Why do things slip out of our minds ?
One of my teachers Prof . Swapan Kumar Das(Someone who has been more of a guide rather than being a mere teacher of the English language )
attributes any such incidences to a characteristic "lack of reflex".
One of Arbitmind's wingies once quipped "Tu bhoolta isiliye hain kyunke tu bhoolna chahta hain"[u forget because u want to].
Arbitmind's wife is of the opinion "Tum bhoolte nahi ho.. sirf bhoolne ki acting karte ho"[u just pretend to forget]
( Arbitmind was 'assigned' the task of making a (social)phone call to his in-laws & after a couple of days when he was asked about the status of the phone call he had come up with this apparently outrageous "I forgot to..." sort of an explanation )
Three very diverging opinions.
However what takes the cake is one reaction - where the victim of Arbitmind's 'folly' had simply kept on staring at him.
Arbitmind's vocabulary would fall utterly short in describing the myriad of emotions which was conveyed through that look.
Arbitmind was working with Infosys at that time. The project group had decided to go on an impromtu movie party.
The group was heading to E-Square(a multiplex near the University circle in Pune). The only problem was that the movie was supposed to end late in the night & getting an auto from E-Square to Aundh at that unearthly hour could be a problem.
Those were early days into the job & Arbitmind didn't have a vehicle to rely upon.
So what ? What are friends there for ? Of course, to lend their bikes.
Mr.Friend(lets call him by that name), stayed in the same society as Arbitmind was staying & was working for a different project group on the same floor in Infosys. A couple of warnings later about not scratching the brand new bike & driving safe Mr.Friend decided to part with the keys of his bike. He would take the company bus today for returning to Aundh(place where we stayed).
Deal sealed !!!
Arbitmind duly followed the rules or safe urban driving & reached E-Square.
The movie on Offer was "Mangal Pandey:The Rising". One movie where Aamir Khan did not really meet Arbitmind's expectations.
Now once the movie was over, Arbitmind was involved in a heated debate over the actual causes of the Sepoy Mutiny with a colleague.
The debate ended rather inconclusively at around 1 in the morning & it was time to go home. Arbitmind negotiated hard with an auto & finally reached Aundh at around 1:30 AM-- looking forward to an enjoyable weekend.
The next morning at around 9 AM(way too early for a Saturday morning) Mr. Friend barged in.
"Oye, keys de, FC Road jana hain. Kahan park kiya tune? Neeche dikhi hi nahi"
Keys, park!!..!!!..err..OMIGOSH !!!!
That instant Arbitmind realised what must have gone through Archimedes mind when he had stumbled upon the laws of buyonacy in a bathtub. However, unlike Archimedes, Arbitmind couldnot shout "Eureka" as it would not have gone down very well with Mr. Friend whose bike which Arbitmind presumed (& prayed) was still in E-Square's parking lot.
Arbitmind{sheepishly} - "Bike Bhoolgaya"
Mr. Friend: - "Ehh !!"
Arbitmind - "came back by an auto. Forgot that I had taken the bike. It must be in parking till now. lets rush to E-square"
....What followed as the look which was being referred to , early in the post. (Eyes wide open in amazement or in plain disgust)
Epilogue: The bike was found intact in the E-Square parking lot.
A similar incident had taken place when Arbitmind was in sixth standard. After months of haggling with dad Arbitmind had managed to get a a Blue Hero Ranger Cycle. One fine evening at around 8:00 PM, Arbitmind started looking desperately for the cycle.
It was nowhere to be found. Of course, it had been stolen!!! Tears swelled up in Arbitmind's eyes. How mean of those thieves to steal a kid's prozed possession.
A few rounds of consolations later Arbitmind suddenly remembered -- he had gone to school riding that cycle & had come back with friends - walking all the way.
A 9pm sojourn to the school & the cycle was recovered-- it was safely locked in the parking.
Which makes him wonder....
"lack of reflex",
or
"Tu bhoolta isiliye hain kyunke tu bhoolna chahta hain"[u forget because u want to]
or
"Tum bhoolte nahi ho.. sirf bhoolne ki acting karte ho"[u just pretend to forget]
Which one to pick . ???
5 comments:
I had something interesting to say but main bhool gaya :-(
This one is the best!! :)..
The art is to remember the right things in life may b!! :).. Sayantan
errrr. You have done that with my cycle almost once every month. That's a huge number. How cn you forget that?
You have done this with my cycle almost every month (at least twice) since 2003. How can you forget? :(
Madhu....half of them happened because of too much alcohol in the system. :-)
I guess I should add it to the 'Take Your Pick' options :-D
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