburetor, which was located on the right side of the engine for reasons best known to the designers, no doubt in best interests of technology. This was a ritual, which needed to be conducted like those ancient aborigines performing various war dances to propitiate some arcane and vicious god. After this, the rider used to crank the kick to start the vehicle, while holding his breath. After a bit of cajoling, the scooter usually started, while the rider let out his pent up breath. 

Sharmaji performed the necessary rites and then cranked the engine. The engine protested like a whiny child being woken up. Sharmaji looked at Pranay with a beginning of a smile which faded after seeing the scowl on his face. He tilted the scooter once more and cranked it thrice. The engine reluctantly started, spewing black smoke and they were off. 

The scooter pushed along on the road at the breakneck speed of 30 Kmph with a tranquil Sharmaji humming snatches of some long forgotten song. Early morning breeze was ruffling whatever hair remained on his scalp. His son was sitting behind him and fidgeting. He saw an 8 seater autorickshaw puttering ahead happily and stifled a curse! Suddenly the engine gasped and stuttered as if drawing its last breath and stalled. Sharmaji got down from his steed and tried to start it again, with Pranay hopping behind him impatiently. "Some major issue with the engine." Sharmaji announced cheerfully. "Let's take a rickshaw."

Pranay immediately hailed a passing rickshaw while Sharmaji was trying to call his mechanic Kaderbhai to cart the scooter away to his garage. Kaderbhai was more like a family member than a technician, considering the number of times he had visited his home in the last 10 years to get the scooter working. He knew Sharmaji's kids since their childhood and used to bring and receive gifts on festivals. 

Sharmaji was happily prattling about various things, including the current crisis in Middle East, to which his son was nodding absently, at times interjecting a bland comment of his own, which was ignored anyway. Some people are self-contained like those villas with their own gardens and swimming pools. They don't require any outside help for luxury and happiness. They don't rely on their peers for acceptance or approval. As long as they can hear their own voice sounding their own thoughts, they are content, irrespective of the feelings or emotions of the world. Sharmaji was blessed with this rare trait and was soliloquizing on the ways the prime minister can improve the economy, when Pranay alighted from the rickshaw. Such obstacles may temporarily daunt a great warrior, but they never can stop them. Sharmaji was nonplussed for a second after he found himself suddenly devoid of his audience, then he immediately rallied around and found another target. Fortunately the rickshaw puller was a bit hard of hearing and the journey continued happily. 

In the afternoon, anxious Sharmaji called Kaderbhai again, who assured him that their isn't much issue with the scooter. The carburetor was chocked with carbon and he had cleaned it. Sharmaji sighed with relief. 

His middle class life went on in its haphazard loping way.

******

One day three months later, Sharmaji returned in evening and was surprised to find everyone in a jubilant mood. Pure happiness is a rarity in a middle class home, where each day is a struggle with some known or unknown crisis. The members are either heaving a sigh of relief at a reprieve or holding their breath for another bout with the treacherous destiny. There are very few moments, when the inmates are lucky enough to get pure happiness, unless they were of the Sufi nature, as our Sharmaji, who always smiled. It was an atmosphere of festivity. Everyone was beaming. Pranay stepped forward and gave a key to Sharmaji. He looked at the key and then gave a puzzled look to Pranay, who had a big smile on his face. "Now you don't need to drag that rusted ironmongery of yours around, papa. There's your new bike!" 

Sharmaji was happy and proud as befitting a father, who sees his son doing well. It had taken 10 years of saving for him to get his scooter and his son had managed it within three months of his new job! He was blissfully unaware of the loan which enabled his son to manage this feat. Everyone gathered around the shiny bike and listened to the expert opinion of Kaderbhai, who explained about the differential gear ratio and torque and whatnot, and what made this bike superior to the 2 stroke engine of the old scooter. Sharmaji understood about one word in seven and kept nodding intelligently. He looked at his son proudly and smiled. "Thank you, Pranay, but I'm too old to ride this bike. The old scooter is fine for me. You can keep this for yourself." Then he saw for the first time that the usual space reserved for the scooter was empty. 

"Kader, you said that the issue is fixed, then why didn't you bring the scooter?" He asked the bearded mechanic anxiously, who suddenly found something of interest on the ground and refrained from answering. 

"Oh, papa! I sold it for ₹2,500, which was the most generous price I could get for that pile of junk! If you don't like to ride the bike, no problem. I can always drop you and bring you back from your office!" Pranay said hugging him. 

Technically a vehicle can be considered an inanimate object, but very few things in life are as animated as it is. There are various sweet and sour memories associated with it. Sharmaji had bought this scooter 15 years ago, when his son was a just a kid in knickers, bringing a wet rag to polish the scooter. The same son was taller than him now. Human mind doesn't store memories like those computer disks in bits and bytes. It associates memories with events, things, smells and other external influences. The scooter was linked with many ups and downs of his life. 

Suddenly an image rose before his eyes. His scooter standing in a junkyard, waiting for the cutter to cut open its innards and convert it to junk. The pile of metal suddenly became alive with feelings and emotions in his mind. Those feelings and emotions were oddly mirroring his own! His eyes turned misty and he lost his smile. Kaderbhai clapped on his shoulder with a bonhomie. Sharmaji looked at him with dewy eyes. Kaderbhai couldn't meet those moist eyes. 

Finally that Monday had arrived, which shook the Godlike composure of Sharmaji. For the only time in his life, Sharmaji tried to smile, but failed.