Sunday, 2 March 2025

MatheMagic Italiano

It has been a little more than a year since I relinquished office and it is time to sit back and see the world as it goes by. As I see the past four hundred days, I can say with a reasonable amount of conviction that this new phase can be described in Italian as ‘La vita e belle’ or life is beautiful and I am loving it. It is the time in life without the glamour and razzmatazz, grand victory parades, huge spread of food and stay at star hotels around the world. All that get replaced with calmness, togetherness and you becoming the master of your own life for once. Mathematics was never my strong subject in school, but still, I am juxtaposing some of my experiences with mathematical symbols and some interesting Italian phrases for no other reason other than the creative freedom my space allows me here.

Zero

The concept of zero is India’s gift to the world of math and science and that is something I have started to enjoy. Old colleagues and family members ask me this one question each time they meet- What are you doing now? I smile and tell them- Nothing! In Italian, there is a beautiful phrase that reads, Dolce far Niente…the sweetness of doing nothing. Earlier, every night before hitting the bed, the mind would conjure nightmares of business growth, profitability, attrition, reviews…all of which often made me sit up at night and then I would keep on twisting and turning till the alarm clock woke me up physically. Today, the time is well spent, sitting for hours on the couch with my partner in crime, watching movies and serials, often ending up doing binge watching till late in the night when it is impossible to keep the suspense out for another day. It is fun doing the afternoon siesta at any time from morning hours to post lunch or early evenings. And yes, I do get up in the middle of the night but now it is only to relieve my inflated bladder and at times to see the football maestros playing in the UEFA Champions Trophy starting at 01.30am. Doing nothing is actually doing much and is surely more fun.

Subtraction

When at work, there was always a concern about the reporting system and, as luck would have it, I always ended up having multiple bosses. The matrix system is quite like the jumble in the movie Matrix where the employee called Keanu Reeves flips, shoots and tries evading the bad guys from the first shot to the last. And so, it was with me, with three to four reporting heads and then on top were the so-called top-level guys. No matter how hard I tried to impress these multiple bosses with hard work, I always ended up on the wrong side of a couple of them. Hard work has now been replaced with a term called smart work which also includes a high dose of sycophancy which is an essential art of survival and success in the corporate world. Since, I failed miserably in this highly skillful and social art form, there was no way I hoped to thrive in the order where multiple bosses meant multiple goal sheets and multiple mine fields. But now in my new avatar, the multiple reporting system has been reduced to a single chain of command - One Boss and She speaks, She decides and She reviews everything and She is always right. She has put up two big posters in the bed room which reads Rule 1: Boss is always Right and Rule 2: In case of confusion, read Rule 1. This state of affairs is much more manageable as there is no confusion. I know that my well-being and success depend on my ability to manage this one Super Boss at home.

Compound Interest

When we were both working, we always envied a couple living across our house at Delhi who would be sitting in the balcony, reading the newspaper while enjoying the morning cup of tea while the two of us were rushing out to catch the 9 am chartered bus to reach our office on time. Today, after almost thirty-six years of toiling, we are able to sit together on the dining table with the newspaper spread before us as we enjoy our morning round of fine Darjeeling tea. There is no rush to get the kid ready for school, cook and pack tiffin boxes hurriedly for ourselves, then stuff some breakfast in a jiffy not knowing what was being eaten as long as something went down the gullet and then take long and brisk strides to the bus stop that was half a kilometer away, reach there well in time to board the Chetak bus driven by a sardarji who would not wait a minute extra for anyone. While having tea in the mornings, we like to dip the Britannia Marie biscuits in it but lately are finding the pieces growing thinner by the day resulting in portions of it just melting and disappearing into the tea mugs. We then try to pull it out with the remaining part of the biscuit it results in another portion falling off. This reminds me of Jerome K Jerome’s Uncle Podger trying to hang a picture. We also get to taste the fine filter coffee at 10 am and a final round of fine tea at 5pm. Now getting rewarded three times over for all the years of toil surely can be said to be more than simple interest.

