The Inscrutable Providence - A Short Story

 

Narottam Bhonsle  was a quintessential modern- day TV anchor. He reminded one of a catchy advertisement of the eighties, about a well- known brand of shaving cream. When a hero is asked for his reaction to using the cream, he answers, “it’s smooth, silky, and has a refreshing smell, and wife loves it”.

NB had just joined a new upcoming channel, as its Senior Editor, which was owned by a group with deep pockets, and a connection to the ruling party at the center. The signing amount was an eight figure sum. He could be silky and smooth in toting up lies while defending a manifestly unjust ruling party initiative, and could be equally uncouth in browbeating opposition guys especially when they are sincere and honest. And the public loved him.

Naresh was a youngster, brilliant in academics, had graduated from one of the IITs, followed by a Management degree from an IIM and was a Sr. Manager in an IT company, based in Gurgaon. Like many other person of his age, and background in studies and in employment, he also loved NB.  His wife Geetha was equally well qualified with a Masters in bio-chemistry, and was a social worker, imparting education to a host of destitute children.  

Naresh’s father Hans Raj, was a bit of an old-timer, who cherished simplicity to flamboyance, abhorred hypocrisy and falsehood regardless of the cause, and was uncomfortable with a stardom sans an ennobling feeling for responsibilities that such adulation calls for.  He was therefore skeptical about NB. While Naresh could not easily understand this, he was sure that his father had valid reasons, and felt that he would probably share those with him when he felt it was ripe time. 

Dhiru was born to a not so rich Mathematics/ English language school teacher named Goel. Goelji could not afford an IIT/IIM kind of academics option for his son, and Dhiru therefore ended up with a Post-graduation in Physics, and was a Manager, in the same firm as Naresh. Dhiru was not only much older in age but also in the organization. But he was at a level just below that of Naresh, in the official hierarchy quite possibly to reconfirm the belief that brilliance in academics alone  was not adequate enough requisite to guarantee automatic and easy passage into higher echelons of a corporate ladder. Dhiru had married a batch-mate Prabha, in his masters in Physics days, after a brief courtship.  They had a son named Aditya aged about seven.  

Hans Raj and Goel happened to know each other well and were great friends. Naresh and Dhiru however knew each other only very briefly as they were in different departments. The latter’s knowledge of Science, Technology, and those connected with his domain in the establishment he was working, were phenomenal. It was acknowledged by both his peers, and juniors but some of the seniors were quite envious. Naresh had not been yet exposed this storehouse of knowledge, but had heard a great deal. 

None of these had any great impact on Dhiru though; he was a very kind man, genuinely happy to help any peer or junior when they sought help and there never was a feeling of “I know” kind of superciliousness. There was however one problem; he could never give a “Yes Sir, Yes Sir, three bags full” kind of subservient response to either a wrong procedure, or a wrong surmise, or a wrong opinion, just to suit the occasion, or just because he was awed by the fact that these had come from the powers that-be.   

It was therefore not a surprise for anyone when they found Dhiru unable to warm up to any great euphoria over things and which incidentally included our TV anchor NB. All these were, part and in the course of open debates between colleagues especially during lunch breaks. Naresh was particularly intrigued by the fact that Dhiru had somewhat similar views like his own father, not only on NB but quite a few other subjects. Quite often therefore he had wondered whether his fascination for NB needed a re-look.

Naresh and Geetha’s first born – a girl named Ramya - was completing one year. The family decided to celebrate this in a big way and his office friends were in the preferred guest-list. Dhiru’s father Goyalji being known to Hans Raj was the only parent of his office colleagues who was included in invitee list. The day arrived; Dhiru his wife Prabha, along with his Son Aditya and Goyalji arrived early at the insistence of Hans Raj.  The families hit it off very well and Naresh made up his mind that they will meet more often. The function later on was a fantastic success.  

After the function, and after all the guests had gone, Hans Raj and Goyalji had a few moments alone reminiscing about their early days. Soon Naresh &, Dhiru with their wives joined in and they were all surprised at the kind of relationship that these two shared. Naresh regretted that he hardly knew Dhiru, in spite of being in the same office.

In the midst of all that exchange of old memories, there came –quite unexpectedly- a reference to the all-popular NB –the TV icon- who it turned out was student of Goyalji in school. It was as if Hans Raj was waiting for an opportunity like this one, and wanted Goyal to narrate an incident involving NB just so that Naresh would be able to know his idol’s mettle. Dhiru had known about this, and wasn’t too keen, but Naresh was excited.

It turned out that NB was a son of a very rich family, and was a bit of a riff-raff during his school days. His Maths was particularly weak. In the beginning of a class in those days, it was a practice to ask the students about the home-work given the previous day. Our friend NB would normally occupy a middle row in the class room. Goyalji would ask students one by one, and get their answers about what they found difficult in the previous day’s HW.

On this particular day many students felt that a Maths question at serial number 5 was indeed difficult to solve. With so many of them referring to this, NB assumed that it would be easy for him to escape – he had not done the HW – if he just repeated the same answer, namely that the 5^th question was difficult. His turn came and he answered as decided. The immediate reaction of Goyalji – while in the case of others he had just passed to the next student- stumped NB. He asked the latter to tell the class about the nature of the problem and where exactly he had found it difficult to proceed.

A bit of a stunned silence ensued, and after an admonition, Goyalji let the matter pass. But NB felt humiliated, and using his father’s clout had even tried to spoil Goyaljis career. Fortunately Hans Raj at that time was a fairly senior officer in Education department, and since Goyal was a particularly liked school teacher, there was not much NB or his father could do. Goyal’s attempts later to redeem NB were however not greatly appreciated, as NB was really not up-to it and he even nursed a growing dislike for Dhiru, his classmate, only because he was Goyaljee’s son. Hans Raj and Goyal however became close friends.   

After school, with his family clout, NB managed a decent college admission, a journalism degree, and with connections, and heavy doses of “Providence’s benign dispensation” soon rose meteorically. He also married the girl of his choice; the fact that the alliance ensured a successful career boost, was the major factor influencing  the decision.  

It was almost midnight. And when Goyalji and Dhiru left, for the first time Naresh felt a surge of very warm sentiments swelling up for both these gentlemen. Dhiru, a brilliant student, was there where he was, owing to his father’s difficult financial conditions. There was however no trace of bitterness in him, but more surprisingly he was always cheerful and extremely happy to share his knowledge with anyone who desired it, without a trace of haughtiness. And yet he was not popular even in his own office set-up. And never did he ever feel the need to expose NB when the latter was discussed, and he was even pilloried when he could not quite bring himself to share his colleagues’ exultance. 

It was then that a thought came to his mind; he decided that he will do something for this senior fellow. Soon enough there was an opportunity that presented itself. An opening in the US which fitted Dhiru’s CV most aptly came to his notice. He knew the guys in the US and with some hard networking and a bit of luck, Dhiru got the job, much to the surprise of his office peers and seniors.

In a span of a decade, Dhiru made a huge impact in the US. His wife being equally qualified was extremely supportive in his work. He started his own software company, got a few patents, sold off a few and was now a billionaire. Aditya had just graduated from Wharton. Dhiru also won prestigious awards as the most enterprising guy of many of those new start-ups.   

He was invited by the Indo-American Chamber, to come to India to deliver a key-note address for a seminar on “new frontiers in technology”. It was no one’s surprise when NB acted promptly to corner an exclusive one-to-one with him even before realizing that Dhiru was once his school mate whom he had hated.  

And when he knew this, being clever and also smart, he decided to use it to his advantage. In his interview he spoke highly of Dhiru, and told his audience how as a school boy, he was fascinated by the formers grasp of subjects, and his father – the Maths teacher- being an inspiration to a whole generation which luckily included him, and how proud he was that he would be facing his childhood hero in the studios interviewing him etc.

Dhiru’s up-bringing was by a cultured, highly educated, humble father. His successes never got to his head. He was still that dedicated soul ever keen to help one to grasp the nuances of science and technology. Neither in his schooldays, nor now did he nurture any negative sentiments towards this now-hugely popular anchor, notwithstanding either his none-too-great academic achievements, or his hypocritical nonsense about being inspired by Goyalji. He just let NB hog all the limelight, and restricted himself to only make those points which were in his domain.