Multiplication

For more than three decades, life in metros has been all about rushing to work, then work, work, work and then returning home late in the evening, tired and exhausted, having dinner and hitting the bed. We used to meet people in the places we lived mostly in the streets, elevators and at times during the Durga or Ganpati celebrations. Life revolved around work place and we gradually reduced our social acquaintances to a handful. Gradually, WhatsApp became the dominant connecter to the people beyond the tiny Home group. Things have now changed. Every evening, we go for a walk around the society campus for about forty-five minutes and, during this time, we get to meet toddlers in push chairs or in the arms of their mothers. We make it a point to interact with these little angels who are so pure and cute that they bring undiluted joy. There are a couple of panchayats of old men and women sitting at different places in the housing complex. A few of these octogenarians and nonagenarians make it a point to wave their hands at us every time we walk past them and then wait for us to reciprocate. Over the course of the year, a few of them have begun speaking their hearts out to us and we, too, give them a patient hearing and seek their blessings on important days. We now come down to the common space to celebrate much beyond Ganpati- be it Independence Day or Holi. We make it a point to go to our neighbours’ flats when babies are born or on the passing away of an elder. Today, we can say with reasonable amount of certainty, that our social circle in the place of living has multiplied many times over. People often ask us where we were if we missed out on our evening walks on a couple of days in succession. We have become the universal Uncle-Aunty of the society and get a knowing smile from almost everyone we meet. Our so-called social networking has flourished beyond the world of Apps. As the Italians recommend for a good life, Fare una passeggiata or Go for a walk. Walking clears the mind; eases stress and helps you reconnect with the world around you. It truly does!

Time and Motion

In climbing a twenty-one metre slippery pole, a monkey climbs five metres in one minute and slips down four metres. How long will it take the monkey to climb the pole?

I am sure, we have all faced such silly questions in school. Then came the office game where multiple people are trying to reach the corner office. Some reach there quickly, some take longer and then there are others who never make it beyond a point in the pole. Similar is the case with making money and more money. There are some who hit the jackpot early and then there are others who are left behind but all of them are still running the race.

For me, today, this new innings is not about joining another race for power, position and money. It is about being free from the stress of competition. My race is over and I enjoy my new world of doing trainings and guiding some youngsters who come to me. I am happier to see so many of the youngsters who worked with me during the long innings do so well and reach the top of the pole. Even while driving, I let anyone honking behind me to pass easily. I do not need to drive with speed and yet take phone calls and attend video meetings. Days of multi-tasking and doing things immediately are over. I am in no hurry to be someone or to be somewhere. I have the greatest asset, Time, on my side. The Italians call it Festina lente or Make haste, slowly. Don’t rush, break up the tasks into smaller ones, take steady steps and avoid doing everything at once.

Infinity

Months before retirement, I was told by many that I must mentally accept the reality that all the so-called love, affection and respect that the people at work show are not for you but are directed towards the high chair you occupy. Once, you hop off the chair, all would be lost as their alignment would in no time shift to the new man in the same chair. In short, it is the high chair that commands loyalty and respect and there is nothing called love for the person occupying it. So, I was prepared for accepting the treatment of being a nobody. Firstly, let me admit, my seat was never too high and my proximity to the ground level helped me connect closely with people beyond the officialdom. And, thankfully, after 365 days of retirement, the number of folks who called me, not texted, on my birthday was a rejoinder to all the naysayers who told me of the importance of the chair alone. In another instance, there was this lady who despite my protesting year after year, would leave a small Diwali token gift at the office reception. This year, I told her, specifically, that I am no longer working and she should now put an end to the annual ritual. She still insisted on leaving the gift with another old colleague and said, Sir, when I started my career, you believed in me when others did not and so long as I continue working, I will remember you on every Diwali and more. And then there was this colleague from my earlier company, someone I have not met for over a decade now, who continues to send me a set of diary and desk calendar with Lord Jagannath’s pictures as he would do when he reported to me. When I spoke to him again this year asking him not to send it from now onwards, he said, Sir, this is one thing you cannot ask me to give up. I do not do this for anyone but for you; it is out of my respect and love for you. For this infinite and unending love and respect, I am yet to find a suitable Italian phrase. Maybe, the closest phrase in English that comes to mind is- Be good to people without reason and good will happen.

SS

Pictures: Courtesy internet