Naresh in the meantime had also chosen to leave his organization and was doing exceedingly well in one of the other well- known IT giant, and was tipped to become its CEO in the very near future. His wife Geetha, was still inclined to do social work, and was running a small school to impart education to children in a rural belt near Delhi. His daughter Ramya was an exquisite beauty, without a trace of haughtiness, and was pursuing a course in journalism.  

Dhiru stayed with him and spent a couple of wonderful days with the latter’s family. Naresh was keen that Dhiru return to India, and wondered aloud as to whether they could perhaps work together. The latter was also quite keen to be able to work with Naresh with whom he had been in touch and had become very close. He was also being wooed by the party in power to join the Government as PM’s adviser.

A decade and the fact that US had made him rich, was not adequate enough to lure Dhiru away from his native India. He was mulling up a few ideas already before he boarded the flight back to the US. To work with the Indian Government, as PM’s adviser say for a few years seemed a good idea. He wanted to consult both his wife Prabha and son Aditya before finalizing any plan for the future.

Dhiru and Prabha decided that the former will take up a three year contract with Government of India as PM’s adviser, and come back to India. Aditya continued in the US. In these three years they came into very close contacts with Naresh’s family, and Prabha developed a great fondness for Ramya who she thought would make a wonderful wife for Aditya and daughter-in-law for her and Dhiru. Goyaljee, and Hans Raj  were of similar view. Naresh and Geetha were sounded, and were also keen.

They all however decided that the final choice would be left to Aditya and Ramya themselves. The youngsters were in FB and they chatted often. By the time Dhiru’s contract was about to end, Ramya finished her journalism course and was absorbed by  the TV channel where NB was the Chief. NB loved Ramya so much that he wanted her as his own daughter-in-law for his none-too-impressive son who was considered a bit of a bore in the organization, but was tolerated as he was NB’s son.

After almost three years of courtship Ramya and Aditya were ready to tie the knot. NB’s pleas in the meantime, to Ramya to marry his son slowly turned into enticements and when he found that she was not too keen; he harassed her with tough postings in the office. From her parents she had known about NB and being young, was determined to see him make some amends and was not impressed with “let him be” kind of a benign attitude of her elders, in the family.

She spoke both to Goyalji and Hansraj and got their nod to let her do what she could, to make NB know where he belonged. NB was trying to scuttle a promotion for her but promised her the moon if only she could marry into his family. She taped one such hot conversation with him and had collected enough juicy material about him from his schooldays, and thus armed she confronted NB squarely.

She wanted the promotion but promised him she will resign within about six months on the job leaving him to offer it to anyone he liked, and most importantly she wanted no interaction with his son. As a quid pro quo the secrets will be safe she assured him.

Within two months of her promotion, she announced her forthcoming marriage to Aditya, and her likely leaving her home in India to the US where her fiancé lived. The marriage was a fantastic affair; Dhiru was now hugely famous, even the PM attended. NB’s pride was totally vanquished; every TV channel was full of Dhiru, Goyaljee the school master, and of course Ramya the most beautiful girl in town belonging to their own profession. NB had to cover the event paying glowing tributes to the girl he lost for his channel.

Naresh musing about all these could not help wondering as to how Providence played its part so beautifully to make it almost inscrutable and a satisfying smile crossed his face.

Sutradhar’s comments.

For every Dhiru and Naresh there are countless number of similar characters, for whom the Providence’s nice dispensation continue to remain a dream. The NBs are rarely ever exposed, and in the most unlikely event that someone is indeed in a mood to  redeem himself, he/she would be so ashamed from then on, that their entire life thereafter is often reduced to “how could I have been” kind of perpetual regret. And as if in cue the Providence would start the never ending visits of privations to make them start wondering whether they were not better off earlier after all?

Why should His creation process be so inscrutable as to make any quest -to find a meaning to our existence- a totally frustrating exercise?   

Ekalavya alias Vichu

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